Dave Riggert – Page 365 – St. Joseph Post Archive

Chiefs blow 14-point lead to Titans, lose on Succop’s 53-yard FG as time expires

Posted on December 18, 2016

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Ryan Succop kicked a 53-yard field goal into the wind as time expired Sunday to give the Tennessee Titans a 19-17 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on a frigid afternoon at Arrowhead Stadium.

Succop, who spent the first part of his career with Kansas City, came up short on his first try at the winner, but Chiefs coach Andy Reid had called a timeout just before the snap. Given a second chance, Succop knocked it through with a couple feet to spare as the Titans poured off the bench to celebrate.

The Titans’ rallied from a 17-7 hole, and Derrick Henry’s second touchdown got Tennessee (8-6) within 17-16 with just over three minutes left. But Titans coach Mike Mularkey went for the 2-point conversion and the lead. Marcus Mariota was pressured immediately and his pass never reached the end zone.

But the Chiefs (10-4), trying to clinch a playoff spot, were unable to pick up enough first downs to run out the clock and Tennessee got the ball back with a minute left. With no timeouts, Mariota calmly found Rishard Matthews for 19 yards and Delanie Walker twice to set up Succop’s field-goal attempt.

The dramatic late-game turn came after Tennessee squandered plenty of chances early in the game.

Matthews fumbled within sight of the goal line in the first half, ending the Titans’ streak of four straight games without a turnover. And Mariota, a Hawaii native, had plenty of trouble dealing with the cold weather, fumbling the ball away and throwing an interception to Ron Parker .

It was 1 degree at kickoff at Arrowhead Stadium, with a wind chill of minus-19, making it the coldest game in Kansas City since the franchise began keeping records in 1994.

Still, the Chiefs got off to a hot start in the cold weather when Tyreek Hill faked like he was running an option play and took an inside handoff instead, running untouched 68 yards for a first-quarter touchdown.

It was the sixth touchdown for the dynamic rookie in the last four weeks.

Smith added his touchdown later in the half, and Cairo Santos knocked through a field goal, but the Chiefs blew a couple of opportunities. They were repelled twice at the 1-yard line and came away without any points, and Smith threw an interception in the end zone early in the second half.

Succop hit from 39 yards early in the fourth quarter make it a one-possession game, and the Titans promptly got the ball back and marched the other way, twice converting on third down and once on fourth to set up Henry’s 1-yard TD plunge. The 2-point conversion attempt was a disaster, but it wound up being moot.

The Titans’ defense and Succop’s strong right leg made sure of it.

WEATHER WOES

The record for coldest game at Arrowhead Stadium had been 9 degrees before Sunday. It was so cold that the fuses in the west scoreboard freeze, blanking out a large section of it for much of the game.

INJURY UPDATE

The Titans lost safety Da’Norris Searcy to a concussion and cornerback Jason McCourty to a chest injury in the first half. Defensive tackle Karl Klug left with an ankle injury in the second half.

UP NEXT

Chiefs play Denver on Christmas night.

Titans visit Jacksonville on Saturday.

— Associated Press —

K-State women overcome slow start to cruise past Princeton

Posted on December 18, 2016December 18, 2016

MANHATTAN, Kansas – After a sluggish first half, Kansas State used a strong second half defensive performance to outscore Princeton, 38-17, in the second half on the way to a 60-42 win on Sunday afternoon at Bramlage Coliseum.

The 17 points surrendered by K-State in the second half were the fewest points K-State has allowed since the NCAA switched to four quarters prior to the start of the 2015-16 season. The Wildcats entered Sunday ranked 17th in the nation in scoring defense and eighth in the country in field goal percentage defense.

With the win, Kansas State improved to 10-1 on the season. This is the third straight season, all under the direction of head coach Jeff Mittie, K-State has opened a season with 10 wins in the first 11 games of a season. Mittie is the only coach in program history to begin three straight seasons with a 10-1 record.

K-State was led by senior guard Kindred Wesemann with a game-high 15 points while adding five rebounds and three steals to her final stat line. This was Wesemann’s 10th game this season in double figures.

