Jennies give Griffon a run,
but fall in overtime, 99-97

                The University of Central Missouri Jennies gave the second ranked Missouri Western Griffons all they could handle Wednesday night in St. Joseph, but eventually fell in overtime, 99-97.
            The Jennies (14-10, 7-8 MIAA) and Griffons (26-1, 15-1 MIAA) put up points early and often in the first half, scoring with ease. Missouri Western grabbed the first big advantage at the 6:25 mark when they used a 10-3 run to put the score at 39-28. MWSU coasted to a 52-44 halftime lead. Central Missouri was red-hot from the floor in the half at 59 percent but the Griffons shot 48 percent and out-rebounded the Jens by a 26-10 margin to keep the lead.
            MWSU jumped out by 16 early in the second half thanks to a flurry of threes but Central Missouri fought back. They slowly chipped at the margin and eventually tied the game at 80 on a Meagan Fromm three-pointer with 4:01 left. Ashley Millham gave UCM a lead a minute later with a jumper off the inbounds pass with the shot clock expiring. The Jens even led by two with more than a minute to play but Inga Buzoka hit a huge three-pointer to put the Griffons up with 1:14 left. Tiffany Davis added a bucket with 14 seconds remaining but Fromm came off a screen on the other end of the floor and hit a game-tying three pointer with three seconds left. Western couldn’t get a shot off and they went to overtime.
            In the overtime period, Central Missouri took the lead a couple times but the Griffons just kept answering. With the score tied at 97, Kim Battle drove the lane and was fouled, but got injured on the play and went to the bench. Lindsey Maple came in the game after sitting out several minutes and was forced to shoot the free throw, but missed the front end of a one-and-one. Jill Johnson put the Griffons ahead with 37 second left on the next possession but the Jennies cam back down the floor and Jojuana Jones got fouled and had a chance to tie the game with a couple free throw attempts. She missed both but the Jennies got the offensive rebound and had another chance with six second left. Megan Shoenfeld’s three point attempt was blocked and the Griffons recovered the ball to seal the win.
            Central Missouri finished the game shooting 62 percent while MWSU hit 48 percent and had a rebound advantage of 13.
            Millham led the Jens with 22 points while Fromm set a season-high with 21 on the night. Schoenfeld and Jones each tallied 14 and Battle pitched in 14.