Photo: Arianne Boma/Griffon Sports Insider
Expectations are a funny thing. Fans and pundits can all have an idea of how their team should fare without having any foresight as to what the coming weeks and months will look like. All they can base these expectations off of is recent history.
It’s that recent history that gives Missouri Western women’s basketball such lofty expectations in 2022-23.
There’s little that can be added to the story of this team a season ago. Their Cinderella run highlighted by quite possibly the biggest win in program history against Fort Hays won the hearts and minds of everyone in Griffon nation.
Now is time for the follow up act. The MIAA is very top-heavy once again, as four teams received first place votes in the coaches preseason poll. Of the 14 votes, Missouri Western received three to earn the fourth seed. The media wasn’t as split, as Missouri Southern earned 13/17 votes to take the top spot.
Both polls expect Missouri Southern and Fort Hays to finish 1-2, which makes sense as they played for the MIAA Championship last March. It makes sense, as Fort Hays is probably the deepest roster in the league while Missouri Southern’s Lacy Stokes was named MIAA Player of the Year as a freshman last season.
The Griffons will have a nice blend of high-end talent while having a very deep bench. Most of last season’s team is here with one major loss in Corbyn Cunningham. Cunningham was the face of this Griffon team for much of her career and was crucial in keeping Missouri Western competitive in their comeback to beat Fort Hays.
Instead of Cunningham, Candi Whitaker’s team will likely be led in scoring by Brionna Budgetts and Connie Clarke. Both were marvelous down the stretch last year and have shown no signs of rust in the preseason. Both have already scored over 30 points in a game and Clarke just took home MIAA Player of the Week. While Clarke makes her living by driving to the rim, Budgetts is more of an outside threat. She’s started out hot, with a .417 three-point percentage while going 15/16 from the free throw line.
Behind Clarke and Budgetts in scoring is newcomer Cleao Murray. The freshman has provided a spark from the bench so far with three games in double-figures scoring. She is also a threat outside, hitting 10 threes across her first three collegiate games. She’s not just scorer, nabbing five boards against Lubbock Christian.
One of the most underrated weapons for the Griffons is junior Camille Evans. While she isn’t going to provide monster stats every game, Evans will just about do it all. Standing at 5’7” she still records over five rebounds a night while also leading the team with over three assists a game. Her game is taking care of the ball and creating for her teammates. She’s filled that role fantastically in her career.
As stated earlier, it’s impossible to predict what this season will look like for this team. The area still relishes last year’s success and excitement for the season is at an all-time high. Whether they do it again is to be determined. But the Griffons now have the talent and, more importantly, the experience, to run it back.
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