COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Anriel Howard turned in her sixth straight double-double and became Texas A&M’s career and single-season rebounding record-holder as the No. 17 Aggies beat No. 11 Missouri 82-63 on Sunday.

Howard had 16 points and 10 rebounds for 923 boards in her career, passing Prissy Sharpe (920 from 1996-2000), and 360 this season, tying Peggy Pope (1978-79).

Chennedy Carter scored 23 points and Danni Williams 20 for the Aggies (22-8, 11-5), who finished in a four-way tie for fourth place with Missouri (23-6, 11-5), LSU and Tennessee in the SEC. Texas A&M will be the No. 5 seed and Missouri No. 6 and both have first-round byes in the conference tournament in Nashville, Tennessee.

Sophie Cunningham scored 19 points for the Tigers, who had a five-game win streak end.

A 14-0 run gave the Aggies a 20-point lead late in the first half and was extended to 25 midway through the third quarter after a 10-0 surge. The lead remained comfortably in double figures.

Texas A&M shot 56 percent.

— Associated Press —

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Mizzou Baseball dropped the final contest of its season-opening, eight-game road trip, 4-2, to Northeastern Sunday afternoon (Feb. 25) at City of Palms Park. Mizzou closes its road trip with a 5-3 mark to open the 2018 campaign while Northeastern improves to 4-3.

Mizzou senior RHP Andy Toelken (Green Cove Springs, Fla.) took the loss after allowing four runs on six hits over the first 4.1 innings. He was out-dueled by Northeastern’s Sean Mellen. Mizzou hit into a pair of rally-killing double plays in the sixth and seventh innings as it attempted to come back and then saw a ninth-inning rally fall short with the tying run at the plate.

TURNING POINT
Clinging to a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth inning, Northeastern DH Ryan Solomon hit a two-run homer off Mizzou starter Andy Toelken to extend the lead to 4-1. The Tigers went quietly in a quick 1-2-3 bottom of the fourth and Northeastern seized momentum from there.

Mizzou put two men on in the sixth inning after back-to-back singles from Brett Bond (St. Louis, Mo.) and Zach Hanna (Shawnee Mission, Kan.), threatening to chip into the 4-1 lead. Unfortunately, DH Isiah Cullum (Bushnell, Fla.) hit into a 5-3 double play to squelch the threat. Mizzou again hit into a double play in the seventh and its rally fell short in the ninth.

TOP TIGERS
– Junior RHP Brian Sharp was sensational in relief Sunday, throwing 4.2 shutout innings, allowing just three hits and no walks while striking out six. On the week, he pitched 9.2 shutout innings and struck out 14 without a walk, surrounding just seven hits. He also hit .563 at the plate and drove in 10 runs, including his 5-for-5 performance with a school-record nine RBI in the nightcap of Saturday’s doubleheader.

– Sharp also singled in his only AB in the ninth.

NOTES
– The all-time series between Mizzou and Northeastern is now tied at 2-2

– Mizzou is now 11-5 in games played at City of Palms Park

– Mizzou is now 23-13 in games played away from home under second-year head coach Steve Bieser

– Mizzou is now 15-6 in games played in Florida during the first two weeks of the season over the last two-plus seasons.

– Mizzou falls to 0-2 on Sundays this season

– SS Chris Cornelius batted in the leadoff spot for the first time in his career Sunday.

UP NEXT
Mizzou heads home for a 10-game homestand, beginning Tuesday with the first of a two-game set vs. Alabama A&M.

— Mizzou Athletics —

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Outside shooting helped get Kentucky going against Missouri before the Wildcats started hitting from inside the arc. On both fronts, baskets came consistently with many contributions.

Kevin Knox had 21 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 14 and Kentucky made 10 3-pointers and shot 55 percent to blow out the Tigers 87-66 on Saturday night.

The Wildcats (20-9, 9-7 Southeastern Conference) outscored the Tigers 16-6 over the final 4 1/2 minutes before halftime for a 44-32 lead. Several more spurts stretched the advantage to as many as 24 as they avenged a 69-60 loss three weeks ago, a game in which baskets were hard to come by.

This time, Kentucky seemingly couldn’t miss.

Knox succeeded more from inside the arc than behind it, but his one 3 helped the Wildcats’ strong start and symbolized his focus after a couple of rough days.

Mentioned Friday in a Yahoo! Sports story as having had a meal with an agent, the freshman forward started after an internal review determined there were no eligibility issues. He made 6 of 13 from the field and all eight free throws in a game that initially seemed destined to be decided from outside.

“With everything going on it has been a good week,” Knox said, “just been blocking everything out. I had two good days of practice before this game. Last time they gave us a good one at their place, so we just made sure that we focused on the game going on.

Quade Green and PJ Washington each added 12 points, while Jarred Vanderbilt had a career-high 15 rebounds and 11 points for his first career double-double. Hamidou Diallo made all three 3s for 11 points as six Wildcats scored in double figures. Kentucky was 10 of 16 from long range and shot above 50 percent for the first time since Jan. 13 at Vanderbilt.

Kassius Robertson had 26 points including six 3s, and Jordan Barnett had 11 points for Missouri (18-11, 8-8), which made 10 of 31 from long but shot 36 percent in losing its third in a row.

BIG PICTURE

Missouri: The Tigers started with promise offensively, especially from outside, before cooling off to finish 21 of 58 from the field. Failing to contain Kentucky as well from the perimeter hurt the most, and getting beat 36-31 on the glass was an issue of toughness for coach Cuonzo Martin.

“They set a tone that we could never match their toughness level,” he said.

Kentucky: The Wildcats followed up their impressive victory at Arkansas by doing many things right, especially with 27 defensive rebounds. Long-range shots got them going offensively and led to frequent chances at the foul line, where they made 21 of 28 free throws. They also shared the ball well with 17 assists, while their bench dominated 38-15.

More importantly for coach John Calipari, the Wildcats are coming together just in time for the postseason.

“Right before your eyes, we’re becoming a better basketball team,” he said. “It was only a month ago, three weeks ago, half the team, it was a fight to get them to play how we were trying to get them to play.”

PORTER UPDATE

Freshman forward Michael Porter Jr. did not play after returning to practice Friday following back surgery. Martin said the team is going to make sure he’s healthy enough to take contact before bringing him back and did not set a timetable for his return.

CHAMPS REMEMBERED

Members of Kentucky’s 1978 NCAA championship squad held their 40th anniversary reunion this week and were recognized in a halftime ceremony. The Wildcats beat Duke to claim the program’s fifth title and end a 20-year drought. Surviving members or their relatives, including MVP Jack “Goose” Givens, received replicas of the championship plaque that was displayed on a table. Former coach Joe B. Hall said, “it gets better and better every year.”

UP NEXT

Missouri visits Vanderbilt Tuesday in the season’s lone meeting between the schools.

Kentucky hosts Mississippi on Wednesday, seeking its ninth straight series win against the Rebels.

— Associated Press —