KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A sluggish second quarter by the No. 6-seeded Griffon women's basketball (21-8) team on Friday in the MIAA Championship quarterfinals gave No. 3 seed Nebraska Kearney (26-5) all the cushion it needed to eliminate Missouri Western, 68-82.
 
The Griffons went 3 of 12 from the field in the second quarter and were outscored 18-7 with the Lopers going 7 of 12 from the field. It helped UNK build a 12-point halftime lead after edging out MWSU 21-20 over the first 10 minutes. The Griffons outscored UNK 35-28 in the second half and whittled a 13-point UNK lead to four with 30 seconds left off a Katrina Roenfeldt three. MWSU continued to get some stops, but just could not get the big bucket to give the Griffons a chance for the win down the stretch.
 
NOTABLES

• It was Nebraska-Kearney's first win over MWSU in the MIAA Championships in four tries.
• The Griffons had ended UNK's season each of the previous two seasons in the association's postseason tournament.
• MWSU had 12 steals on 15 UNK turnovers, but scored just nine points off those turnovers.
• The Griffons shot 52.9% in the first quarter, 53.8% in the third quarter and 40% in the fourth.
• Chris Wilson led MWSU with 17 points on 8 of 11 shooting and pulled down a team-high six rebounds.
• Corbyn Cunningham scored 14 points with three steals, but was limited to 37.5% shooting from the field.
• Roenfeldt had a team-high six assists and three steals.