Joining Wesemann in double figures was junior forward Kaylee Page with 12 points off the bench. Page also hauled in a personal season-high seven rebounds.

Princeton (4-6) was paced by Gabrielle Rush with 12 points.

K-State shot 34.6 percent (18-of-52) from the field for the game, boosted by a 60.0 percent effort in the third quarter. Princeton stumbled to a 25.9 percent (15-of-58) effort, including a 19.2 percent (5-of-26) performance from beyond the arc.

The Tigers held a 43-40 edge on the boards, but K-State forced 23 turnovers including 14 by way of Wildcat steals.

After trailing by three at the half, K-State started the third quarter with an 8-3 run to secure a 30-28 lead with 6:28 remaining in the frame. It was the first lead for the Wildcats since 6:13 of the first quarter.

Page started the run with a three-pointer from the corner, followed by Wesemann burying her third 3-pointer of the afternoon. Karyla Middlebrook put K-State in front with a fastbreak layup which featured a spin move in the lane before finishing the attempt. Middlebrook finished the day with eight points, four assists and three steals.

After Princeton regained a 32-30 lead, Shaelyn Martin scored four quick points to start a 12-0 run for the Wildcats and push K-State into a 42-32 lead with under a minute to play in the third quarter. Martin drained a free throw line jumper and followed with two free throws. Page then added five straight points, including her second 3-pointer of the quarter. Kayla Goth capped the run with a steal and fastbreak layup. K-State outscored Princeton 20-9 in the quarter.

In the final quarter, K-State registered seven of its first 11 points from the foul line to increase its lead to 53-39 with 3:28 to play. Princeton was unable to close any closer than 13 points for the remainder of the game, as K-State outscored the Tigers 18-8 in the final frame.

Neither team played a game over the last week and the first five minutes numbers showed the effects, as the teams combined for a 5-of-15 performance from the field, including a 2-of-9 start by the Wildcats. K-State would end the quarter down 13-8, shooting 2-of-12 from the floor with five turnovers. This was the second straight game K-State scored eight points in the first quarter.

K-State’s offensive struggles continued into the second quarter, as Princeton secured a 16-10 lead with 7:03 remaining in the half forcing a K-State timeout. The Wildcats opened the first 3 minutes of the second quarter shooting 1-of-5 from the floor.

The Wildcats responded with a 12-6 run to tie the game at 22 with under a minute remaining. Princeton was able to end the period with two offensive rebounds before Rush connected on her third 3-pointer of the half to give the Tigers a 25-22 lead at the half.

In the opening half, K-State shot 24.1 percent (7-of-29) from the field, while Princeton carded a 33.3 percent (10-of-30) effort. The 22 first half points were the fewest in an opening half since K-State scored 22 against George Washington in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.

Kansas State will close out its regular season non-conference schedule on Thursday, Dec. 22, at Northern Iowa. Game time is 7 p.m.

— K-State Athletics —

Nebraska loses at home to Gardner-Webb 70-62

Posted on December 18, 2016December 18, 2016

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Tyrell Nelson knew what Sunday’s 70-62 win over Nebraska means for Gardner-Webb.

“This is huge, this one is huge,” Nelson said. “We somewhat struggled in the beginning (of the season) but this win is very big for us, going into the Christmas break and going into conference. It’s very, very big for us.”

Nelson scored 15 of his 24 points in the second half to help Gardner-Webb beat Nebraska 70-62 on Sunday.

Nebraska cut it to 62-60 on Tai Webster’s free throws with 2:21 left. But Gardner-Webb hit 3 of 4 free-throw attempts down the stretch and David Efianayi hit a game-clinching layup with 29 seconds left.

Efianayi had 11 points for Gardner-Webb (7-5). The Bulldogs shot 44 percent from the field, 48 percent in the second half, and made 12 of 17 second-half free throws.

Tai Webster led Nebraska (5-6) with 17 points. Glynn Watson Jr. had 14 points and Ed Morrow Jr. pulled down 15 rebounds.

Nebraska coach Tim Miles was despondent with his team’s listless performance in front of 8,144 fans in the usually-packed 14,000-seat Pinnacle Bank Arena..

