The William Jewell women's basketball team downed Missouri Western 68-61 in overtime on Saturday evening in the final game of the Fairfield Inn Thanksgiving Classic in St. Joseph, Missouri. The Cardinals move to 3-2 with the win, while Missouri Western drops to 3-4. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• 1st Quarter: The Cardinals came out slow, falling into a 7-2 hole three minutes into the game. Jewell responded with a 11-4 run, capped by two free throws from Sydney Offield to take their first lead of the night at 13-11. The Griffons went back on top after a traditional three-point play and held an 18-14 lead after one quarter. 
• 2nd Quarter: Trailing 23-20 with six and half minutes remaining in the half, the Cardinals closed the quarter on a 12-6 run led by six points from Antoinette Mussorici to quickly grab a 32-29 advantage at the break. 
• 3rd Quarter: Missouri Western won the third quarter, outscoring Jewell 16-10 and held a 45-42 lead heading into the fourth frame. 
• 4th Quarter: The Griffons looked as though they would pull away early in the fourth quarter, opening the frame with a 9-3 run to take the largest lead of the game at 54-45 with just over seven minutes to play. Jewell held the Griffons scoreless over the next four minutes while scoring 10 points to go from down nine to up one at 55-54. A traditional three-point play from Mussorici gave the Cardinals a two point advantage with just 1:24 on the clock but a Missouri Western tied the game just 20 seconds later. Both teams committed turnovers over the final 60 seconds of regulation and could not score to force the overtime.  
• Overtime: Offense was hard to come by in the overtime period as neither team scored for nearly three minutes before the Griffons took the lead after a three from Jessica Davies. The Cardinals did not allow another point from Missouri Western the rest of the way and connected on nine-of-10 free throws over the final 90 seconds to secure the win. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The two teams combined to commit 56 fouls which lead to 66 free throws. Jewell went 31-for-40 from the charity stripe, including hitting nine in the overtime period. 
• The Cardinals forced 27 turnovers leading to 21 points. 
• Missouri Western won the rebounding battle 44-30, including earning 20 second chance points. 

LEADERS OF THE FLIGHT

• Scoring: Mussorici (21), Kayla Harrell (16)
• Rebounding: Mussorici (4), Offield (4), Kiara Bradley (4)
• Assists: Mussorici (3)
• Steals: Mussorici (3), Offield (3)

YOU SHOULD NOTE

• The 40 free throws attempted by the Cardinals is the most since Jewell went to the stripe 44 times in the season opener vs. Alaska Anchorage in October 2015.
• The 31 free throws made is the most by Jewell in a single game since the move to NCAA-II

UP NEXT
The Cardinals open Great Lakes Valley Conference play on Thursday evening as they travel to Quincy University for a 5:30 p.m. tip.