By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
The Missouri Western women's basketball team got down by 11 in the first half, rallied to take a five-point lead in the third quarter, but the Griffons fell 68-66 to Pittsburg State on Saturday at the MWSU Fieldhouse.
Pitt State's Harper Schreiner rebounded a missed layup and her successful put-back with roughly one second to go was the difference in a tight game between two MIAA heavyweights.
Missouri Western (24-6, 18-4 MIAA) found themselves down 15-7 midway through the first quarter and then down 29-18 with 4:45 left in the second.
The Griffons, however, ended the first half on a 15-3 run to go up 33-32 at the break.
"The reason we overcame that deficit is because we found a group that would guard and play hard," Missouri Western coach Candi Whitaker said. "When we started in a hole, that's valuable time and possessions you don't get back."
Missouri Western led by five points a couple of times in the third quarter, but Pitt (22-6, 17-5 MIAA) retook the lead at 45-43 with 3:37 left in the third after a three-pointer from Grace Pyle.
Down 53-49 entering the fourth, the Griffons tied the game at 66-66 with 14 seconds left, thanks to a Connie Clarke layup.
After a timeout, Pitt State got the ball down by the rim and missed their first two shot attempts, but a third chance by Schreiner just before the buzzer gave the Gorillas a 68-66 lead.
A half-second was put back on the clock, and the Griffons advanced the ball to the half court with a timeout. Jordan Cunningham tried to pass inside to Brionna Budgets, but the pass got tipped and time expired, securing a Pitt State win.
Pitt State outrebounded Missouri Western 39-28, and the Gorillas scored 15 second chance points on 13 offensive rebounds.
"There are just too many plays that we have to make," Whitaker said. "Whether it was a breakaway layup that we didn't finish, a free throw by a great free throw shooter that we didn't finish or a defensive assignment. You have to play as mistake free as possible against great teams."
Clarke led Missouri Western in scoring with 16 points. Cunningham and Budgets each had 13. Pyle led Pitt State with 20 points. Tristan Gegg had 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting from three.
The Griffons are the No. 3 seed in the MIAA tournament and will face No. 6 seed Fort Hays State in quarterfinals on Friday night at 8:15 at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City.
"They are great kids," Whitaker said of her team, "and I know they'll take responsibility for their missed assignments and lack of execution here and there. I think this game could have been ours, and we didn't play as well as we needed to."
MWSU men dominate against Pitt State, punch ticket to MIAA tourney
Win and you're in. That was the mantra for Missouri Western men's basketball Saturday. Beat Pittsburg State, and you clinch your spot in the MIAA tournament.
The Griffons (13-15, 9-13 MIAA) understood the assignment.
Missouri Western jumped on Pitt State from the get-go, and the Griffons cruised to a 69-45 win over Gorillas at the MWSU Fieldhouse on Senior Day Saturday.
Pitt State (8-20, 5-17 MIAA) shot just 6-of-22 from the field in the first half, allowing Western to take a 34-15 advantage into the locker room.
The lead ballooned to 65-33 with 7:05 left, and the Griffons were able to empty their bench, honor their seniors and have some fun in their regular season finale.
"The goal every year is for Senior Night to not be the last game for your seniors," Missouri Western coach Will Martin said. "You have the formality and the nice jerseys and the flowers and you do all of that, but our goal was to extend the season for the seniors. I thought those three played really well today."
Missouri Western's seniors, Will Eames, Alex John and John Anderson Jr., all started and scored Saturday. John led the way for the seniors with four points.
"We needed it," John said of the win. "We punched our ticket (to the MIAA tournament). It was really good to see the guys come together and decide, 'Hey, we need this win.' It was good."
Eames had three points, five boards, three assists and two blocks.
JaRon Thames led Missouri Western Saturday with 18 points and nine rebounds. Julius Dixon finished with 14 and Zion Swader added 13. In all, nine Griffons scored and 13 of them played.
Defensively, the Griffons held the Gorillas to just 32.7 percent shooting, including 19.2 percent from three.
"I thought for the whole game, the guys were locked in on the defensive end of the floor," Martin said. "Especially the first half, our team defense and one-on-one matchups, which I thought had tailed off the last few games."
In a season full of ups and downs, the Griffons locked up the No. 9 seed in the MIAA tournament and will face No. 8 seed Washburn on Wednesday at noon at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City.
The Griffons come in with some newfound confidence, having won their final two games of the regular season.
"To be able to have a little bit of momentum going into the postseason, I think it does give you somewhat of a competitive advantage," Martin said. "I think the experience of this week, playing three games in four days, and playing back-to-back (days), I think that can help us in postseason play, but we'll be focused on Wednesday."
Postgame interviews
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.