Game #18
Newman Jets (3-14, 3-14 MIAA) at Missouri Western Griffons (5-11, 5-11 MIAA)
Tuesday, Feb. 16 • 5:30 P.M. St. Joseph, Mo. • MWSU FieldHouse
Series Record: MWSU leads series 4-0 Last Meeting: Feb. 1^st , 2020 MWSU 70 NU 59 in Wichita, Kan.
Internet Audio: Newmanjets.com/listen Internet Video: themiaanetwork.com/newman
Up Next: vs Northeastern State • Thurs. Feb. 18 • 5:30 P.M. • Wichita, Kan.

LAST TIME OUT
Newman would jump out to an early five point lead in the opening quarter behind 5 points for Sydney Nilles and 2 points from Brooke Haney. The Bronchos would fight back taking a three point lead of their own with just under five minutes left in the first quarter. The Jets would build their lead back up to four points before Central Oklahoma would close out the quarter outscoring Newman 7-2 to take a 17-16 lead into the second quarter. After two lead changes to begin the second quarter, Newman would have a lead for most of the quarter, stretching it to as much as four points on multiple occasions. The Bronchos would once again close out the quarter strong as they would finish on a 7-1 scoring run to take a 30-28 lead into the intermission. Both teams would trade baskets to begin the second half until just under the four minute mark when Central Oklahoma would start to pull away from Newman. The Bronchos would score 14 of the final 16 points of the quarters to push their lead up to 13 points 56-43 heading into the final quarter of play. The Bronchos would keep building upon their lead in the fourth quarter as they would put away the Jets and take a 76-56 victory.

THE COACHES
Darin Spence begins his ninth season as the Jets head coach, leading the Jets to a 3-14, 3-14 in the MIAA record so far in the 2020-21 season. Spence has compiled 593 wins as a head women's basketball coach over a 29-year span across NCAA Division I and Division II, NAIA, and NJCAA schools. His eight years with the Jets have seen him amass a record of 120-112 overall and a 8-15 record in MIAA Conference play as well as a 59-53 mark in Heartland Conference play. Under Spence's tenure, the Jets reached the Heartland Conference tournament in six of his seven seasons. Before coming to Newman, Spence spent one season at Barton Community College and eight seasons at Division I New Mexico State.
Candi Whitaker is in her second season as the Women's Basketball coach at Missouri Western. Named the sixth head coach at her alma mater in 2013, Whitaker turned around the program between year one and year two, going from seven wins to 15. In five seasons leading the Lady Raiders, Whitaker had four players named All-Big 12. Whitaker led Texas Tech to four consecutive Big 12 Championship appearances and back-to-back quarterfinal appearances.  Under Whitaker's guidance, 11 Lady Raiders were named Academic All-Big 12 with eight earning spots on the Dean's or President's List.

ABOUT THE JETS
Newman is 3-14 on the season, 3-14 in the MIAA. Newman is led in scoring by Senior Guard Brooke Haney at 10.5 points per game.  Madison Birnbaum leads the Jets in rebounding at 5.7 rebounds per game. 

ABOUT THE GRIFFONS
Missouri Western is 5-11 on the season, 5-11 in the MIAA. The Griffons are led in scoring by Logan Hughes at 8.4 points per game. Asia McCoy leads the Griffons in rebounding at 5.3 rebounds per game.

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the fifth all-time meeting between these two schools with the Griffons leading the series 4-0 over Newman.

LAST TIME VS MISSOURI WESTERN
For the second game in a row, Newman struggled offensively as they would go 7-24 from the field in the first half. In the first quarter, Newman kept it close but Missouri Western (15-5, 7-4) went 3-5 from three to gain a 9 point lead, 18-9. In the second quarter Missouri Western continued to knock down shots as they would outscore the Jets 20-14 in the quarter to take a 15 point lead at halftime, 38-23.  In the second half, Newman would continue to battle but Missouri Western would have an answer for every basket the Jets would make.  At the end of the third quarter, the Griffons had a 14 point lead, 57-43.  In the fourth quarter, Newman looked to make a comeback and had the game cut down to single digits but were unsuccessful as Missouri Western was able to hold on.

UP NEXT
The Jets will host Northeastern State on Thursday, Feb. 18^th with tip-off at 5:30 PM.

WATCH & FOLLOW LIVE
Video streams for all of Newman's regular season contests are available on a pay per view basis on the MIAA Network. Events are available live and is immediately archived for on-demand viewing at the conclusion of the event at www.themiaanetwork.com/newman and on the MIAA Network apps for Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV and Roku. You can find all things Newman in the Newman Jets Athletics app available in both the App Store and on Google Play.