ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - Griffon Women's Basketball is set to open the 2026-27 season at the D2CAA Women's Basketball Tip-off Classic at Owensboro, Kentucky on the campus of Kentucky Wesleyan University.

MoWest will see two programs for the first time ever this weekend, facing the No. 12 Gannon Golden Knights on Friday and the Roosevelt Lakers on Saturday. Both games tip off at 4:15 CT. The games will be streamed on FloCollege.com.

Quick Review
MoWest enters the second season of the Luke Scheidecker era, coming off of a 15-16 mark in 2025-26, including a 9-10 mark in the MIAA

The Griffs ended last season, winning nine of their last 11 games and reaching the MIAA tournament semifinals. MoWest returns a pair of all-MIAA starters from that team, including MIAA Newcomer of the Year Mia Morel and honorable mention all-MIAA forward Nakiya Harris.

MoWest signed 10 new players for the coming season - six transfers and four freshmen. The Griffons finished last season No. 1 in the MIAA in made three-pointers (262 - 10th NCAA DII), No. 1 in steals per game (9.2), No. 2 in three-point percentage (32.5%) and No. 3 in scoring offense (71.8).

Morel finished No. 3 in the MIAA last season with 18.3 points per game, scoring 30+ points on six different occasions. She also set a new MIAA tournament record with 90 total points scored in the event this past March. Morel was also second best in the MIAA in three-point percentage (34.8%), knocking down a league-best 81 tripes in 2025-26. The 81 made threes tied for ninth most among all players in NCAA Division II and is the third most in a single season at MoWest.

Harris finished No. 6 in the MIAA with 8.2 rebounds per game, totaling seven double-doubles last season.

Ready, Aim, Fire
MoWest has posed a potent threat from beyond the arc each of the last two seasons, ranking No. 1 in the MIAA and No. 10 in NCAA Division II with 262 made three-pointers last season for an average of 8.5 makes per game (No. 1 MIAA, No. 12 NCAA DII).

MoWest's 262 made three-pointers last season is the second most in a single season in program history. Since the start of the 2024-25 season, Griffon Women's Basketball has made 562-of-1754 three-point attempts (32%) - more than any other MIAA team over that stretch.

Tradition of Success
Since the start of the 2019-20 season, Griffon Women's Basketball has won 135 games, including 14 wins over ranked opponents. Eight of those 14 wins came over teams ranked in the top 10 at the time.

MoWest won an NCAA Central Region Championship in 2022 and an MIAA regular season title in 2024, qualifying for the NCAA tournament in three of the last five seasons. Historically, Griffon Women's Basket- ball has reached the NCAA tournament 15 times - all since 1994. MoWest is 13-14 all-time in the Big Dance with three Regional Championships and a Final Four appearance in 1995.

Opponent Previews
Gannon was a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Atlantic Region tournament last year, going 29-5 overall. Cleve Wright enters his 19th season as head coach, where he has over 400 career wins. The Golden Knights return 11 players altogether, including All-American Bri Claxon, who averaged more than 16 points per game last season.

Roosevelt looks improve after an 8-20 showing last season. The Lakers have some young talent with six freshmen, but they boast six seniors and eight upperclassmen altogether. They have two transfers from NCAA Division II schools and five transfers from NCAA Division I schools. Kelly Boyle is the lead returning scorer for Roosevelt, starting all 28 games last season and averaging 12 points and nearly three assists per game.

As stated above, this will be the first ever meeting for MoWest against both of these teams.

Schedule Breakdown
Griffon Women's Basketball will play six games this season against opponents who made the NCAA tournament last year. They'll also play five regional opponents in the non-conference portion of the schedule.

The Griffon women then make an early season trip to Kearney, NE for the MIAA/NSIC Crossover Classic, facing Central Region foes Northern State and Minnesota-Crookston on Nov. 13-14. The Griffs have their home opener on Tuesday, Nov. 17 against Harding at 5 p.m. Harding was the No. 6 seed in the NCAA Central Region tournament last year.

The Griffon women then make a return trip to St. Joseph Civic Arena for the Central Region Showcase, facing more Central Region flavor in Ouachita Baptist and Wayne State College. The women also have a non-conference game on Wednesday, Dec. 9 against MidAmerica Nazarene.

MoWest opens conference play on Black Friday in Fort Smith, Arkansas, facing Arkansas-Fort Smith on Nov. 27 before going to Northeastern State on Nov. 29.

