ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - Missouri Western women's basketball (4-3) opens MIAA Conference play this week, with a test on Tuesday at No. 15 Northwest Missouri State (7-1) and then a home contest against Emporia State (3-4) on Saturday. Both games start at 5:30 p.m. CT.

Where to Watch, Where to Listen
Both games will be broadcast live on the Griffon Sports Network (Varsity Network App, GoGriffons.com/listen) with pregame coverage for both games starting at 5 p.m. The games will be available to watch with a subscription on the MIAA Network.

Last Time Out
Missouri Western women's basketball used an 18-0 second half run to ultimately put Lincoln away, 94-52, this past Tuesday night at the MWSU Fieldhouse in St. Joseph.

In the first official home game of the season, the Griffons (4-3) led 42-27 at halftime, and then lit up the scoreboard in the third quarter, putting up 25 points in that period and then another 27 in the fourth.

Their 18-0 run happened in less than five minutes. In fact, in a 37-second span, Missouri Western went on a 9-0 barrage to go up 58-29 with 5:56 left in the third.

Alyssa Bonilla had another productive night, scoring a game-high 19 points on a 4-of-5 clip from three. Her four made threes are a new career-high in a single game. Matilda Soderlund added 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting overall, while Marie Sepp added 13 points to go with seven assists and five rebounds.

Jaidyn Schomp scored a new career-best 11 points to go with four boards. The Griffons shot 61% (36-of-59) from the field, including 11-of-23 (47.8%) from three. The Griffons scored 48 points in the paint, doled out 28 assists and had 27 fastbreak points. Western also hit 11-of-15 at the foul line

Defensively, Missouri Western turned Lincoln (1-2) over 20 times and scored 32 points off of those. The Blue Tigers were held to 32.2% (19-of-59) from the field, and just 3-of 22 (13.6%) from three.

Series Histories
Tuesday marks the 80th all-time meeting between the Griffons and Bearcats. MWSU holds a 47-32 all-time advantage in this series, having won each of the last five meetings in a row.

Meanwhile, Saturday will mark the 100th all-time meeting against Emporia State. The Hornets lead that all-time series 60-39, though the Griffons have won five straight games in this series as well.

Makin' it Rain
Missouri Western has made 74-of-210 three-point attempts (35.2%) so far this season. Their 74 makes are second most in the MIAA and in the nation - second only to Missouri Southern, who has drained 77 triples so far. However, Missouri Western is No. 1 in the league from beyond the arc with that 35.2% mark.

The Griffons are making 10.6 three-pointers per contest - the most of any team in the MIAA and the fourth most of any team in the country.

Getting 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.

Bonilla is Ballin'
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 13.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game so far.

Bonilla's 5.7 assists per game is good for second most of any player in the MIAA and 13th most in NCAA Division II.

Familiar Faces
 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. Coming off the bench this year in all seven games, Caron is averaging a solid 8.9 points and 4.0 rebounds per contest.

Schomp has started every game thus far, and leads the team with six blocked shots. She's also averaging 5.4 points and 3.4 boards per game.

From St. Petersburg to St. Joseph
The Griffons 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. Originally from Marlborough, England, Ford 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 5.1 boards per game. 

Soderlund can Shoot
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 is averaging 10.6 points per game thus far for the Griffs, having scored in double-digits four times already, including a career-best 22 points against Colorado State-Pueblo. Soderlund is also one of the sharpest shooters in the MIAA, making 18-of-36 (50%) from long range, ranking second in the league and 19th in the nation in three-point percentage. Soderlund is making 2.6 treys per game - tied for fourth most in the MIAA.

More D1 Experience
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 those 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. So far at MWSU, Sepp is averaging 10.3 points per contest.

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.

Knowing Northwest
Coming off of an NCAA tournament bid last season, No. 15 Northwest is one of the hottest teams in the country right now, entering Tuesday's game on a six-game winning streak. They most recently beat Mission University this past Saturday, 75-59, in Maryville.

Through eight contests, the Bearcats are holding opponents to 21.3% (17-of-80) from long-range, leading the MIAA and ranking 12th nationally. Northwest's scoring defense ranks second in the MIAA at 55 points per game. With forwards in Kelsey Fields and Sadie Maas leading the way, the Bearcats rank fourth in the MIAA in offensive (13.1) and third in defensive (28.9) rebounds per game.

Maas has blocked 16 shots through the first eight games this season, topping the MIAA and ranking 10th in NCAA Division II.

Offensively, Caely Kesten sits as the third-highest three-point shooter in the nation with 24 threes made so this season, along with threes made per game (3.43). She leads the MIAA in both of those categories. Kesten ranks No. 2 in the MIAA and 23rd in the nation with her 53.3% accuracy from beyond the arc.

Northwest is head coached by Austin Meyer, who's in his seventh year at the helm. He's guided Northwest to a 96-90 record in that time, including a 23-8 record and second place finish in the MIAA last year. Meyer is 3-9 against Missouri Western in his career.

So far this year, Northwest has played a whale of a schedule, facing three top five opponents and beating two of them. The Bearcats surged into the national polls after a 85-67 drubbing of then No. 1 and defending national champion Minnesota State-Mankato at St. Joseph's Civic Arena on Nov. 9.

Examining Emporia State
Emporia State is under the direction of second-year head coach and former Missouri Western assistant Brian Ostermann. Ostermann was an assistant at MWSU under Jeff Mittie from 1992-96, helping the Griffons to a pair of regional titles, including a Final Four appearance in the 1994-95 season.

Ostermann was Mittie's associate head coach from 2008-2023, spending six of those seasons at TCU and nine more at K-State before becoming ESU's ninth head coach in history in 2023.

Currently, Emporia sits at 3-4 on the season, most recently falling at Missouri S&T this past Wednesday, 85-67. Graduate guard Katie Horyna leads the Hornets offensively, averaging 17.3 points per game, converting on 55.3% of her shots from the field. Gracie Gilpin sits behind Hornya at 11.3 points per contest with a team-leading 16 triples.

Emporia State has had more than their fair share of injuries early this season. Tylieea Wallace is out for the season after knee surgery prior to the start of the year. Kenadi Rising will miss the rest of the season after surgery, following an injury to her lower leg. Makenna Clark is out 4-5 more weeks with an arm injury that occurred against East Central on Nov. 22. Macey Gandee injured her ankle in the first half against East Central and was considered day-to-day as of last week.

The Hornets went 14-16 last year, reaching the MIAA tournament quarterfinals before losing to Missouri Western this past March in Kansas City, 64-55.