ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western women's basketball (3-0) team led William Jewell (0-1) for 112 seconds of Wednesday night's game. Fortunately, for the Griffons, it was the final 112 seconds as MWSU completed a second half comeback for a 67-63 home opening victory.
 
FIRST LEAD COMES LATE
Brittany Atkins sunk a three pointer with 1:52 remaining that put the Griffons up for the first time in the game, 60-59. Atkins' dagger was the second-straight Griffon three in what became an 8-0 run for the Griffons. Missouri Western outscored the Cardinals 13-5 over the final 3:39 after trailing by as many as 13 points in the game.
 
ATKINS STAYS EFFICIENT
Atkins scored a game-high 25 points and she did it in 29 minutes. Through her first three games, the junior has scored 49 points in 62 minutes. Wednesday night, Atkins shot 46 percent (7-15) from the field and was 9-of-10 from the free throw line. As a team, Missouri Western shot better than 43 percent from the field, but allowed William Jewell to shoot 52 percent.
 
TURNOVER MACHINE
Through the first three games of the season, Missouri Western has forced 82 opponent turnovers – 24 Wednesday night – while giving the basketball away just 40 times. Missouri Western has 47 steals after 13 against William Jewell. Griffon opponents have just 14 steals all season.
 
UP NEXT
The Griffons travel to Springfield, Missouri to take on No. 7-ranked Drury on the road. Drury is 2-1 after a 93-82 loss to Southwest Baptist on Tuesday night.