ST. JOSEPH, MO. -- Lauren Nolke beat the clock, the first half clock to give the Missouri Western Griffons the lead and the momentum as the home team then outscored the Truman Bulldogs 42-23 to win a key MIAA game 68-48 on Saturday night.
Nolke knocked down five three-pointers but none was as important as the one just before half. The senior took an inbounds pass and buried the triple to give the Griffons a 26-25 lead as the two teams headed into the locker room.
The Griffons went on an 18-5 run as Nolke capped off the spurt with a lay-up to give Missouri Western their largest lead at that time at 48-32.
Truman trimmed the margin down to 10 with under six minutes to play but Jessica Koch, Western’s leading scorer, delivered the knockout punch with her three-pointer with 5:25 left to play.
Just five Bulldogs scored on the night as Jennifer Conway led the way with 14 points while Becka McHenry and Breanna Daniels followed with 11 and 10 points apiece.
Nolke finished with 19 on five treys and Rachel Luteyn added 17 for the Griffons who moved to sixth overall in the MIAA.
The Bulldogs remain in eight place in the conference standings by virture of Missouri Southern’s road win at Fort Hays State on Saturday afternoon. Both Truman and Fort Hays have 9-11 conference records with two games left to play. Truman does own the tie-breaker with a season sweep over the Tigers and will need a road win on Wednesday night at Lincoln to punch their tournament ticket.
(Courtesy Truman State Athletics Department)
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