ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - Missouri Western women's basketball will officially tip off its 2024-25 season this Friday and Saturday at St. Joseph's Civic Arena in the Central Region Women's Basketball Showcase hosted by the St. Joseph Sports Commission.

The Griffons will face Sioux Falls on Friday night at 7:30, and then Augustana on Saturday at 7:30. Both games will be available to watch with a subscription on the MIAA Network. The games will also be broadcast live on the Griffon Sports Network (Varsity Network App, GoGriffons.com/listen). Tommy Rezac will call the games, with the pregame coverage starting at 7 p.m. both nights.

When Last We Played
Missouri Western unofficially tipped off the season in exciting fashion last Wednesday, playing at the University of Iowa in an exhibition. The Hawkeyes, a team that's been the national runner-up in Division I each of the last two seasons, won that game 110-55, but there were still a number of positive takeaways for the Griffons.

 Alyssa Bonilla scored a game-high 19 points and Missouri Western made 11 three-pointers in a game played in front of 14,998 fans at Carver Hawkeye Arena the night before Halloween.

Nine different Missouri Western players cracked the scoring column in the game. Tiani Ellison had 11 points, including a 3-of-4 effort long range. Bonilla was 4-of-5 from downtown. Ellison also blocked two shots. Bonilla and Jessica Ford each led the team with four rebounds. Bonilla had a team-best two steals.

Series Histories
Friday will mark the third all-time meeting between Missouri Western and Sioux Falls - all three of them have been since 2021. Missouri Western holds a 2-0 record against the Cougars all time, including a 1-0 record in St. Joseph. 

Saturday will be the fourth all-time meeting with Augustana. The Vikings hold a 2-1 advantage against the Griffons all-time, though Missouri Western is 1-0 against Augustana in games played in St. Joseph - the last of which was in 2007.

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 as a first-time head coach after spending the past 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.

As for the roster itself, Missouri Western returns six players, including two with starting experience, 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.

Tiani Ellison is the team's lead returning scorer and rebounder, as she averaged 8.7 points and 3.9 rebounds per game as a freshman last season. Alyssa Bonilla is back for her fourth season after leading the team last year with 2.4 assists and 1.3 steals per contest. Meredith Rieker, Kelsey Johnson, Kassandra Caron and Jaidyn Schomp make up the rest of the returners.

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.

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.

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.

Scouting Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls is coming off of a 9-18 record from last season, including a 7-15 mark in NSIC Conference play. The Cougars look to bounce back this season, as they return five players who started 14 or more games and four players who started 22 or more. They also return five of their top six scorers overall.

Sophomore forward Kami Wadsworth led Sioux Falls last year with 14.8 ppg and 4.5 rpg, earning her NSIC Freshman of the Year honors. Sophomore guard Ayla Brown is also one to watch, as she was second on the team in scoring with 9.7 ppg. She also led the team last season with 78 assists and 30 made three-pointers. Sioux Falls was picked to finish 7th out of 14 teams in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll.

Sioux Falls is head coached by Travis Traphagen, who enters his 17th season with the Cougars. While Sioux Falls has had losing seasons each of the last two years, his tenure has been largely successful with a career record of 284-173. Traphagen has led Sioux Falls to six 20-win seasons, two NCAA tournament berths and an NSIC tournament championship in 2016. 

Analyzing Augustana
Like Missouri Western, Augustana ushers in a new era, as first-year head coach Nate Vogel takes the reins. Vogel spent the last five seasons as the head coach at Division II Texas A&M International. In the 2023-24 season, the Dustdevils collected a program-best record of 25-7 and garnered their first ever national ranking, reaching No. 17 in the country.

Augustana gained a transfer from the MIAA this past offseason, as Hannah Burg transferred from Missouri Southern. Burg played in 20 games for the Lions last season, averaging 3.4 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. Prior to Missouri Southern, Burg played two seasons at Iowa Western where she shot over 40 percent from beyond the arc each season. While at IWCC, Burg was named second team all-region in her second season and helped the Reivers to back-to-back conference championships.

It'll be a very new lineup for Augustana, as the Vikings lost their entire starting lineup from last season. In fact, they return only one player who started a game from last season - CJ Adamson. She started one game and played in 25 games total last year, averaging 3.0 ppg and 1.3 rpg. Katie Leisen is back after making 25 appearances off the bench last season, averaging 2.2 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.

What's Next
Missouri Western hits the road next weekend to play Colorado Christian on Friday, Nov. 15 at 4 p.m. CT and Colorado State-Pueblo on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 6 p.m. CT in Pueblo, CO as part of the Al Kaly Shrine Classic.

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