“I never dreamt in five years this is where we would be, losing to Gardner-Webb,” Miles said. “We’re not where we should be. The issue is us. It’s us and our mindset.

“It was the smallest crowd I’d ever seen at Pinnacle Bank Arena and we told our guys it was going to be. We had bad weather, you’ve got a lot of things going on, and we’re going to have to create our own energy. We talked about that, and we didn’t.”

Nebraska led by as many as seven in the first half, but the cold-shooting Huskers saw that lead cut to just two at intermission. Nebraska hit just 40 percent of its shots for the game, made 15 of 26 free throws and committed 20 turnovers.

The Bulldogs opened up a four-point lead early in the second half, but a 5-0 spurt by Nebraska put the Huskers up 36-35. Gardner-Webb took the lead for good on Nelson’s 3-pointer to make it 45-43 with 12:57 left and opened the advantage to seven on Efianayi’s free throws five minutes later.

Beating a Big Ten team on the road was critical for Gardner-Webb going forward, said coach Tim Craft.

“I think what it does for our players is it validates some of the things that we’ve been talking to them as a coaching staff about and how good they can be if they can play in a stance all the time and defend with max effort all the time,” Craft said. “It’s exciting to see them have success against a team in the Big Ten.”

BIG PICTURE

Gardner-Webb: The Bulldogs traveled from North Carolina to the heartland to wrap up their pre-conference season.

Nebraska: The Huskers have played the toughest schedule in the country, according to the NCAA RPI. Five of Nebraska’s first 10 opponents are in the top 50 of the RPI, tying for the national lead.

UP NEXT

Gardner Webb is at Kansas State Tuesday.

Nebraska hosts Southern on Tuesday.

— Associated Press —

Wetly has career day as No. 1 Bearcats clobber Northeastern State

Posted on December 17, 2016

The Northwest Missouri State University men’s basketball team defeated Northeastern State, 96-63, on Saturday afternoon at the NSU Event Center in Tahlequah, Okla.

– Top ranked Northwest moves to 11-0 on the year and 4-0 in conference play. The RiverHawks fall to 2-9 and 1-3 in MIAA action.

– Freshman Ryan Welty tied a Bearcat single-game record with nine three-pointers, going 9-of-9. He finished the game with a career-high 29 points.

– He has now made 14 consecutive three-pointers which is an MIAA record. The previous mark was set back in 2004 at 11 consecutive makes.

– Justin Pitts scored 18 points with a career-high 12 rebounds for his first career double-double. Pitts added four rebounds and a steal.

Key Northwest Statistics
– The Bearcats shot 58.7 percent from the field (27-46) and hit 18-of-34 long range attempts (52.9 percent).

– Northwest outrebounded the RiverHawks, 28-19.

– Zach Schneider was 5-of-11 from beyond the arc, bringing his career total to 298 makes, two away from the MIAA record. Schneider added three rebounds.

– Chris-Ebou Ndow had 11 points in the game and Anthony Woods added nine.

– Woods grabbed a game-best seven rebounds while Brett Dougherty had six boards.

Key Northwest Sequence
– Northwest pulled away with a 13-0 run early in the second half, taking a commanding 63-44 lead with 13:59 left to play. Doughery started the run with a layup off a Pitts assist. Ndow converted a layup and then hit a pair of free throws to make it a 12-point game, 56-44. Schneider knocked down his third three-pointer of the contest to make it 59-44. Ndow added a free throw in the run and Welty nailed a long range bomb with 13:59 left to put the Bearcats up, 63-44.

Up Next
– Northwest will host Simpson College on Saturday, Dec. 31, against Simpson College at 2 p.m. before returning to MIAA play on Thursday, Jan. 5, at 7:30 p.m. against Missouri Southern at Bearcat Arena.

— Northwest Athletics —

Missouri loses at home to Eastern Illinois 67-64

Posted on December 17, 2016

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — What was supposed to be a four-hour bus ride for Eastern Illinois coach Jay Spoonhour and his team turned into a 12-hour interstate fiasco as a winter storm made I-70 a standstill for many weekend travelers.

