Jennies fall to No. 4 Missouri Western 68-54

               The Central Missouri Jennies fell to the fourth ranked Missouri Western Griffons, 68-54 on Wednesday night at the Multipurpose Building.
            The first half was a game of runs as the Jennies (9-5, 2-3 MIAA) raced out to a 19-7 lead almost 10 minutes into the game. Meagan Fromm and Ashley Millham had the hot hand early for the Jens, combining to score 13 of the first 15 points. MWSU (15-0, 5-0 MIAA) answered with a 15-0 run of their own over the next four minutes to take a 22-19 lead behind 11 points from Ashleigh Curry off the bench. Central Missouri responded by scoring eight of the final 13 points in the frame to head into the locker room with a 30-27 lead.
            Both teams had success shooting the ball, hitting more than 40 percent in the opening stanza. The Griffons connected on 10-of-25 (40 percent) from the floor, while the Jennies were one better making 44 percent of their shots (11-of-25). Fromm led all scorers in the half with 12 points, (all behind the three-point line). Curry was the leading scorer for the Griffons with 11 tallies.
            UCM came out of the locker room to start the second half, knocking down their first two shots to increase the lead to eight points before Western responded with a 9-1 run to tie the game at 36 with 16:41 remaining. The Griffons took control of the game with their defense, holding the Jennies without a field goal for 5:30 and stretching their lead to 61-49 with more than five minutes to play. The Jennies would get no closer than 10 points the rest of the night.
            After both teams shot so well in the opening frame, it was Missouri Western who had the hot hand in the second stanza, making 52 percent of their shots (16-of-31) while UCM made only 8-of-29 (27.6 percent) from the floor.
            Central Missouri had three players in double figures led by Fromm with 14, only two in the second half. Millham added 13 and Kim Battle contributed 10. Curry led three Griffons in double figures with 18 points. Jill Johnson had 16 and Inga Buzoka had a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds.