Griffon women’s win streak up to seven games
By Jacob Meikel
Another second half deficit on Saturday didn’t cause Missouri Western women’s basketball to hit the panic button, as they were able to rally and defeat Nebraska Kearney 73-61.
A 15-point hole in the third quarter on Thursday against #15 Fort Hays State wasn’t too much to overcome for the Griffon women, and neither was a seven-point hole on Saturday against the Lopers.
The 32-25 lead held by Nebraska Kearney at the half would dissipate quickly once the second half opened with a Brionna Budgetts three pointer, and before the Lopers knew it, the Griffon women were in front 34-32 after only two minutes and 28 seconds into the third quarter. As shots weren’t falling for the Griffs in the first half, head coach Candi Whitaker said it came down to execution as to why they fell down at the halftime break, but mentioned it was better in the third quarter.
“I think this team can just get in ruts where maybe they’re taking really early shots, and settling for something and not getting to multiple sides. Once they do that, we got really great looks and that’s been our MO,” Whitaker said after the game.
A mixture of good ball movement, screening for shooters and getting out to run on fast breaks allowed the Griffons to explode in the third quarter and outscore the Lopers 32-8. Budgetts made up seven of the 32 points in the quarter and finished with 14 points to lead Western in scoring.
“Defense always gets me going and then my teammates trust me to create, and finish and have the confidence to knock down open shots, which is very important,” Budgetts said.
Part of the struggles for Western in the first half came down to leading scorer Connie Clarke picking up her second personal foul at the 8:10 mark in the second quarter. The team didn’t see Clarke on the floor again until the start of the second half and would continue to play a big part in the rally effort of the Griffs in the second. However, with the depth of the team and the amount of players who see the floor on a consistent basis, there’s comfortability on the part of sophomore Jayme Jackson, who felt things didn’t feel dire when Clarke went to the bench in foul trouble.
“When we have a lot of our good players get into foul trouble, this is the first team I’ve ever played for where we don’t really worry about it too much because we have so much depth and the bench. We have people coming in who can do close to the same things Connie [Clarke] can do,” Jackson said.
Western has now won seven games in a row and sits comfortably in the two spot in the MIAA women’s standings for the time being. The Griffon women will play their next two games on the road this week before returning home the following week for their final two home games of the regular season.
