UNK Women Fall In MIAA Tournament To Missouri Western, 77-69

Senior guard Mia Morel scored 37 points, and junior forward Nakiya Harris posted a double double to help Missouri Western down Nebraska Kearney, 77-69, Wednesday evening in a MIAA Tournament game in Kansas City.

The seventh-seeded Griffons (14-15) win a sixth straight game and improve to 4-1 all-time against the 10th-seeded Lopers (15-16) in the MIAA tourney. Mo West plays second-seed and nationally ranked Fort Hays State Thursday afternoon.

It was a game of runs and UNK almost overcame a 16-point second quarter deficit and a nine-point third quarter hole. While the Lopers climbed the mountain and held two one point leads early in the fourth, the Griffons outscored UNK 20-12 over the final 6:19. They had a 17-0 spurt in the late first/early second quarter and a 7-0 run to begin the second half.

"I thought we played hard but in tournament games I just don't know if you can allow a 17-0 run. When that happens, it becomes so challenging. Even if that run is 10, you're still closer in the fight and when we made that run late in the second, now we're up," said UNK head coach Drew Johnson on the KRVN Radio post-game show. "Credit to Missouri Western. They are a talented team and had a good game plan. Gaped us in spots that made it hard."

Mo West, having 20 second chance points thanks to 16 offensive boards, moved ahead 60-57 on a Morel triple at the 6:01 mark. The bucket came after one of those o-boards. While Serbian junior post Tara Biocanin followed with a paint bucket, Morel scored the game's next four points. UNK didn't get closer than four the rest of the way as they were 4 of 14 (28%) from the field and 8 of 13 (62%) from the line in the final quarter. The Blue & Gold, one of the MIAA's best at the charity stripe, finished 12 of 22.

"The resiliency is what you're most proud of. We saw it all season and again in this game," said Johnson. "Outside of (league champion) Central Missouri, the two hottest teams in the conference were in this game. You feel like if you could've gotten anybody else you find a way but it didn't break that way."

Graduate point guard Jillian Aschoff (Lincoln Pius X) finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, her 16th career double double. She sets new school marks for assists in a season (185), season apg (6.17), and career apg (4.97). Earlier this year, the three-time All-MIAA pick set a new Loper standard for career assists and finishes with 497.

Next, MIAA Freshman of the Year Myleigh Weers (Diller) went for 14 points, giving her 457 on the season. That breaks the true freshman point record of 456, set by center and UNK Hall of Famer Kalee Modlin back in 2022-03. Her 15.2 per game average also is a new frosh mark. Finally, Biocanin made 7 of 9 shots to tally 15 and finished as UNK's best shooter from the field (58.4%).

The MIAA Newcomer of the Year, after winning a similar award last year playing at Edward Waters (Fla.), Morel had 24 second half points. She was 14 of 29 (3 of 12 threes) from the field and 6 of 7 at the line. The MIAA second teamer had a season-best 39 in a win over the Lopers in January with this being her third straight and sixth 30-point effort. Before fouling out late, Harris had 16 rebounds (nine) and 10 points with junior guard Ana Oliveira Dias having an all-around effort; 12 points, eight assists, six rebounds and five steals.

Finally for the Lopers, Lincoln junior Brinly Christensen had 13 points, and five rebounds and Scottsbluff sophomore lefty Paige Horne had two points and two boards in four minutes off the bench.

UNK ends with a 9-6 home mark and three wins over Top 20 teams (Texas-Tyler, Pittsburg State, Fort Hays), despite having a rash of injuries to key personnel throughout the winter.

"Going into this tournament, this was the first time we had gone four games in a row with our top available nine," said Johnson. "We started to show what we were made of once we got a consistent lineup and rotation."