Box score | Season stats

BOLIVAR, Mo. -- The SBU Bearcat women dropped a heartbreaker to the Missouri Western Griffons, falling 75-74 Tuesday night. Chasity Prince had a career high 24 points, including five treys. Rachel Graves added 18 points while Ashleigh Gallio had 13.
 
"Our team doesn't quit. But it's tough to lose these games, especially at home," said SBU head coach J.C. Carter. "My young heart can't take too many more of these." In the last six days, SBU has dropped games by seven points to Nebraska-Omaha, five points on the road at Northwest Missouri and tonight's one-point contest to the Griffons.

The back-and-forth matchup featured 12 ties and 15 lead changes, the last one coming from a layup from Western's Kristin Bush with just over five minutes left to play.
 
SBU built a narrow two-point lead going into the locker room at halftime, with a team-high 14 points and five rebounds from Prince. The Griffons would keep trying to put together a run during the second half, but couldn't quite get over the hump. After four ties, Missouri Western would break though on a layup from Jessica Koch, who finished as their leading scorer with 20. Western would get ahead by three, before the Bearcats would answer back with a jumper from Gallio, followed by a trey from Graves to get SBU back in front. The lead would be traded back and forth throughout the rest of the second half, with neither team building up a lead of more than five points before the Griffons would take control for good.
 
Along with the career mark for Prince, junior point guard Courtney Heady recorded a personal best six assists for the Bearcats, with only one turnover. After only putting up two points in the first half, Graves finished with 18 points, highlighted by a perfect night from the charity stripe, going 5-for-5. Gallio pitched in with six assists, just one off her career total, and three steals to go along with her second straight game in which she scored double figures.

Looking ahead to the second half of the MIAA schedule, Carter was confident in his team. "We're right there, about to break through. We need to maintain focus and stay disciplined."
 
WIth the loss, SBU falls to 3-14 on the season, and 1-9 in conference play, while Missouri Western improves to 6-11, including a 4-6 mark in the MIAA. The Bearcats will host Central Missouri this Saturday, January 23, with tipoff scheduled for 5:30 pm.