ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - After seeing the "north division" of the MIAA so far this season, Missouri Western women's basketball (13-6, 8-3 MIAA) begins its southern swing this week, as the Griffons head to Oklahoma to play Rogers State (7-14, 1-11 MIAA) on Thursday and Central Oklahoma (5-16, 4-8 MIAA) on Saturday.

Tip-off in Thursday's game at the Claremore Expo Center in Claremore, OK is set for 5:30 p.m., while Saturday's contest at the Hamilton Fieldhouse in Edmond, OK is slated for 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 starts a half hour before tipoff.

The games will also be available to watch with a subscription on the MIAA Network.

Coming off a Saturday Sweep
Missouri Western overcame a five-point deficit at halftime and fended off Northwest Missouri State, 69-66, on Saturday at the MWSU Fieldhouse. The game was a terrific battle that featured 10 ties and eight lead changes, as the Griffons completed a season series sweep of the Bearcats.

Missouri Western got off to a 9-0 start and led 22-16 at the end of the first quarter. Northwest (10-11, 3-8 MIAA) had a strong second quarter, going 9-of-12 from the field and scoring 25 points in the frame to grab a 41-36 lead at halftime.

The second half was close as it could be, but Missouri Western reclaimed the lead at 45-43 with 7:11 to go in the third quarter and led 54-53 entering the fourth.

The game was tied at 66-66 with 1:58 to go, but a pair of free throws by Kassandra Caron put the Griffs ahead 68-66 with 45 seconds left. Northwest missed its last two shots from the field, both three-point attempts, and Alyssa Bonilla made one more free throw to push the lead to 69-66 with 13 seconds left.

Northwest's Kelsey Fields had a look at a tying three in the corner, but the shot missed and Caron grabbed the final rebound.

In her fourth start of the season, Caron scored a season-best 15 points to go with seven rebounds. She made 9-of-12 at the free throw line.

Marie Sepp was terrific with a career-best 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting, including 4-of-5 from three. Bonilla logged her third double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 assists. She also had six rebounds and three steals.

Molly Hartnett led Northwest with 28 points on 10-of-19 shooting and a 7-of-8 effort at the foul line. MWSU outrebounded Northwest 33-32, and the Griffons doled out 18 assists while only turning the ball over eight times.

MWSU shot 42.9% (24-of-56) from the field, including 8-of-30 from three (26.7%). The Griffons converted 13-of-17 (76.5%) at the free throw line as well.

Series Histories
Thursday will be just the eighth all-time meeting with Rogers State, as the Hillcats joined the MIAA in 2019-20. The Griffons are 7-0 against RSU all-time, including a pair of double-digit victories last season. The last five meetings with Rogers have been won by at least 14 points. The Griffs are 3-0 all-time when playing at Rogers as well.

Saturday will be the 18th all-time meeting with UCO. The Griffons hold an 11-6 series lead here, including a 73-49 drubbing in St. Joseph last January. MWSU has won three straight in this series, including the last two meetings in Edmond.

Makin' it Rain
Missouri Western has made 194-of-580 three-point attempts (33.4%) so far this season. Their 194 makes 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.  Missouri Western also ranks No. 2 in the MIAA with its 33.4% clip from long range.

MWSU's 580 three-point attempts are the most of any team in the MIAA and the sixth most of any team in NCAA DII. Their 30.5 three-point attempts per game comes in at third most in NCAA Division II.

Stingy Defense = Efficiency
Missouri Western has jumped to No. 1 in the MIAA in takeaways per game, forcing a league-best 18.5 turnovers per game. With that, MWSU is now No. 3 in the league with a +3.47 turnover margin. Their team assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.06 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, is perhaps the most versatile guard in the MIAA this season. Bonilla is averaging 17.4 points (2nd MIAA), 4.8 rebounds, 6.0 assists (2nd MIAA, 7th nation) and 3.1 steals (1st MIAA, 13th nation) per game. Her 1.8 A/TO ratio ranks No. 5 in the MIAA as well. Bonilla has now logged three double-doubles on the season and has scored in double figures in 18 out of 19 games this year. She's scored 20 or more points six times this year as well.

