By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
HAYS, KS - The Missouri Western women's basketball team overcame what was once an 11-point deficit in the first half and made big plays down the stretch in a 61-58 win over No. 18 Fort Hays State in Hays, Kansas on Saturday.
The Griffons (6-3, 2-2 MIAA) made 9-of-21 attempts from three and outscored the Tigers (7-1, 3-1 MIAA) 37-27 in the second half.
Connie Clarke led Missouri Western with 18 points, seven rebounds and four steals.
Johnni Gonzalez turned in a season-high 11 points to go with seven boards and four steals. Brionna Budgets and Mackenzie Hart both added 10 points.
Missouri Western withstood a stellar performance from Hays' first-team all-conference guard Katie Wagner, who put up 28 points and 14 rebounds.
Hays' Olivia Hollenbeck also had a double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
Missouri Western scored 16 points off of 14 Hays turnovers. They also held the Tigers to just 33.9% shooting, including 3-of-16 from three.
The Missouri Western women have now won each of their last three games played at Hays' Gross Memorial Coliseum. Griffons' head coach Candi Whitaker has now beaten a ranked Hays team four times since her first season in 2019-20.
Candi Whitaker postgame
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Griffon men get stifled early, fall big at Fort Hays State
It seemed like it'd be a manageable fight for the Missouri Western men at first.
Fort Hays State essentially clawed their way to a 15-7 lead with 10:15 left in the first half.
Suddenly, the Griffons looked up, and were down 30-8 with 4:29 remaining before halftime.
Missouri Western (7-2, 2-2 MIAA) was unable to really make a dent from that point, as Hays rolled to a 73-49 win on Saturday afternoon at Gross Memorial Coliseum.
Hays is ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division II in scoring defense, holding teams to 56.6 points per contest. They held Western to a season-low scoring output, and the Griffs shot only 32% from the field.
Missouri Western also committed 19 turnovers, while Hays had only seven. The Tigers also dominated points in the paint 34-16.
JaRon Thames was the lone Griffon in double figures with 11 points. Zion Swader had eight and Taye Fields had seven.
Elijah Nnanabu led Hays with 17 points, seven rebounds and seven steals. Shaun Riley scored 15 off the bench for the Tigers.
The Missouri Western men have lost each of their last three games played at Hays. Each of those times, they've been held to 49 points or less.
The Griffon men and women are back in St. Joseph to face Emporia State Thursday. The women play at 5:30, the men at 7:30. The games will be at Civic Arena and will be carried live on KFEQ Radio (680, 95.3).
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