An impromptu taco run and a monumental road victory made the journey more than worthwhile, as the Panthers defeated Missouri 67-64 Saturday.

Montell Goodwin scored 22 points, including 15 in the second half, to help Eastern Illinois beat Missouri for the first time in four attempts.

“It’s a really big win for us,” Spoonhour said. “There was a long stretch in there where I didn’t know if guys thought they could win the game. We were kind of looking around for somebody else to do it, and eventually, we made a few shots, and that was kind of it.”

Spoonhour described being stuck on the interstate for nearly seven hours with thousands of other travelers and a bus full of athletes, which happened to be yards away from a Mexican restaurant.

“About three hours in, the guys said `hey coach, man, can we get some tacos?” Spoonhour recalled. “We’re on the interstate, and I said “no, it’s illegal.”… I thought it was really wise to not do that. About six and half hours into the trip, I said, “hey who wants to go get 50 tacos?”

Demetrius McReynolds added 16 points and six rebounds, and Ray Crossland added eight points and six rebounds. McReynolds scored 10 of his points in the first half after starting 3-for-4 from the field, but from there made only 2 of 13 attempts.

The Panthers (7-4) took a 4-0 lead in the first two minutes before the Tigers mustered an 18-4 run, giving them a 10-point lead, the largest lead of the game. Despite shooting 26.5 percent in the first half, including 1-for-15 from 3-point range, Eastern Illinois battled back and cut Missouri’s lead to only two by halftime, 32-30.

In the second half, Eastern Illinois caught fire, led by Goodwin, who shot 6-for-9 from the field, including 3-for-4 from 3-point range.

“I thought they outplayed us,” Missouri coach Kim Anderson said. “Especially in the second half, I thought we really, really struggled to keep them off the boards. You’ve got to give them credit. I’m not sure why we didn’t have the energy that we needed to play this game, but we’re certainly going to try to find it by Wednesday.”

Every time Missouri attempted a run, Eastern Illinois would answer with an even bigger play. With 3:14 remaining, Frankie Hughes gave Missouri a 63-61 lead with a fast-break dunk, but the Panthers immediately answered with a 3-pointer from McReynolds. The next shot to fall was a 3-pointer from Goodwin with 1:39 remaining. Hughes finished with five points on 2-for-6 shooting.

The Tigers (5-5) did not make a field goal for the final 3:31, while the Panthers closed the game on a 6-1 run. Terrence Phillips was fouled with under a minute left, but made only 1 of 2 free-throw attempts. Phillips finished with eight points, seven assists and three rebounds.

K.J. Walton and Willie Jackson each scored nine points for the Tigers, and Kevin Puryear added eight points and six rebounds.

BARNETT’S BACK

St. Louis native Jordan Barnett made his Missouri debut, having sat out for the last year after transferring from Texas. He finished with three points and five rebounds, including a two-handed breakaway dunk to give the Tigers a 55-54 lead with 7:31 remaining. His last collegiate game was Dec. 8, 2015 against University of Texas-San Antonio. He had 12 points and five rebounds in that game.

COMMON CONNECTIONS

Spoonhour was an assistant coach at Missouri from 2004-06. Missouri assistant coach Emanuel Dildy played at Eastern Illinois from 2004-05, and was also an assistant coach for the Panthers in 2011-12, Spoonhour’s first season.

BIG PICTURE

Eastern Illinois: This is a signature win for the Panthers, who have no other Power-5 opponents on their schedule. Missouri had won the previous three contests between the schools, including the most recent meeting, which Missouri won 68-56 on Dec. 28, 2005.

Missouri: The Tigers shot 16.7 percent from 3-point range, a season low. Missouri’s previous 3-point shooting low was 18.8 percent on Nov. 18 in a 70-55 loss to Davidson.

UP NEXT

Eastern Illinois: Hosts Fontbonne University Monday.

Missouri: Travels to St. Louis Wednesday for the 36th annual Bud Light Braggin’ Rights game against Illinois in the Scottrade Center. The Tigers lost last year’s meeting 68-63.

