Photo by Todd Weddle / St. Joseph News-Press / Purchase this photo

A lone vehicle travels along Downs Drive Monday morning on the Missouri Western State University Campus. The stretch of road is scheduled to be renamed to Ronald S. Reed Jr. Way.

After an internal investigation Missouri Western State University is forfeiting its women's basketball victories over a two year period. Wednesday, Western officials announced self-imposed penalties. Those penalties came as a result of an investigation over women's basketball players who allegedly received extra benefits from former coaches.

The report concluded that it is "more than probable" that three former players received extra benefits during and after their careers. That is a violation of NCAA rules. The violations occurred between 2005 and 2007 academic years. None of the players or coaches involved in the allegations are still at Western.

Western's penalties on itself include two years of probation, elimination of one scholarship from the 2009 - 2010 school year, and forfeiting games that the ineligible women's basketball players participated in, including the Griffon's 30 and 4 season. A Western official said the conclusion of their investigation is just the first step of many that they need to take to move forward.

The NCAA will receive a copy of the report. If they choose to, they can impose more penalties on the women's basketball department. Heier said, as always, they are and will fully comply with the NCAA rules and actions.