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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The second-seeded Lady Blues held off seventh-seeded Missouri Western 58-55 on Friday night at Municipal Auditorium. Washburn advances to Saturday night's semifinals at 8:15 against Emporia State.

Western (14-13) jumped out a 9-3 lead with all nine points coming from Jessica Koch. Washburn (22-5) responded with back-to-back threes from Stevi Schultz and Laura Kinderknecht to tie the game with 15:26 to play in the half and ignited an 11-0 run to give Washburn a 14-9 lead at the 13:19 mark. The game went back-and-forth with the Griffons grabbing a three-point lead only to have the Lady Blues take the lead right back at 27-25 with 4:24 left in the opening stanza. WU extended the lead to as many as six at 33-27, but MWSU scored six of the final eight points of the half and Washburn led 35-33 at the break.

The Lady Blues went cold in the second half as Missouri Western rallied to take a 39-35 lead five minutes into the half. Washburn didn't score a point until a Naudia Campbell layup with 14:32 left in the game cut the lead to a pair. Washburn regained the lead on a jumper from Cassie Lombardino at 40-39 with 11:24 to play in the game. A trey from Megan Lassley extended the lead to four only to see the Griffons come right back to tie the game at 43-all.

Kinderknecht broke a 48-48 tie with another three at the 6:15 mark. A jumper from Rachel Luteyn and layup from Koch pushed Missouri Western back in front 52-51 with 3:32 left in the game. Alyssa Mullen put WU back in front with a layup and then buried a three to break a 53-53 tie and put Washburn in front for good with 2:15 left in the game.

The Griffons cut the lead to one on a steal and layup with 27 seconds to play. After a missed Washburn free throw MWSU had two point blank looks, but couldn't convert. Schultz grabbed the rebound and after being fouled drained two free throws to put WU in front by three.

Kinderknecht led Washburn with 15 points on a career-high tying five three pointers to go along with four assists. Mullen recorded her first career double-double with 13 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, while Schultz finished with 12 points and seven boards. Lassley had eight points, five boards and three assists.

Washburn shot 31.1 percent (19-of-61) from the field and 40 percent (12-of-30) from three point range. The Lady Blues were 8-of-13 from the charity stripe for 61.5 percent. WU also out-rebounded the Griffons 46-40.

Koch led MWSU with a game-high 17 points and 11 rebounds. Luteyn finished with nine points, while Alicia Bell and Lauren Nolke had eight points apiece.

The Griffons were 22-of-63 from the floor for 34.9 percent and 5-of-17 for 29.4 percent from beyond the arc. They shot 60 percent (6-of-10) from the free throw line.

The win puts Washburn into the conference tournament semifinals for the 10th straight season and improves the Lady Blues record to 21-2 in MIAA tournament games played in Kansas City.