MoWest women’s hoops wins in overtime against Central Oklahoma, Griffon men fall in overtime

MoWest Athletics

RECAPS COURTESY OF MOWEST ATHLETICS

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Griffon Women’s Basketball (8-14, 4-9 MIAA) saw a 13-point lead in regulation go away, but the Griffons played a strong overtime to beat Central Oklahoma, 80-71, on Saturday at MWSU Fieldhouse.

The game got off to a somewhat rocky start, but it was very back-and-forth early with UCO leading 32-30 at halftime. MoWest had a strong response to start the third quarter, dominating those 10 minutes and outscoring the Bronchos 23-8.

Leading 53-40 at the start of the fourth, MoWest hit a dry spell, shooting 6-of-16 in that quarter, while UCO shot 10-of-16 and tied the game at 67-67 with 29 seconds left in regulation.

MoWest never trailed in overtime, as Nakiya Harris drilled a three-pointer with 4:01 remaining, and the Griffs never looked back. MoWest shot 5-of-7 in OT, including 2-of-4 from three.

Harris recorded her fourth double-double of the season with a season-high 22 points to go with 11 rebounds. Ana Oliveira Dias came up big with 18 points to go with six assists, five rebounds and three steals.

Mia Morel chipped in 12 points, four assists, four steals and two rebounds. LaNicia Parker came off the bench for 11 points and five rebounds on 4-of-6 shooting. MoWest shot 30-of-70 (42.9%) from the field, hitting 6-of-21 (28.6%) from three and 14-of-24 (58.3%) at the foul line.

UCO was held to 29-of-82 (35.4%) from the floor and just 2-of-14 (14.3%) from three.

MoWest heads on the road to face No. 15 Pittsburg State (17-5, 10-3 MIAA) this Wednesday. Tip-off from John Lance Arena in Pittsburg, Kansas is set for 5:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the Griffon Sports Network (Varsity Network App, GoGriffons.com/listen) and available to stream on the MIAA Network

Griffon Men’s Basketball (15-9, 7-6 MIAA) overcame a 16-point deficit in the second half, but fell short 75-70 in overtime to Central Oklahoma (15-11, 8-6 MIAA) on Saturday at MWSU Fieldhouse.

MoWest got off to a slow start in the first half offensively, trailing 33-28 at the break. The Griffons shot 11-of-34 in the first 20 minutes.

UCO picked up where they left off to start the second half, starting that stanza on an 11-2 run to lead 46-30 with 13:06 to go. MoWest, at last, started to turn the tide and kept chipping away, getting to within a single possession.

Trey McKowen’s deep three-pointer with 31 seconds left tied the game at 62-62 in regulation. UCO’s Matthew Willenborg missed a winning shot in the lane at the buzzer to send the game to OT.

MoWest scored first in OT and didn’t trail in OT until UCO’s Josh Nwankwo hit a layup ‘and-one’ to put the Bronchos up 71-68 with 44 seconds left. The Griffons never overcame that, and UCO hit four free throws in the final 30 seconds to seal the deal.

Ty Henry capped a very productive week, tying his career-high again with 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-4 from three. Marko Pavlovic dropped 15 points with nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks.

McKowen finished with 11 points off the bench before fouling out at the tail end of overtime.

MoWest is on the road this Wednesday to see Pittsburg State (13-9, 7-5 MIAA). Tip-off from John Lance Arena in Pittsburg, Kansas is set for 7:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the Griffon Sports Network (Varsity Network App, GoGriffons.com/listen) and available to stream on the MIAA Network.