Missouri Western puts its 3-0 record on the line against another undefeated team tonight as the Griffons welcome 4-0 Illinois-Springfield to the MWSU Fieldhouse on Monday. It's the final non-conference tuneup for the Griffons before jumping into MIAA action after the fall break.

The Prairie Stars bring a 4-0 record into tonight's game, having most recently downed Lincoln 82-48. UIS opened with a pair of wins at the Midwest Region Crossover hosted by McKendree University; winning 61-57 over Purdue University-Northwest and 60-57 over Tiffin. UIS also edged Kentucky Wesleyan 66-63 on the road.

Lauren Ladowski leads the UIS offense, averaging 17.5 pts/gm on 52.2 percent shooting. She is one of two Prairie Stars with eight steals on the year - Ally Gietzel is the other - and the team has averaged 10.0 per game through the early going. Malea Jackson and Ellie Mitchell are also in double figures for UIS, averaging 10.0 pts/gm each. UIS has outscored its opponents 67.3-53.3 on the year and outshot them 42.1 percent (93-221) to 34.9 percent (75-215) from the floor.

Brionna Budgetts anchored a wide-ranging Missouri Western offense, scoring a game-high 14 points as the Griffons ran over Southwest Baptist 70-45 on Thursday. Budgetts was one of three MWSU players in double digits on the night - Corbyn Cunningham and Trinity Knapp each added 10 - as the Griffons moved to 3-0 for the first time since the 2017-18 season.

Southwest Baptist opened the scoring, converting after a traveling violation was whistled against Missouri Western, but the lead lasted all of eight seconds.

Budgetts answered with a three-pointer on the next possession, and after misses from both teams she knocked down a layup after a Cunningham steal. The Griffons pulled away slowly in the opening quarter, then cracked the game wide open in the second. Missouri Western shot 55.6 percent from the floor and picked up 12 points on the break while holding Southwest Baptist to 23.5 percent shooting and 10 points in the quarter to turn a 15-10 first quarter lead into a 37-20 halftime margin.

The Griffon defense was every bit as stifling in the third quarter, holding the Bearcats to just two field goal makes on 16.7 percent shooting as MWSU extended its lead to 55-30. Turning to its bench with the game well in hand, Missouri Western cooled off slightly as Southwest Baptist found its range, but the Griffons easily held its 25-point margin through the final 10 minutes. MWSU held a 13-8 edge in steals and added three blocks - two from Connie Clarke - in the rout.

Griffon Women's Basketball (8-2) scored 20 points in overtime to overcome a near collapse at Illinois Springfield (6-3) on Dec.18, 84-77.

Missouri Western never trailed in regulation and led by as many as 17, but UIS outscored the Griffs 17-6 in the fourth quarter to force the overtime. The Prairie Stars took their first lead of the game with 3:48 left in OT and led by two with 2:13 left, but then Katrina Roenfeldt, Mychaell Gray and Chris Wilson took over. The trio scored all 20 of the Griffons' overtime points; eight for Wilson and six each from Gray and Roefeldt. They also had all five of MWSU's overtime rebounds and three of their six assists in the extra period.