KANSAS CITY, Mo - The Missouri Western women's basketball team now awaits an uncertain NCAA Tournament fate.  

The 5th-seeded Griffons fell to top-seeded Missouri Southern 65-58 in Saturday's MIAA Tournament semifinals at Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium.  

Western used a scorching 85% shooting second half to take a 43-35 lead to halftime but the Lions limited the Griffons to just 15 second half points and 16 second second half turnovers to slowly chip away and stay in front for their 17th consecutive win. MIAA Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year Lacy Stokes scored 31 points for Southern, propelling the Lions into the MIAA Tournament Championship game on Sunday.

The Griffons will now have to wait and see if their 21-9 record is good enough to earn them a spot in the dance.  Western is the #8 seed in the latest NCAA Central Regional rankings with the top 8 teams earning a spot to the NCAA DII Regional Tournament. The Central Region is made up of teams from the Northern Sun Conference, The MIAA and the Great American Conference. Each conference tournament winner earns an automatic qualifier to the Regional Tournament, meaning if a team outside the Regional rankings wins their conference tourney, it could leave the Griffons on the outside looking in.

The NCAA Division II selection show is set for Sunday night.