Missouri Western wraps up a three-game road trip Saturday as they travel to Jefferson City for matchup against Lincoln. The Griffons will try and stop their seven-game skid as they fell to 2-8 this season after a 66-45 loss at No. 17 Central Missouri on Thursday.
MWSU struggled in the first half at UCM Thursday as they fell behind 36-11 at halftime. The Griffons fought back in the second half as they outscored the Jennies 34-30 and had 13 offensive rebounds.
Asia McCoy and
Jordan Cunningham led Western with nine points each, and
Logan Hughes added eight.
Lincoln (1-12) earned its first victory of the season Thursday with a 72-46 win over Northwest Missouri State. That win stopped the Blue Tigers' 37-game losing streak to MIAA opponents and was their first win in league play since defeating Northwest on February 9, 2019.
Missouri Western defeated Lincoln earlier this season on December 3 at the MWSU Fieldhouse 62-55. LU led at the break 31-26, but the Griffs outscored the Blue Tiger 21-12 in the third quarter and held on for the seven-point win. Hughes led MWSU with 14 points and
Mary Fultz scored 11. Both team had 23 turnovers in the game and 17 offensive rebounds.
Western leads the all-time series with Lincoln 39-6, including a 15-5 mark in Jefferson City. The Griffons have won five straight against LU and 12 of the last 13. The last win for the Blue Tigers came at Jason Gym during the 2017-18 season, 73-62.
RESCHEDULED GAMES
Missouri Western had to postpone three games last week after pausing all team activities, and all three have now been rescheduled. The Fort Hays State game from Saturday, January 16 will now be played at Hays on Monday, February 8 at 5:30 p.m. The Newman game from Thursday, January 21 has been rescheduled for Monday, February 15 at 5:30 p.m. inside the MWSU Fieldhouse. And the Griffons home game with Central Oklahoma from Saturday, January 23, will now be played February 24 in St. Joseph.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Missouri Western is relying on many young players this season after graduating six seniors and losing all five starters off their 21-8 team last season. The Griffons have nine first-year players and just six that played in a Griffon uniform prior to this season.
MINUTES PLAYED PER CLASS
Freshman - 887 (44.4% of teams total minutes)
Sophomore - 349 (17.5%)
Junior - 218 (10.9%)
Senior - 535 (26.8%)
MINUTES PLAYED PER YEAR OF EXPERIENCE IN THE PROGRAM
1st Year – 1245 (62.3% of teams total minutes played)
2nd Year – 731 (36.6%)
3rd Year – 24 (1.2%)
POINTS SCORED PER CLASS
Freshman - 253 (43.9% of teams total points)
Sophomore - 135 (23.4%)
Junior - 65 (11.3%)
Senior - 123 (21.4%)
POINTS SCORED PER YEAR OF EXPERIENCE IN THE PROGRAM
1st Year – 377 (65.5% of teams total minutes played)
2nd Year – 197 (34.2%)
3rd Year – 2 (0.3%)
ON THE GLASS
MWSU leads the MIAA in offensive rebounds (13.1) this season and they are seventh in the league to rebounds per game (37.5). MWSU has had at least 38 rebounds in six games and they've added 11 or more offensive rebounds in six games this season.
DEFENSE
The Griffons are ow second in the MIAA in three-point field goal percentage defense (26.6%). Only two opponents have shot better than 40% from three this season. Western has held six teams to under 40% shooting overall and they've held seven opponents to 67 points or less this season.
FORCING TURNOVERS
Missouri Western has forced 20 or more turnovers three times this season and 15 or more in six games. They rank seventh in the MIAA in steals per game (6.9).
