Griffons defeat Ravens 79-61 in Exhibition Contest

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Missouri Western women’s basketball team defeated the Benedictine Ravens in an exhibition contest by a score of 79-61. Jessica Koch led the charge with 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting. She also had seven rebounds and seven assists in the contest.

After trailing early 7-6 the Griffons went on a 9-0 run taking a 15-6 lead after a jumper by Koch with 14:44 to play. The Griffons extended their lead to 14 at 30-16 after a pair of free throws from Kayla Vice
with 4:57 to play in the frame. The Ravens outscored the Griffons the rest of the way 8-4 but Western took the ten point lead into the locker room at 34-24.

Western forced 15 turnovers and scored 13 points off those turnovers. Western also scored 10 points in the paint to the Ravens eight and had 10 bench points to Benedictine’s four.

Western shot 44.4-percent (12-27) from the floor and made 7-of-9 free throw attempts. The Griffons had six assists with Koch recording four. Koch led the Griffons with nine points. Brenna Saline had four rebounds for Western.

The Ravens shot 35.5-percent (11-31) from the field with seven assists. Wolfe had nine points going 4-of-4 from the field. Liz Stinson led the way on the boards with five rebounds.

Western extended their 10 point halftime lead to 17 at 45-28 off a Lauren Nolke long range bomb with 16:23 to play. The Ravens did not go away as they went on a 24-12 run cutting the Griffon lead to five at 57-52 with 8:00 minutes to play in the game.

Back –to-back three pointers by Brittany Casady extended the Griffons lead to 11 at 65-54 with 5:24 to play. Western outscored the Ravens 14-7 the rest of the game cruising to victory.

The Griffons got out rebounded 41 -32 and 15-to-9 on the offensive end of the floor. Western had 14 assists and 13 steals. The Griffons shot 47.5-percent (29-61) and made 37-percent (10-27) from long range. Nolke finished with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from long distance while Rachel Luteyn dumped in 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Saline led the way on the boards with eight rebounds.

The Ravens shot 43.6-percent (27-62) and 51.6-percent (16-31) in the second half. Benedictine had 29 turnovers and 41 rebounds. Kelsey Wolfe led the charge with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting.

The Griffons will open the 2010-11 regular season on Friday, November 19 when they take on Northern Michigan University in the Quincy Tip off Tournament. Tip time is set for 5:00 pm from Quincy, Ill.

Missouri Western State University (located in St. Joseph, Mo.) is an NCAA Division II institution and a member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.