PSU women win over Missouri Western, 86-68

Late country singer Jerry Reed enjoyed a 1971 crossover hit with the song “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot” and Reed’s hit describes the shooting performance of the Pittsburg State women during a Saturday afternoon MIAA showdown with the Missouri Western Griffons.

The Gorillas won No. 16 over Missouri Western 86-68, never trailing during a contest when Pitt State made 14 3-point shots and led by as many as 33 points late in the second half.

“We were outstanding all game long offensively,” Pitt State head coach Lane Lord told Eddie Lomshek of KKOW. “The numbers say we finished 50 percent (49.2 percent), but you’ve got to remember we played 15 kids and 15 kids a lot of minutes. When you have (86) points in a MIAA game on the road, you’ve done a lot of good things.”

Pitt State found its shooting touch early on — Brooke Conley hit a jumper from the high post only 9 seconds into the game and the Gorillas scored the first 11 points of the game before prolific scorer Jessica Koch scored Western’s first two points. Pitt State scored its first nine points in 1:24.

“All in all, what we want to do is work inside-out,” Lord said. “We touched the paint by the drive. We didn’t have the big physical post today, but I thought Lizzy did a great job in there. We did what we needed to do. We drove the ball well and those were all good 3-point shots we took.”

Drew Roberts — once the NCAA Division II leader in 3-point shooting percentage before cooling down against Washburn, Fort Hays State and Northeastern State — made three 3s in the first 6 minutes of the game and her third make, with the shot clock running down and from 24 feet out, gave Pitt State a 21-10 lead at the 13:57 mark.

After 10 minutes played of the first half, Pitt State led 25-10 — aided by shooting 71.4 percent from the floor (10-14).

Alexa Bordewick shot a combined 0-16 from the field against Washburn, Fort Hays State and Northeastern State and her made three at the 9:31 mark put the Gorillas ahead 28-10.

“She didn’t even think about it,” Lord said. “She got a couple kickouts and they were out of her hand before she could even blink. She did a great job of catch and shoot, having her feet set and getting her shoulders squared. Like I told her, you didn’t become no bad shooter in three games.”

Pitt State led 45-18 at halftime after Roberts drained a rainbow buzzer-beating 3, her fourth trifecta of the first half.

At one point in the first half, Pitt State was shooting 75 percent from the field and cooled down to 61.5 percent at halftime. Missouri Western finished shooting 22.2 percent on field goals (6-27), 16.7 percent on 3s (2-12) and 50 percent on free throws (4-9) with 11 of the Griffons’ 18 first half points coming from Koch. Pitt State made one more 3-point shot (seven) than Western had field goals (six).

Two straight baskets and five straight points by freshman sharpshooter Morgan Westhoff gave Pitt State a 50-21 lead with 16:12 remaining.

Conley scored eight straight points over a stretch of the second half for a 67-40 advantage.

Pitt State lacked the services of senior post Larissa Richards on Saturday, nagged by headaches after receiving a knee to the side of the head when pursuing a loose ball during the Northeastern State game on Wednesday. The Gorillas inserted senior Courtney Tate into the starting lineup, utilizing a three-guard attack; Tate led Pitt State with six assists.

Western senior guard Ashleigh Curry — who enjoyed a standout junior season in 2006-2007 for the Griffons (17.5 points per game) and returned this January for her final semester of eligibility five years after she last played — averaged 25 points during her first two games back.

Against Pitt State, Curry went scoreless in the first half and finished with 11 points, as well as 13 rebounds and five assists.

“How about Brooke Conley shutting down Curry?” Lord asked. “She had zero points first half and I thought we did a great job on Koch as well. She’s one of the best players in the league and she’s better than Curry. We did a great job on her. She had 11 (first-half) points but she earned every one of them.”

Conley outscored Curry in a showdown of athletic players wearing No. 33.

Four PSU starters reached double figures — Conley 20, Jeronimus 12, Roberts 12 and Bordewick 11. Pitt State had 29 bench points — including seven from Westhoff, six from Amanda Orloske and five points from Kristina Willis — and 21 assists on 29 baskets and 13 players reach the scoring column.

Koch surpassed her scoring average by over a point — finishing with a game-high 24 — and extended her consecutive games in double figures streak to 26. Alicia Bell added 11 for the Griffons.

Pitt State (16-2, 10-1 MIAA) returns home Wednesday against Truman.

“Truman coming in on Wednesday will be a great matchup,” Lord said. “It was a one-point game at their place last time and I know it’s going to be a tough game (Wednesday).”

No. 15 GORILLAS 86, GRIFFONS 68
PITTSBURG STATE (86) — Brooke Conley 7-12 3-4 20, Lizzy Jeronimus 5-8 2-2 12, Drew Roberts 4-9 0-0 12, Alexa Bordewick 4-9 0-0 11, Morgan Westhoff 3-4 0-0 7, Amanda Orloske 2-6 0-0 6, Kristina Willis 1-3 3-3 5, Brigit Hesser 1-1 1-2 4, Lauren Brown 1-3 1-1 3, Sara Molz 0-0 2-2 2, Hailey Roderique 1-2 0-0 2, Lisa Elmer 0-1 0-0 0, Britnee Foster 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 29-59 14-16 86.
MISSOURI WESTERN (68) — Jessica Koch 6-18 10-15 24, Alicia Bell 5-8 0-3 11, Ashleigh Curry 5-12 0-3 11, Alex Saxen 3-6 0-0 9, Alex Noble 3-7 0-2 6, Brittany Casady 1-5 0-0 3, Kallie Schoonover 1-5 0-0 2, Caitlin Linihan 1-5 0-0 2, Abby Stone 0-1 0-0 0, Charlonda Bozeman 0-1 0-0 0, Stacey Mgbike 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 25-68 10-23 68.
Halftime — PSU 45, MWSU 18. 3-point goals — PSU 14-30 (Roberts 4-8, Conley 3-5, Bordewick 3-7, Orloske 2-5, Hesser 1-1, Westhoff 1-2, Elmer 0-1, Tate 0-1), MWSU 8-30 (Saxen 3-5, Koch 2-7, Bell 1-2, Casady 1-4, Curry 1-5, Bozeman 0-1, Linihan 0-3, Schoonover 0-3). Rebounds — PSU 43 (Conley 9), MWSU 39 (Curry 13). Assists — PSU 21 (Tate 6), MWSU 15 (Koch 6). Turnovers — PSU 22, MWSU 16. Steals — PSU 7, MWSU 10. Blocked shots — PSU 2, MWSU 2. Personal fouls — PSU 18, MWSU 16. Fouled out — none. Technical fouls — none. Attendance — 1,593.