By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
HAYS, KS - Missouri Western is going to keep dancing, and now they're going to party like it's 1997.
That's how long it's been since the Griffons' women's basketball team was last in the Sweet 16.
No. 7 seed Missouri Western (23-9) will now play for a trip to the Elite Eight following their 72-59 win over No. 6 Nebraska-Kearney (24-8) in the NCAA Central Region tournament semifinals at Gross Memorial Coliseum in Hays, Kansas Saturday.
The Griffons will play in the Central Region championship on Monday night - this after nearly missing the tournament after losing five of their last seven regular season games, including a 75-64 loss at Nebraska-Kearney on Feb. 25.
"This team has earned it," Missouri Western assistant head coach Emily Wacker said. "It's so fun to watch them compete and play for each other and I'm just so happy for them."
Unlike the first round Friday, where Missouri Western set the tone right away against Southwestern Oklahoma State, it was the Lopers who came out swinging early, taking a 20-6 lead late in the first quarter, thanks to three early three-pointers.
Griffons' coach Candi Whitaker took not one, but two timeouts in the first quarter to settle things down.
"It was pretty straight forward," Wacker said of the message during those timeouts. "The key was toughness, and when we came out of the gates, we weren't very tough. We were getting beat to loose balls, getting outhustled. After that second timeout, we flipped a switch and never looked back."
Things certainly changed right after that. Down 14 with 1:47 left in the first, Missouri Western's Josie Weishaar and Jaelyn Haggard each made a three, bringing the Griffons back to within 22-14 at the end of one.
The second quarter was all black and gold. The Griffons outscored Kearney 21-8 in the second behind a 10-of-16 shooting effort to go up 35-30 at the half.
Western then led 39-30 in the opening minutes of the third quarter before Kearney reeled off a 13-3 run to tie it at 42 midway through the third.
The Lopers, while they never got a second half lead, hung around, trailing only 49-46 at the start of the fourth.
Kearney had opportunities to get back in it and take the lead, but the Lopers shot 5-of-18 in the final quarter, including 1-of-7 from three, and the game slowly slipped away.
Missouri Western made 12 of their last 13 free throw attempts to make sure of it.
"It feels good to play from ahead," Wacker said of the finish. "It's just easier. You're shooting free throws, you're in a better situation instead of having to come up with baskets. I was really proud of how our team finished. It wasn't just free throws - it was also rebounds and stops."
Sophomore Brionna Budgets led her team in scoring for the second straight day at the tournament, dropping 17 points, including a 5-of-5 effort at the free throw line. Freshman Josie Weishaar came off the bench to score 15 on a career-best three made threes.
Freshman Alyssa Bonilla tied her career-high with 14 points - 10 of that in the second half. She also had six rebounds and three assists. Senior Corbyn Cunningham was just shy of a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds.
"Josie and Alyssa were tremendous," Wacker said of the two true freshmen. "Josie was so tough. Showed a ton of courage to come in off the bench and knock down huge shots. And then, Alyssa. Man, she's been fun to watch. She's hard to take off the floor."
Western's bench was again phenomenal, outscoring Kearney's bench 37-13. The Griffons had only nine turnovers after 25 on Friday.
Western outrebounded Kearney 42-35, and held the Lopers to just 5-of-19 shooting from beyond the arc after surrendering 11 made threes to UNK in the last meeting two weeks ago.
"I feel like we executed our defensive plan great," said Missouri Western freshman Mary Fultz, who grabbed four rebounds Saturday. "I know they hit a lot of threes on us the last time we played them and that was one of our biggest goals coming into this game and I think we did great."
A historic season continues, as Missouri Western will face No. 1 seed Fort Hays State (30-3) in the regional final on Monday night at 7.
Hays held off No. 5 seed St. Cloud State Saturday night, 59-55. The Tigers, MIAA regular season and conference tournament champions, beat the Griffons in St. Joseph, 74-61 in January and again in Hays on February 23, 78-69 in overtime.
Whatever happens, it's been a terrific season, as Western will now shoot for its first Regional championship since 1995.
Two things are for certain after these last two games - Missouri Western does not want this season to end, and they might be the most dangerous No. 7 seed in the country.
"It's the best feeling ever," Fultz beamed. "We're all coming together as a team and it's really starting to show. And just the team atmosphere, like they're my family and it's just the best environment ever."
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