ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Winners of four straight overall and in this upcoming rivalry matchup, Griffon Women's Basketball is set to battle No. 16-ranked Central Missouri on Saturday inside the Multipurpose Building. 

TICKETS + WHERE TO WATCH/LISTEN
Griffon WBB (14-4, 9-3 MIAA) will once again hit the airwaves of KFEQ Radio, as fans can tune in with "The Voice of the Griffons" Tommy Rezac on the call. The games will air on KFEQ - AM 680 and the KFEQ Live Stream. 

Games are also available to watch for a subscription fee on the MIAA Network. The pregame show starts 30 minutes prior to tipoff. Game admission can be found in the "Tickets" tab.

MACRO MIAA NUMBERS
The Griffons currently lead the MIAA in the following categories:

• Points per game: 78.9 (eighth in NCAA Division II)
• Average scoring margin: +21.9 (fifth in DII)
• Threes made: 153 (10th in DII)
• Threes made per game: 8.5 (14th in DII)
• Assists: 317 (10th in DII)
• Assists per game: 17.6 (11th in DII)
• Assist/turnover ratio: 1.33 (fourth in DII)
• Turnover margin: +6.28 (13th in DII)
• Steals: 212 (20th in DII)
• Steals per game: 11.78 (27th in DII)

NOTABLES

• Missouri Western is tied with Fort Hays State for second place in the MIAA standings. Western currently holds the tiebreaker over Hays thanks to a head-to-head road win on Dec. 9.
• The Griffons are 1-0 vs. top-25 teams this season, beating No. 18 Fort Hays in that Dec. 9 matchup.
• With 1,160 field goal attempts, the most in the MIAA and eighth-most in DII, MWSU is shooting 45.7% from the field, good for second in the conference and 15th in the country.
• Western's four-game winning streak is the second-longest active streak in the MIAA. Missouri Southern has won 11 in a row. 
• With a 3-point clip of 35.1%, MWSU is third in the MIAA and 24th in DII.
• Western's 3-point shooting defense is holding teams to 27.3%, which is third in the MIAA and 50th in DII.
• Opponents are shooting a league-low 65.1% from the free-throw line when playing MWSU.
• MWSU is fourth in the conference with 40.1 rebounds per game.
• With 28.2 defensive rpg, MWSU is third in the MIAA. Western is fifth with 11.9 offensive rpg.
• Western only turns the ball over on average 13.3 times per game, good for second in the conference.
• With 352 turnovers forced, MWSU is first in the MIAA. The Griffs are first with 19.6 forced turnovers per game.
• Senior forward Connie Clarke is eighth in the MIAA with 7.2 rebounds per game and 13th with 12.8 ppg.
• Clarke leads the MIAA with 47 steals and 2.6 spg. Her 47 steals tie her for 28th in the country.
• Clarke also leads the team with 15 blocks, tying her for ninth within the league.
• Junior guard Alyssa Bonilla leads MWSU with 50 assists, placing her 11th in the MIAA.
• Senior guard Brionna Budgetts is sixth in the MIAA with 35 made threes. Junior guards Jayme Jackson (24 threes) and Mackenzie Hart (23 threes) are 15th and 16th, respectively. 
• With 12 more rebounds, Clarke will have collected 700 boards in her career. She would be the seventh Griffon to score 1,000 points and snag 700 rebounds in program history.
• Currently fifth all-time in wins at MWSU, Head Coach Candi Whitaker's next victory will be her 90th as a Griffon. She is 89-45 since joining the program in 2019. 

1/27 - SCOUTING NO. 16 CENTRAL MISSOURI | 1 PM
Coming off its first loss since Jan. 6, Central Missouri (14-4, 8-4 MIAA) heads into Saturday third in the conference standings and ranked 16th in the WBCA Top-25 Poll. The Jennies just lost to unranked Northwest Missouri State 76-68 on Thursday, ending a four-game winning streak and dropping UCM's record at home inside the Multipurpose Building to 4-3. Before Jan. 25, UCM's last home loss was Dec. 16 in an overtime thriller against Pittsburg State. Thursday's loss also broke the Jennies' 15-game winning streak over Northwest, a run that started in 2015. 

 The Jennies enter Saturday's showdown with the MIAA's second-best rebounding defense, holding opponents to just 33 rpg. With 74.3 ppg, UCM is third in the MIAA and 31st in DII.

Who to Watch
Public enemy No. 1 for MWSU is junior guard Brooke Littrell, who leads the MIAA and is tied for 21st in DII with 18.9 ppg. Now a back-to-back MIAA Athlete of the Week, she is fifth in the conference with 8.6 rpg, fourth with a field goal clip of 47.5% and second from the free-throw line at 90.1%. 

Junior guard Olivia Nelson is eighth in the MIAA with 14.6 ppg and eighth with a field goal percentage of 44.1. Nelson can sling it, currently sitting in fourth in the MIAA with 78 assists. She's third in the MIAA with an assist/turnover ratio of 1.9. With 588 minutes played, the fifth-most minutes played in the MIAA, Nelson is fourth in steals with 38 this season. 

Head Coach
A 2018 MWSU Hall of Fame inductee, Dave Slifer is in his 20th season at UCM. Since taking over in 2004, he is 414-175 with the Jennies, and he is 798-274 in his 35-year career. Slifer is MWSU's all-time wins leader, guiding the Griffons to 206 victories and just 69 losses from 1995-2004. He is 25-12 vs. MWSU, 3-5 vs. Whitaker and 15-3 when he coaches against the Griffons in Warrensburg.

Rivalry Record Rabbit Hole
Since first playing in 1984, Western trails UCM 34-43 in the all-time series. However, MWSU has won four straight and has a chance to claim its first five-game winning streak over UCM since doing so from 2000-01, the second-longest Griffon winning streak in the rivalry's history. Western is 10-27 in Warrensburg but won its last outing there on Jan. 26, 2022. The Griffons are looking for their first pair of back-to-back wins in Warrensburg since that five-game winning streak from 2000-01.

Last Time We Met
Box Score | Video Recap
The Griffons and Jennies last faced off on Jan. 21, 2023, in St. Joseph, ending in a 66-63 Western win over a No. 5/ranked UCM squad at the MWSU Fieldhouse. The Griffons stained UCM's 16-0 record by erasing an 11-point second-half deficit, an effort spearheaded by solid performances by Budgetts, Clarke and Johnni Gonazakez. Budgetts scored a game-high 19 points and shot 5-of-8 from deep. Gonzalez and Clarke tallied 14 and 12 points, respectively. Swiping a game-high five steals, Clarke's defense helped hold UCM to 32.3% from the field. 

ON THIS DAY IN GRIFFON WBB HISTORY
Jan. 28 | Box Score | Video Recap
While not quite on this day back in 2022, it's still close enough. The No. 25-ranked Griffons defeated the Jennies 82-77 in overtime in Warrensburg. After Budgetts' game-winning bucket at the buzzer was waved off, MWSU and UCM went into OT for the second time that 2021-22 season. Western opened the fifth period on an 8-0 run and made 14-of-16 free throws to end the game. Budgetts scored a team-high 20 points, complemented by two 14-point nights from Clarke and Jordan Cunningham. Clarke brought down a game-high nine rebounds and shot 8-of-8 at the charity stripe, helping the Griffons make 31-of-36 shots at the line.