The Griffs have their first MIAA home game on Thursday, Dec. 3 against No. 14 Central Missouri. The women will also host Emporia State, Newman, Missouri Southern, Pittsburg State, Northeastern State, Arkansas-Fort Smith, Northwest Missouri State, Fort Hays State and Nebraska-Kearney.

MIAA road games this year include Central Oklahoma, Rogers State, Fort Hays State, Nebraska-Kearney, Northwest, Newman, Pitt State and Missouri Southern.

Newcomers - Freshmen
#1 Arianna Garcia-Evans (5-5 Fr. G - Naperville, Illinois - Waubonsie Valley HS)
The all-time career assist leader at Waubonsie Valley HS. An All-conference and All-state selection, as well as a Dave Yates All-Tournament MVP. She's the daughter of Jake Shavers and Carmen Garcia.

#3 Naja Winston (5-10 Fr. G - Indianapolis, Indiana - North Central HS)
Won a state championship in her junior season. Ended varsity career with 450 career rebounds. She competed in the IndianaHighSchoolSports.com 2026 Senior Girls All-Star Classic this past spring.

#23 Jaliyah Kinnetz (5-6 Fr. G - Urbandale, Iowa - Johnston HS)
Kinnetz posted a 103-2 career record in high school basketball, winning three state titles in a row. She's been both a second and third team all-state selection. She also played club basketball for the Iowa Battlers.

#30 E'Mani Spencer (6-0 Fr. PF - Richton Park, Illinois - Example Academy)
Spencer averaged 14.9 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game in her senior season. Was named both Team MVP and Offensive Player of the Year.

JUCO Transfers
#2 Janiyah Bone (5-8 Jr. G - Madison, Alabama - Bob Jones HS - Shelton State CC)
Bone helped Shelton State CC to a 2024-2025 National Championship Runner-Up finish, and a 2025-26 Conference Championship. Bone averaged 9.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg and 1.3 apg in the 2024-25 season.

#5 Dyvine Harris (5-5 Sr. PG - Lincoln, Nebraska - Lincoln HS - Arizona Western College)
Harris was coached by former Griffon great Chelsea Dewey at Arizona Western for two seasons and was a second-team All-ACCAC pick who started all 28 games in 2024-25 and averaged 10.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.6 steals per game... Scored in double figures 15 times... Shot 37.1 percent from the field and was 71.6 percent (96-for-134) at foul line... Recorded season-high 20 points at College of Southern Nevada (Jan. 11). She spent 2025-26 at Tusculum, but did not play.

#22 Keegan Yarick (5-8 Jr. G - Fort Scott, Kansas - Fort Scott HS - Butler CC)
Yarick helped the Grzzlies win a conference championship and earn a No. 1 ranking going into NJCAA tournament. She averaged 12.7 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 2.5 apg and 2.5 spg in her sophomore season (2025-26). She was a 1st team All-KJCCC selection, she was named MVP of the conference tournament and was the Region 6 Tournament MVP. Yarick played in 65 total games and made 61 starts over her two seasons at Butler CC. She will, however, miss this season with an injury.

NAIA Transfers
#15 Zakiyyah Muhammad (6-0 Sr. PF - Omaha, Nebraska - Benson HS - Bellevue University)
Muhammed played in 82 games over the last three seasons at Bellevue, making 55 starts. In 2025-26, she led the Bruins n both scoring and rebounding with 12.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. She had 12 career double-doubles and was named both NSAA Player of the Week and Defender of the Week. She was also named the MaxPreps Nebraska Player of the Year coming out of Benson High School.

NCAA Transfers
#12 Anna Finley (5-8 Gr. PG - Gerald, Missouri - Owensville HS - Missouri S&T)
Finley played in 70 games and made 65 starts over three seasons at Missouri S&T. She sustained an injury in February 2023 and could not play in 2023-24, but was a first team all-GLVC pick in 2024-25, leading the Miners that season with 13.1 points per game. She averaged 9.1 ppg in 2025-26, and started all 22 games that season. She graduated from S&T with a 4.0 GPA in Mechanical Engineering.

#21 Faith Walker (6-0 Sr. G - Grand Rapids, Michigan - Forest Hills Northern - Arkansas-Fort Smith)
Walker utilized a redshirt last season at MIAA member Arkansas-Fort Smith, but appeared in 13 games off the bench at Eastern Kentucky University in 2024-25. Prior to that, Walker had a stellar career at Western Nebraska Community College, playing in 57 games and starting 20 of them over two seasons there.