Women drop game to Southern

By Anthony Crane

February 12, 2010 No Comments

College basketball games are 40 minutes long, and even after starting the game with things going in the right direction the Missouri Western couldn’t hold off the Lady Lions of Missouri Southern when they lost 87-64.

Seven minutes into the game, the Griffons were looking good. Jessica Koch had just knocked down two free throws to give them a 13-12 lead. However, that was the beginning of the end for the Griffons as things took a huge turn, mostly due to Jolea Apon.

The guard for the Lions tied an MIAA record for most three-pointers made in a game with 11 from beyond the arc. She scored a total of 35 points and led the Lions to an 87-64 win.

The defense struggled in this game not only to defend the threes, but they were out rebounded 41 to 28. This was reiterated by Junior Lauren Nolke.

“Two things that we have to improve on is our three point defense and rebounding,” Nolke said.

When a player sets a record for three point shots, you can’t put all the blame on the defense. It is up for the Western offense to convert their own points and they did that well on Saturday.

“It was hard to get to her through the one or two players they would have there to screen you,” Nolke said.

The Griffons shot 29 percent on five of 17 from three point land. For the season they are shooting just over 31 percent.

The Griffons also struggled to score in the paint. Missouri Southern’s front court did their jobs and out-scored the Griffons 20-8 down inside. If the Griffons are able to flip those numbers, it may have been a totally different game. Western learned that earlier in the year when Missouri
Southern made their visit to Saint Joseph and in that game lost the battle of the boards to the Griffons and walked away with the loss.

The Griffons, who have been off and on over the season from the charity stripe, hit 84 percent of their free throws on Saturday, going 27-32. Free throws have been one of the strengths for the Griffons over the season, as they are now ranked fourth in the conference in free throw shooting percentage.

Jessica Koch was the Griffons leading scorer and is now fourth in the conference averaging 14.9 points per game and after going 12 of 17 from the one point line she now ranks sixth in the conference shooting 77 percent.

The Griffons will next take on the University of Nebraska-Omaha on Wednesday, Feb. 10. They hope to get back to their winning ways at home.