ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - Missouri Western women's basketball (2-2) continues its non-conference slate this week, as the Griffons face Central Region opponents Concordia-St. Paul (4-0) on Wednesday and Minnesota State-Moorhead (0-3) on Thursday - both games on the road.
Both games start at 6 p.m. central. The games will be available to stream
on the NSIC Network.
Last Time Out
Missouri Western held a 32-28 halftime lead, but Colorado State-Pueblo outscored the Griffons (2-2) 47-29 in the second half, and the Thunderwolves went on to win, 75-61, at Massari Arena in Pueblo, CO on Saturday.
CSU-Pueblo (2-2) outrebounded Missouri Western in the second half 26-9 and 45-39 on the night. That comes after the Griffs had outrebounded the Thunderwolves 30-19 in the first half.
CSU-Pueblo was 11-of-13 at the free throw line in the second half, while the Griffons were just 1-of-1 at the stripe over the final 20 minutes.
The Griffons were held to 20-of-63 shooting (31.7%) overall, though Western hit 10-of-36 (27.8%) from three. The Griffs also finished the game 11-of-12 (91.7%) at the free throw line with 10 of those makes coming in the first half.
Matilda Soderlund scored a career-high 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including 6-of-10 from three.
Alyssa Bonilla chipped in 12 points with four rebounds and two assists.
Jaidyn Schomp added eight points and four boards.
CSU-Pueblo outscored MWSU in the paint, 34-20.
Series Histories
Wednesday marks the third ever meeting with Concordia-St. Paul. The all-time series is tied 1-1, though MWSU beat CSP at Civic Arena last November, 84-71. Thursday, meanwhile, will be the third all-time meeting with Minnesota State-Moorhead and the first since 2002. MWSU is 2-0 against MSUM all-time.
Get to Know the Griffs
Missouri Western hired its 10th head coach in program history this past offseason, naming
Ashton Feldhaus to the position on April 15. Feldhaus takes the reins after spending the previous five seasons as the top assistant and associate head coach for NCAA Division II Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida.
In those five years, Eckerd won a combined 91 games and made the NCAA tournament in each of those five seasons. They also won the Sunshine State Conference championship this past March.
As for the team itself, Missouri Western returns five players from last year's team that won an MIAA regular season championship for the sixth time in program history and the first time since 2016.
Alyssa Bonilla is back for her fourth season after leading the team last year with 2.4 assists and 1.3 steals per contest. She's been a spark again this season, averaging 13.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 6 assists and 1 steal per game so far.
Meredith Rieker,
Kelsey Johnson,
Kassandra Caron and
Jaidyn Schomp make up the rest of the returners. Caron played in 30 games last season, averaging 4.3 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.
The Griffons also added five transfers this offseason, including four from Division I schools.
Jessica Ford transferred in from Eckerd College, following Coach Feldhaus to St. Joseph from St. Petersburg, Florida. Ford, originally from Marlborough, England, started 22 games for the Tritons last season, averaging 6.0 points and 4.5 rebounds a game, helping Eckerd to a 20-win season and a Sunshine State Conference tournament championship.
Ford leads MWSU in rebounding so far with 5.3 boards per game.
Matilda Soderlund transferred in from Morehead State, where she played in 30 games and made five starts last season. The Stockholm, Sweden native led the Eagles last season with 45 made three-pointers.
Soderlund has led MWSU on the scoring end thus far, averaging 14.5 points per game.
Laura Toffali joins the fold after a two-year stay at Kennesaw State. A Villasanta, Italy native, Toffali played in 38 games for the Owls over the last two years, including four career starts. She scored a total of 114 points over the two years.
Marie Sepp comes over after two seasons at Division I University at Albany. She appeared in 54 total games and scored 38 total points in that time.
Malgorzata Byczkowska transferred after one year at Tarleton State. A native of Gdynia, Poland, Byczkowska spent the 2022-23 season at Howard College in Big Springs, Texas, earning WJCAC All-Conference honors. She averaged 13.1 ppg and 5.3 rpg that season as well.
Concordia-St. Paul - the Golden Bears
Concordia-St. Paul is off to a stellar start in 2024-25, coming in at 4-0 overall with wins over MIAA members Missouri Southern and Central Missouri. The Golden Bears went 20-8 last season with a 16-6 mark in NSIC Conference play.
CSP returns 12 players from that team, including four starters, and were picked to finish third out of 15 teams in the NSIC Preseason Poll. Lydia Haack has been the headliner, as she was named a first-team all-NSIC Conference pick in the 2022-23 season during her time at Upper Iowa.
Haack, through four games from CSP, missed last season with injury and has come out strong this year with 18 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Leah Dengerud is close behind, averaging 12.3 points per game with a team-best 10 made three-pointers.
Amanda Johnson is in her 10th season as the head coach at CSP. She's 145-95 in her time with the Golden Bears. She hired three new assistants this past offseason.
Minnesota State-Moorhead - the Dragons
Minnesota State-Moorhead is 0-3 on the season - all of those losses have come against MIAA teams. The Dragons, like Missouri Western, took part in the Central Region Women's Basketball Showcase at Civic Arena in St. Joseph on Nov. 8-9. Moorhead took losses that weekend to Northwest Missouri State (54-47) and Fort Hays State (65-41). They also lost at home last Thursday to Central Missouri, 70-52.
Through three games, senior guard Natalie Jens leads the Dragons in scoring at 9.3 points per game. She was a first-team all-NSIC Conference pick last season. Junior post Terryn Johnson sits in sixth in the NSIC in rebounds per game with eight per contest. Heading into Thursday, Johnson has started 46 consecutive games for MSUM. She was a second-team all-conference pick last season.
Karla Nelson is in her 25th season as the head coach of the Dragons with a career record of 412-260. She had led MSUM to 21 straight winning seasons, but the Dragons ended last season at 13-16 overall.
What's Next
Missouri Western will, at long last, get to play its first game at the MWSU Fieldhouse this coming Tuesday when the Griffons welcome former MIAA member Lincoln University to town for a 5:30 p.m. tip.
