Wichita, Ks. - On the heels of their first two-game losing streak of the season, the Missouri Western women got back on track in a big way with a 70-37 win at Newman on Thursday night.  They did it without their head coach in the lineup. With Candi Whitaker sitting out the trip due to Covid-19 protocols, Assistant Coach Emily Wacker made her unofficial head coaching debut.

The Griffons (13-3, 7-3 MIAA) forced 31 turnovers and held the Jets (2-15, 0-11 MIAA) to just 25% (13-52 FG) shooting in a wire-to-wire road victory. 

After a slow start that saw MWSU hold a 13-9 lead after the first quarter, the Griffons outscored the Jets 46-18 over the next two periods, leading by as many as 37 points.  Western shot 42% from the field and went 7-25 from behind the arc.  

Brionna Budgetts led a balanced scoring attack with 18 points and 3 steals. She was the only MWSU player in double figures, but 12 different Griffons contributed in the scoring column and all 15 players saw action.   Connie Clark added 9 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals and Jordan Cunningham had a team-high 7 assists to go along with 5 points and 2 steals.

Western returns to action on Saturday, January 22nd at Central Oklahoma.  Tip time is set for 1:30 pm in Edmond.