ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - Missouri Western women's basketball (17-8, 12-5 MIAA) rounds out the regular season this week with a game at Emporia State (10-16, 5-12 MIAA) Wednesday and then a home game against Newman (7-19, 2-15 MIAA) on Saturday, which is also Senior Day.

Wednesday's game starts at 5:30 p.m., while Saturday's tips off at 1:30 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live on the Griffon Sports Network (Varsity Network App, GoGriffons.com/listen) with Tommy Rezac on the call. Pregame coverage will start 30 minutes before tip-off prior to each game.

The games are also available to watch with a subscription on the MIAA Network.
 
LISTEN - Griffon Sports Network (Varsity Network App, GoGriffons.com/listen)
Live broadcasts of Missouri Western athletics are available on The Varsity Network app. All home and away football games, along with all home and away men's and women's basketball games, are available to listen to for FREE on the Varsity Network App and at GoGriffons.com/listen. Available on iPhone and Android, fans can access free audio streams for game days on the Varsity Network App. Fans can also receive push notifications as reminders for upcoming games and broadcasts.
 
Once you download The Varsity Network app, search 'Missouri Western' and select which Griffon teams you want to follow. For more information on The Varsity Network and how to listen live to the Griffons, click here. Audio broadcasts can also be found at GoGriffons.com/listen. Audio broadcasts will also be archived at GoGriffons.com/listen and on the Varsity Network App in the 'On Demand' section.

Northeastern Knockout
Ashton Feldhaus's sharpshooting Griffons (17-8, 12-5 MIAA) established a new single-season three-point record in a 96-74 win at Northeastern State (10-16, 6-11) MIAA) this past Saturday. MWSU matched a season-high scoring after connecting on 31-of-62 (50%) from the field.
 
Missouri Western quickly set a new record of 246 with a barrage of threes to open the contest. Senior Alyssa Bonilla tied the record and surpassed it with her ninth point in the electric opening quarter.
 
The Griffons maintained their momentum into the second quarter, shooting 3-of-6 from beyond the arc and converting all four of their free-throw attempts. This impressive performance allowed them to extend their lead to as much as 19 points by halftime.
 
After shooting 16-of-34 from the field, including 9-of-19 from three-point range and making 7-of-8 free throws, the Griffons established a commanding 48-30 lead at the intermission. They also outperformed Northeastern State on the boards, winning the rebounding battle 22-15.
 
Laura Toffali excelled in the first half, scoring 11 points and finishing with a perfect 3-for-3 shooting frame. The junior also contributed four assists, four rebounds and a steal. Similarly, Bonilla matched her with 11 points while also adding four assists and four rebounds.
 
Missouri Western maintained its dominance in the second half, extending its lead to as much as 27 points in the third quarter. Although NSU fought back late in the game, cutting the lead to 16 points with a run in the fourth quarter, it was not enough to stop the Griffons from securing a 22-point victory at the NSU Event Center.
 
Bonilla recorded her fourth double-double of the season in the win. The El Paso, Texas, native finished with 28 points, 10 assists, six rebounds and a steal. Additionally, established a new career-high in three-pointers made with five.
 
Toffali tallied a new career high in scoring with 18 points while also recording seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. Kassandra Caron also shined with a season-high 18 points, three rebounds and a pair of assists.

Series Histories
Wednesday will be the 101^st all-time meeting with Emporia State. The Hornets lead this series 60-40, though MWSU is catching up, as the Griffons have won the last six meetings, including the last three at Emporia.

Saturday is the 12^th all-time meeting with Newman. The Griffons remain a perfect 11-0 against the Jets all-time. The Griffons hung 108 and then 105 points on Newman in a pair of meetings last season.

Senior Saturday
Missouri Western will honor seniors Alyssa Bonilla and Matilda Soderlund on Saturday, along with junior and fourth-year player Jaidyn Schomp, who is medically retiring at the end of this season after battling multiple ACL injuries.

Schomp and Bonilla are the last two players remaining from the 2021-22 team that won a Central Region championship in March 2022 and were also part of the MIAA regular season championship team in 2024.

(Almost) March Madness
Missouri Western is No. 3 in the latest KPI Rankings put out by the MIAA on Monday. KPI is a new power rankings system used by the MIAA to seed its conference basketball tournament in March.

The MIAA tournament seeds will be announced roughly an hour after the conclusion of all conference games this Saturday evening.

It was also announced last week that Missouri Western is one four MIAA schools under Central Region consideration. The NCAA will release its first numerical regional rankings this Wednesday.

Makin' it Rain, School Record Style
Missouri Western has set a new school record with 256 made three-pointers, shattering the old record of 245 set in the 2006-07 season. The 256 made threes are most in the MIAA and third most in the nation. The Griffons are averaging 10.2 made threes per game - most in the MIAA and second most in the nation.

MWSU's 788 three-point attempts are the most of any team in the MIAA, the second most of any team in the country and the most in a single season in program history. Their 31.5 three-point attempts per game comes in at third most in NCAA Division II.

Stingy Defense = Efficiency
Missouri Western has jumped to No. 2 in the MIAA in takeaways per game with 17.7. With that, MWSU is No. 4 in the league with a +3 turnover margin. Their team assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.10 ranks third in the MIAA as well.

