ST. JOSEPH - Hey, remember that time the Missouri Western women's basketball team finished a game with four players on the floor? What about the time they lost nine-straight conference games? Or when they finished the regular season losing 14 of 15 games?
 
Well, that was this season. Those seem like distant memories after that same Griffon team pulled off two historically unbelievable upsets in one week.
 
The team that squeaked into the MIAA Championships on a second tiebreaker is now one of just four teams with a chance to win the conference's postseason championship and its automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. The No. 12-seeded Griffons have surprised everyone on their way to a semifinal date with No. 9-seed Lindenwood on Saturday at 2:15 p.m.. 
 
Playing a style of basketball that any fan under the age of 50 has probably never seen before, Rob Edmisson led his injury and eligibility depleted roster past No.-5 seed Nebraska Kearney. It was the team's first win in more than three weeks. It was the team's second road-win all season and the first against a conference opponent. It was also the first-ever win for a No. 12-seed in the MIAA Championships. Three days later the Griffons knocked off the No. 4-seed, Central Oklahoma, 49-46. It was the first time the Griffons won consecutive games since a six-game win streak ended in early December. 

The average score of Missouri Western's first two MIAA tournament games: 54-51. Lincoln was the only MIAA team to average less than 61 points a game this year at 58. The league scoring average per team this season was about 70 points. Missouri Western's possession-based approach has trimmed the Griffons and their opponents down to 48 shots per game over MWSU's last 13 games. That's about 10 fewer shots per game than the average in the MIAA this season. 
 
The historical significance of what the team has done this past week is remarkable enough, but in the context of what the team has endured all season, it's simply unfathomable.
 
Edmisson lost three starters from the team that started this season 9-1 overall and 3-0 in the MIAA. After four Griffons fouled out of Missouri Western's Jan. 15 double-overtime loss to Southwest Baptist, the Griffons were forced to finish the game with four players on the floor. Three days later, Missouri Western dressed six players at Fort Hays State only to see one go down five minutes into the game. Two days after that at Nebraska Kearney, Edmisson was forced to play five for all 40 minutes. 
 
Despite all that Edmisson will lead his sixth Griffon team back onto the floor at historical Municipal Auditorium Saturday afternoon for the conference semifinals. It will be just the second time in his tenure at Missouri Western he's advanced to the conference's version of the final four. The only other time was in 2016 with a team that claimed the MIAA regular season championship after winning an MIAA record 20 conference games. This year's team went 4-15 in conference play.
 
If the script couldn't get any richer, Missouri Western is stealing the Cinderella spotlight from its semifinal opponent, Lindenwood. The Lions are in the semis for the second-straight year as the No. 9-seed and were the lowest seed to ever get to this point before the Bad News Griffs crashed the party. Lindenwood got to Saturday's game by knocking off regular season champion Central Missouri in impressive fashion.
 
So Saturday pits one underdog against another. The winner will become the lowest seed to ever play in the MIAA Championship final on Sunday. What seemed unimaginable seven days ago will become reality in a few days. But at this point, what is unimaginable?