The Missouri Western women's basketball team wraps up a quick two-game road trip as they travel to Emporia State Saturday for a 5:00 p.m. tip with the Hornets.  The Griffons look to get back on track as they had their three-game winning streak stopped Thursday at Washburn, 51-41, and are now 6-12 this season.  MWSU struggled to score against the Ichabods as they shot just 34.8% (16-46) and made 1-of-10 three-point field goals.  Asia McCoy led Missouri Western with 13 points and eight rebounds, while Brionna Budgetts added 9 points.

Emporia State is 15-4 this season as they've won three straight games and seven of their last eight.  The Hornets are in fourth place in the MIAA standings, one game back of UNK for third.  ESU leads the league in scoring (74.5), three-point FG% (35.4) and steals per game (10.0), and they're second in fewest turnovers (12.2).  Tre'Zure Jobe leads Emporia State as she's averaging 20.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.  Ehlaina Hartman (13.1 P), Karsen Shultz (12.9 P, 6.1 R) and Fredricka Sheats (12.3 P, 7.9 R) also average double figures for ESU.  Toby Wynn is in his third season as they head coach of the Hornets and he is 61-20 overall and 43-14 in the MIAA.

This will be the second meeting between the two teams this season as Emporia State won at the MWSU Fieldhouse, 79-61, on February 2.  Missouri Western made a season-high nine three-pointers in the game, but the Hornets made 13-of-50 three-point field goals and forced MWSU into 25 turnovers.  Kameron Freemyer came off the bench to lead MWSU with 13 points and five rebounds, while ESU was led by Hartman with 23 points.

Emporia State leads the all-time series 56-36, including a 30-13 mark in Emporia.  The Hornets have won two straight in the series at home, but White Auditorium has been a tough place to play for the Griffons.  They have just one win since the 2004-05 season at ESU.  That came during Missouri Western's MIAA championship season in 2015-16.

RESCHEDULED GAMES
Missouri Western had to rescheduled three games from January that were postponed after the Griffons had to pause all team activities.  They've made up two of those games after playing at Fort Hays State last week and after hosting Newman on Tuesday.  The final game that has to be made up is MWSU's home game with Central Oklahoma from Saturday, January 23, as it will now be played next Wednesday, February 24 in St. Joseph.

FINDING THEIR OFFENSE
The Griffons struggled offensively against Washburn on Tuesday, but prior to that game MWSU was averaging 72.3 points per game in their last three, which was their best three-game scoring stretch of the season.  They shot over 45% in two of those three games and shot 45.3% (82-181) during the homestand.  That's also their best three-game shooting stretch of the season.  MWSU has also made 37.9% (22-of-58) of their three-point field goals in their last three games despite shooting just 28.9% from behind the arc this season.

DEFENDING THE 3
The Griffons are now second in the MIAA in three-point field goal percentage defense (27.9%).  Only three opponents have shot better than 40% from three this season.  Western has held 12 teams to under 40% shooting overall and they've held 13 opponents to 67 points or less this season.

FORCING TURNOVERS
Missouri Western has forced 19 or more turnovers six times this season and 14 or more in 12 games.  They are tied for first in the MIAA in turnovers forced per game (16.7) after forcing Washburn to committ 16 turnovers on Thursday.

ON THE GLASS
MWSU is fourth in the MIAA in offensive rebounds (12.4) this season.  They are sixth in the league in rebounds per game (37.7).  MWSU has had at least 38 rebounds in ten games and they've added 11 or more offensive rebounds in 11 games this season. 

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 - 1529 (42.5% of teams total minutes)
Sophomore - 705 (19.6%)
Junior - 422 (11.7%)
Senior - 944 (26.2%)

MINUTES PLAYED PER YEAR OF EXPERIENCE IN THE PROGRAM
1st Year – 2206 (61.3% of teams total min. played)
2nd Year – 1304 (36.2%)
3rd Year – 90 (2.5%)

POINTS SCORED PER CLASS
Freshman - 414 (38.4% of teams total points)
Sophomore - 295 (27.4%)
Junior - 139 (12.9%)
Senior - 229 (21.3%)
 
POINTS SCORED PER YEAR OF EXPERIENCE IN THE PROGRAM
1st Year – 678 (63.0% of teams total points scored)
2nd Year – 374 (34.7%)
3rd Year – 25 (2.3%)