By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
WARRENSBURG - For the second time this season, it took overtime to decide the Missouri Western-Central Missouri women's basketball matchup.
In a battle of top five teams in the MIAA, the No. 25 Griffons (15-3, 9-3 MIAA) battled through foul trouble and made an outstanding 31-of-36 free throw attempts to outlast the Jennies for an 82-77 win at the UCM Multipurpose Building Wednesday.
It was Missouri Western's first victory in Warrensburg since December 2015, and it completed their first season sweep of the series since the same 2015-16 season. The Griffons beat UCM earlier this season, 68-67 in overtime, on Dec. 11, 2021 in St. Joseph.
"We're just enjoying winning," coach Candi Whitaker said after. "It's fun thing to do and we have a fun group that celebrates one another and is really happy for one another. Even if some don't get to play or don't get opportunities, they know they have value and they help prepare us and they help us in-game with the energy they bring on the bench."
In a game that featured a combined 52 foul calls and a combined 66 free throw attempts, the Griffons at one point made 15 free throws in a row between the fourth quarter and overtime period.
Brionna Budgetts led the Griffons with 20 points and 6 rebounds, including a 7-of-8 effort at the foul line and a 3-of-6 shooting night from beyond the arc.
"It was about having the mindset and playing smart and making smart decisions at the end of the game and thinking, 'Yeah, we're going to go get this win,'" said Budgets.
Missouri Western led for 38:25 in Wednesday's game and led by two with just over 16 seconds left in regulation. However, coming out of a timeout, Budgetts' inbounds pass was stolen by Littrell, who went coast-to-coast for a lay-up to tie the game at 62 with 10 seconds remaining.
Western had the final shot of regulation but set the offense late. Budgetts hit a 15-footer from the free throw line just as the buzzer sounded, but the basket was reviewed and waved off.
The Griffons opened overtime on an 8-0 run, and made 14 of their last 16 free throw attempts to seal a victory.
"It wasn't necessarily the most pretty game," Whitaker said. "But, I don't even care what the stat sheet says. It's about making plays down the stretch and finishing games and we did that in overtime. I thought our overtime was exceptional."
Connie Clark just missed a double-double with 14 points and nine boards. Clarke was also a perfect 8-for-8 on free throws and blocked to critical layups from UCM's lead scorer Brooke Littrell in the extra period.
"I thought we guarded so well to start overtime," Whitaker continued. "Connie had really figured out how to guard (Littrell). She struggled with her early, got a little better as regulation went on and then in overtime, it was like, 'Okay, now I know I can gap and need to close the gap and contest.'"
Jordan Cunningham added 14 points as well.
Littrell led UCM (14-7, 10-4 MIAA) with 35 points and nine rebounds. Nija Collier had 24 points, seven rebounds and played all 45 minutes for UCM, who a saw a five-game winning streak snapped Wednesday.
MWSU men get off to sluggish start, eventually get trounced by UCM
The Missouri Western men were held to a season-low scoring output and got beat in every phase in an 83-46 loss at Central Missouri on Wednesday.
The Griffons (8-11, 4-7 MIAA) shot just 28.8% (17-59 FG) and committed 18 turnovers in their seventh straight loss.
Without starters Reese Glover (personal reasons) and Alex John (injury) for the second straight game, Western struggled out of the gate, unable to find offensive rhythm. The Mules (9-8, 6-7 MIAA) shot 51.6% from the field and led by double figures for 26 of the game's final 40 minutes.
"It's sickening to come out and lose by (almost) 40 and I take a lot of that responsibility," senior Caleb Bennett said. "I've gotta be better. For anybody that doesn't believe in us right now- that's alright. We lost seven straight games last season and still made it to the NCAA Tournament.
"I believe anything is possible. We just need to get out of our heads. I think we have some time to turn this thing around as long as we get our heads straight and continue to believe in this program."
Both Griffon teams are back home Saturday to host Lincoln. Tip-off is set for 1:30 and 3:30. Both games will be carried on KFEQ Radio (680, 95.3).
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