2024-25 Griffs
Missouri Western hired its 10th head coach in program history this past offseason, naming Ashton Feldhaus to the position on April 15, 2024. Feldhaus took 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 tournament championship in 2020 and again in 2024.

As for the team itself, Missouri Western returned five players from the 2023-24 squad that won an MIAA regular season title for the sixth time in program history and the first time since 2016.

Bonilla Ballin'
Alyssa Bonilla, a fourth year Griffon, has made the most of her senior season. Bonilla is averaging 17.7 points (2nd MIAA), 4.8 rebounds, 5.9 assists (2nd MIAA, 8th nation) and 2.7 steals (1st MIAA, 27th nation) per game. Her 1.8 A/TO ratio ranks No. 5 in the MIAA as well.

Bonilla has now logged four double-doubles on the season and has scored in double figures in 24 out of 25 games this year. She's scored 20 or more points in 10 games this year as well.
In the career record books, Bonilla now ranks No. 4 all-time with 372 career assists.

Familiar Faces
Meredith Rieker, Kelsey Johnson, Kassandra Caron and Jaidyn Schomp make up the rest of the returners.

Caron has emerged as the team's leader in rebounds (5.1 per game) and has scored in double figures 12 times, including a season-best 18 points at Northeastern State.

Schomp has started 17 games, and leads the team with 19 blocked shots.

Rieker has appeared in every game so far this season, including her first career start vs. Washburn on Jan. 25, and has made 25 three-pointers on 88 attempts.

Soderlund Shootin'
Matilda Soderlund has been one of the sharpest shooters in the MIAA this season, making 59-of-146 attempts (40.4%) from long range. She ranks No. 2 in the MIAA and No. 13 in the nation in three-point percentage. Soderlund is averaging 2.4 made treys per game - fourth most in the MIAA.

Her 59 made threes are fifth most in the MIAA and 10^th most by a Griffon in a single season. Soderlund is averaging 9.4 points per game this season for the Griffs, having scored in double-digits 10 times, including a career-best 24 points against McKendree on Dec. 18.

Soderlund transferred to Missouri Western from Morehead State, where she played 30 games and made five starts last season. The Stockholm, Sweden native led the Eagles last season with 45 made three-pointers.

More D1 Experience, Starting with Sepp
Marie Sepp came to MWSU after two seasons at Division I University at Albany. At MWSU, Sepp is averaging 12.2 points per contest this season. She scored 22 points, a career-best, against Northwest Missouri State on Feb. 1.

Sepp appeared in 54 total games and scored 38 total points in her two years at Albany.

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.

Toffali has made 18 starts this season for Missouri Western, scoring a career-best 18 points against Northeastern State on Feb. 22 – her third straight game in double figures and the ninth 10+ point performance this season.

Malgorzata Byczkowska transferred after one year at Tarleton State. This year, she's posted a season-best seven rebounds against Northwest on Feb. 1 and a season-best 8 points against UCO on Feb. 8.

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 in that season.

From St. Petersburg to St. Joseph
Jessica Ford transferred in from NCAA Division II Eckerd College, following Ashton Feldhaus from St. Petersburg, Florida to St. Joseph.

Ford is averaging 4.4 points and 4.2 rebounds per game so far this season, having played in every game and making 19 starts.

Originally from Marlborough, England, Ford started 22 games for Eckerd last season, averaging 6.0 points and 4.5 rebounds a game, helping the Tritons to a 20-win season and a Sunshine State Conference tournament championship in 2024.

ESU Quick Hits
Just like the ESU men's team, the Emporia State women are the first team out of the MIAA tournament entering the week, ranking No. 11 in KPI.

ESU broke a four-game slide with a 69-63 win at Newman this past Saturday. Other conference wins for the Hornets this season include Central Missouri and Northwest Missouri 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.

Graduate guard Katie Horyna leads the Hornets offensively, averaging 14 points per game. Her 4.2 assists per game ranks 6^th in the MIAA. Gracie Gilpin ranks No. 4 in the MIAA with a 37.1% clip from three.

Emporia State has had more than their fair share of injuries this season. Tylieea Wallace is out for the season after knee surgery prior to the start of the year. Kenadi Rising has missed most of the season after surgery, following an injury to her lower leg. Makenna Clark missed time earlier this year with an arm injury. Makenzie McDaniel is considered a game-time decision this week with an ankle injury.

J-E-T-S
It appears the MIAA tournament may be out of reach for Newman – a Jets team sitting in 13^th place in the KPI.

Newman has certainly shown some improvement under second-year head coach Amy Briggs – a former Truman State standout player and former associate head coach at Truman.

The Jets were a program-record worst 2-26 last season. The Jets, with now seven wins overall, own conference wins over Emporia State, Missouri Southern and Rogers State.

Newman leads the MIAA this season with 113 blocked shots, which is tied for 15^th most in the nation. Delainey Wylie has blocked 50 herself – second most in the league and tied for 23^rd most in NCAA Division II.

Jaeden McMillin is the lead scorer and rebounder with 12.2 points and 6.6 boards per contest.