The Griffons take a 2-0 record on the road to revisit a rivalry that dates back to Misssouri Western’s debut in the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women on Thursday night, as Candi Whitaker’s squad heads to Bolivar, Mo., to take on Southwest Baptist University. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. from the Jane and Ken Meyer Gymnasium.

Southwest Baptist picked up a split on its opening weekend of action, returning from the Jack “Pops” Duncan Classic hosted by Trevecca Nazarene with a 1-1 record. The Bearcats lost 75-66 to Kentucky Wesleyan in their season opener, but rebounded to defeat host TNU 67-54 on Saturday.

Southwest Baptist has seen offensive contributions from a number of players on the young season, led by Kyleigh Vaught’s 14.5 pts/gm. Kelsey Blakemore, Mary Rose Foster and Micah Clayton are each averaging 10.0 pts/gm, with Clayton pulling down 5.5 reb/gm as well. Nyah Pettus is also a solid rebounder, matching Clayton’s 5.5 per game pace.
As a team, the Bearcats protect the ball and the hoop well, turning the ball over just 27 times to 36 for their opponents, and holding a 19-9 edge in steals. SBU has also posted nine blocks on the season, with Foster, Clayton and Emma Perry each recording a pair.

A double-double by Connie Clarke (19 pts, 10 reb) and a 52-30 advantage in points in the paint helped Missouri Western to a 78-67 win over Southeastern Oklahoma State University on Nov. 13. Clarke was one of four Griffons in double figures as MWSU moved to 2-0 for the first time since the 2018-19 season.

Clarke opened the scoring for MWSU and paced the Griffons through a 10-5 run over the first three minutes of the contest. The Savage Storm surged back with an 8-3 stretch to take a one-point lead with 4:15 left in the first, but the lead lasted all of 21 seconds as Jordan Cunningham notched a three-point play to start a 9-0 run. Clarke followed up with back-to-back buckets off assists from Camille Evans and Jaelyn Haggard, and Corbyn Cunningham picked up a second-chance bucket to give MWSU a 21-13 lead.

Trinity Knapp had 12 points off the bench for MWSU, with Jordan Cunningham and Brionna Budgetts each adding 11. The Griffons shot 49.2 percent from the floor (32-65) on the night and held a 35-25 rebounding edge. Kamryn Cantwell led all scorers on the night with 32 points as Southeastern Oklahoma shot 48.1 percent (25-52) in falling to 0-2 on the year.

Missouri Western opened the 2019-20 home season with a dismantling of former MIAA foe Southwest Baptist Univ. 84-63 on Nov. 15.

The Griffons led wire-to-wire, leading by as many as 24 points. Four Griffons were in double-figures and current Griffon Corbyn Cunningham (18 pts, 16 reb.) was one of two MWSU players to post double-doubles. Missouri Western out-rebounded the Bearcats by 16 and doubled SBU up in the paint, 44-22.

Missouri Western controls the series between the teams, winning 35 of the previous 56 contests dating back to the AIAW and NAIA eras for both schools. The largest win for the Griffons in the NCAA era came on Jan. 21, 2006 (78-37) with the worst loss occurring on Jan. 29, 2008 (77-60).