KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The slipper fits for the Cinderella Griffons. No. 12-seeded Missouri Western (13-17) knocked off No. 4-seeded Central Oklahoma (22-7) 49-46 in the MIAA quarterfinals Thursday night.
 
Missouri Western became the first 12-seed to ever win an MIAA quarterfinal game and will now face the previous lowest seed to ever advance to the semifinals, No. 9-seed Lindenwood. The Lions made it to the semis for the second straight year as the 9-seed by upsetting No. 1-seed Central Missouri Thursday night. Missouri Western's semifinal match-up with Lindenwood comes Saturday at 2:15 p.m.
 
Down by one at half, the Griffons outscored Central Oklahoma 29-25 in the second half. Two huge jumpers by Manaia Timson at the end of the third quarter gave the Griffons a 34-33 lead heading into the fourth quarter. The Griffons stretched the lead to seven with 3:39 left in the game. Central Oklahoma cut the lead to two with 1:31 left, but Melia Richardson knocked down a pair of free throws with 21 seconds remaining to put the game out of reach.
 
NOTABLES

• Richardson finished with a game-high 17 points
• Savannah Lentz scored nine points on 3-of-9 shooting from behind the arc
• KeShara Scott led MWSU with seven rebounds
• All three MWSU guards (Richardson, Lentz and Timson played all 40 minutes
• The Griffons held first team All-MIAA point guard Melinda Murillo to 4-of-10 shooting and forced her into four turnovers
• Central Oklahoma went 1-for-12 from three-point range
• Missouri Western led for exactly 20 minutes

 
UP NEXT
 The MIAA Championship semifinals Saturday at 2:15 against No. 9-seed Lindenwood (17-12).