Familiar Faces
Meredith Rieker, Kelsey Johnson, Kassandra Caron and Jaidyn Schomp make up the rest of the returners. Caron, in her junior season, is averaging a solid 7.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per contest, including a 10-point and 10-rebound double-double at Central Missouri on January 11.

Schomp has started 14 games thus far, and leads the team with 17 blocked shots. She's also averaging 4.0 points and 3.2 boards per game. Rieker has appeared in every game so far this season, including her first career start vs. Washburn on Jan. 25, and has made 18 three-pointers on 63 attempts.

Soderlund Shootin'
Matilda Soderlund has been one of the sharpest shooters in the MIAA this season, making 51-of-117 attempts (43.6%) from long range. She ranks No. 2 in the MIAA and No. 9 in the nation in three-point percentage. Soderlund is averaging 2.7 made treys per game - tied for most in the MIAA. Her 51 made threes are third most in the MIAA and tied for 31st most in the nation.

Soderlund is averaging 10.3 points per game this season for the Griffs, having scored in double-digits nine 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.

From St. Petersburg to St. Joseph
The Griffons added five transfers this past offseason, including four from Division I schools. Jessica Ford transferred in from NCAA Division II Eckerd College, following Ashton 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 is second on the team in rebounding so far this season with 4.8 boards per game. She corralled a career-best 13 rebounds against Emporia State on Dec. 7, 2024.

More D1 Experience - Starts with Sepp
Marie Sepp comes to MWSU after two seasons at Division I University at Albany. So far at MWSU, Sepp is averaging 12.6 points per contest this season. She scored 22 points, a career-best, against Northwest Missouri State on Feb. 1. Her field goal percentage of 53.4% ranks as the 5th best in the MIAA. 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 14 starts this season for Missouri Western, scoring a career-best 15 points against Fort Hays State on Jan. 4.

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.

Rogers State Report
Rogers State enters the week in last place in the MIAA. Currently on an eight-game losing skid, RSU's only MIAA win came against Newman at home on Jan. 2. The Hillcats have played better at home, with six of their seven wins this year coming inside the Claremore Expo Center.

Rogers is one of the better defensive teams in the MIAA this season, holding teams to just 61.2 points per game, putting them third in the league in scoring defense.

RSU is led by second-year head coach Heather Davis, who led Rogers to a 10-18 season last year. The Hillcats were picked 13th in both MIAA preseason polls, and added eight transfers and four freshmen this past offseason.

Ella Hafer, a Northeastern Oklahoma A&M transfer, leads RSU in scoring with 13.2 points per game. She's also the leader in rebounding with 7.6 boards per game - 6th most in the MIAA. Hafer boasts five double-doubles on the season so far.

Jaiana Wiggins leads Rogers with 33 blocked shots - the fourth most of any player in the MIAA. Alyza Aikins, a returning starter from a season ago, has nabbed 39 steals so far this year - third most of any player in the league.

Bronchos Brief
After going 1-8 through non-conference play, Central Oklahoma has played better in their conference slate, scoring wins against Missouri Southern, Rogers State and Newman twice. UCO is coming off of a narrow 60-58 loss at Emporia State this past Saturday.

Emma Andrews is in her third season as the Bronchos' head coach, and brought back two starters and seven letterwinners from a team last season that went 8-20 overall and 7-15 in MIAA play.

UCO added three freshmen and three transfers this past offseason. Korie Allensworth leads the team in scoring with 13 points per game - one of four Bronchos scoring 10+ points per game on average. Allensworth, a Cameron University transfer, has made 80.6% of her free throws this season - the fifth best percentage in the league.

Jordyn Turner is the team's leading rebounder with 9.2 boards per game - that's second most in the MIAA and 44th in the nation. LaKysia Johnson is one of UCO's top defenders with 38 steals on the season - the sixth most of any player in the MIAA.

Karly Wadsworth is another name to know. She's made 175 three-pointers over her now five-year career - that's 15 away from the program record at UCO. This year, Wadsworth has made 24-of-100 attempts from long range. Her 575 career three-point attempts is already a UCO program record.