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ST. JOSEPH – The marquee matchup in MIAA women's basketball is in the MWSU Fieldhouse, Thursday as No. 17 Missouri Western hosts undefeated Pittsburg State.
 
Both teams bring perfect records into Thursday's game and will be looking for an early leg up in the MIAA race. For Missouri Western, it's the first of two big tests early in the MIAA season. The Griffons will host Missouri Southern on Saturday. Missouri Southern enters the weekend 7-1 overall and 1-1 in MIAA play.
 
MISSOURI WESTERN

• The Griffons are ranked and 7-0 for the first time since the 2006-07 season
• It's the first MIAA home game for Missouri Western
• MWSU opened conference play on the road with wins at Central Missouri and Southwest Baptist
• The win over UCM was the team's first, officially, since 2004
• Two road wins last weekend put MWSU at 3-0 on the road, matching away win total from previous two seasons combined
• Missouri Western one of three undefeated teams in MIAA (#1 Fort Hays & Pittsburg State)
• Griffons lead MIAA in six team stat categories
  • Assists (134)
  • Field-goal % (52.5)
  • Scoring Margin (33.6
  • Scoring Offense (93.4)
  • Steals (96)
  • Turnovers forced (25.7/game)
• National top-10 rankings
  • Assists/game 7^th (19.1)
  • Field-goal % 2^nd
  • Scoring Margin 2^nd
  • Scoring Offense 2^nd
  • Steals/game 4^th (13.7)
  • Turnover Margin 7^th (9.4)
  • Turnovers Forced 4^th
• A Griffon ranks in MIAA top-10 in nearly every statistical category
• Chelsea Dewey 6^th in nation in Assist:Turnover Ratio (3.86)
• Sarafina Handy 9^th in nation/2^nd in MIAA in Free-Throw percentage (95.2)
• LaQuinta Jefferson's 21.2 pts./game lead MIAA and rank her 10^th nationally
• Jefferson leads team in rebounding / 11^th in MIAA (6.2/game)
• Jefferson one of three Griffons averaging 6 or more rebounds per game (Torres-6.1, Koyamainavure-6)
• Jefferson's 61.6 field goal pct. Leads MIAA; Handy 7^th (49.4)
• Handy 6^th in MIAA in 3-pt field goal % (38.3); 4^th in 3-pt/game (2.6)
• Dewey 6^th in MIAA in assist/game (3.9); Koyamainavure 8^th (3.7)
• Koyamainavure and Handy tied for 2^nd in MIAA in steals/game (2.4_; Jefferson 9^th (2)

 
PITTSBURG STATE

• Pittsburg State one of three undefeated MIAA teams and only to be unranked
• Team opened MIAA play with wins over Northeastern State (76-38) and Central Oklahoma (81-76) at home
• Gorillas lead MIAA in fewest fouls (96) and 3-pt/game (8)
• Mikaela Burgess leads MIAA in 3-pt/game with 3.3
• Burgess leads team/7^th MIAA in pts./game (16)
• Kylie Gafford leads team/17^th MIAA with 5.7 rebounds/game; Cathy Brugman also averaged 5.7
• Paige Imhoff leads team/9^th MIAA with 3.7 assists/game
• Gafford leads team/3^rd MIAA with 1.3 blocks/game

 
SERIES
Pittsburg State has won the last two meetings, including an 81-71 win in the Fieldhouse last January as the 5^th ranked team in the country. Rob Edmisson is 2-2 versus Pittsburg State, picking up both his wins during his first season at MWSU (2012-13), one in the regular season and winning in Pittsburg during the first round of the MIAA Tournament. Missouri Western leads the all-time series 46-23.
 
COACHES
Rob Edmisson is in his fourth season at Missouri Western and is off to his best start. Edmisson is 48-40 at Missouri Western and 437-148 in his career. Prior to becoming MWSU's eighth head coach, he went 212-31 in seven seasons at Oklahoma City University, winning an NAIA National Championship in 2012. Edmisson was also head coach at Hutchison Community College for nine seasons.
 
Lane Lord is in his ninth season as head coach at Pittsburg State. Lord is 160-83 in his time with Pitt State. Last season, Lord led the Gorillas to their second straight NCAA Tournament and third in his tenure. Lord was the head coach at Barton County Community College for three seasons prior to taking the job at Pittsburg State and Wichita Heights High School for nine years before that.