— Associated Press —

No. 3 Kansas uses big second half to defeat Davidson

Posted on December 17, 2016

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — It took Carlton Bragg Jr. about 20 minutes to knock the rust off.

Took about the same amount of time for Kansas.

Playing for the first time in a week, the third-ranked Jayhawks were sluggish in falling behind pesky Davidson on Saturday night. But they dominated in the paint in the second half, began getting into transition and ran away from the Wildcats for an 89-71 victory at Sprint Center.

Josh Jackson and Frank Mason III led the way with 18 points apiece, but Bragg added seven points and eight rebounds in 18 minutes in his return from a brief suspension.

“He didn’t really play well in the first half,” Mason said, “but we told him in the locker room, `Stay aggressive, stay confident,’ and that’s what he did. I was happy to have him back out here.”

Bragg had been suspended following his arrest on suspicion of battery, but the misdemeanor charge was dismissed this week after video evidence surfaced that showed him acting in self-defense. The woman who had accused the sophomore forward of shoving her has been charged instead.

“I thought Carlton played well,” Kansas coach Bill Self said.

Svi Mykhailiuk also had 13 points for the Jayhawks (10-1), who extended their nation-leading home winning streak to 49 games. Kansas considered the matchup with the Wildcats (5-4) a home game even though it was played just down the road from its campus in Lawrence.

It was the Jayhawks’ eighth straight win in the building, including the Big 12 Tournament last season and the CBE Classic a few weeks ago. It’s also the same building where they will not only contest the league tournament in March but hope to land in the NCAA Tournament with a spot in the Final Four on the line.

Peyton Aldridge hit five 3s and had 22 points to lead the Wildcats, while Jack Gibbs — the nation’s fourth-leading scorer coming into the game — had 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

“We had a great opportunity in front of us and for about 25 minutes I thought we handled it very well,” Davidson coach Bob McKillop said, “and then I think the statistics bear out they just annihilated us in the paint, and they annihilated us in transition.”

Davidson spoiled the holidays for the Jayhawks nearly five years ago to the day when it rolled into the same building and upset a team that would reach the Final Four. And just like that night, the Wildcats relied on superior toughness and a bevy of 3-pointers to cause all kinds of problems Saturday night.

Davidson hit seven 3s in the first half alone, taking a 43-42 lead into the locker room. The only other time the Jayhawks have trailed at the break this season came in a win over Duke.

Kansas was 0 for 8 from beyond the arc in the first half.

The Wildcats extended their lead to five early in the second half before Jackson finally hit from the perimeter. Mason added another 3-pointer, and the Jayhawks clawed their way back in the game.

It was 58-all with just over 11 minutes left when Landen Lucas converted an alley-oop dunk, triggering a 10-2 run that allowed Kansas to seize control. Mykhailiuk hit a 3-pointer during the run, and Bragg Jr. hit a bunch of free throws to cap it.

Kansas later pushed the decisive charge to 20-4 as it wrapped up its 10th straight win.

“They’re a team that really moves a lot on offense, set a lot of screens. It was kind of hard to keep up with our man out there,” Jackson said, “but I think we made a couple — What am I trying to stay? — we made a couple of adjustments on defense that really helped us out.”

STATS AND STREAKS

Kansas had a 48-22 advantage in the paint, including a 23-9 edge on second-chance points. … The Jayhawks scored 16 points off turnovers. Davidson managed two. … The Wildcats wrapped up a stretch of seven of eight games away from home. … Aldridge needs four more points for 1,000 for his career./

BIC PICTURE

Davidson finally gets a break in the schedule. The Wildcats lost to fifth-ranked North Carolina their last time out, the first time they’ve played back-to-back games against Top 5 opponents since 2008.

Kansas showed that it could overcome a lethargic outing to win a game. The Jayhawks have barely been challenged since their win over Duke on Nov. 15 in New York.

UP NEXT

Davidson plays Jacksonville on Wednesday night in its first home game since Nov. 26.

Kansas visits UNLV on Thursday night in its last game before Big 12 play.

— Associated Press —

Northwest women fall at Northeastern State for sixth straight loss

Posted on December 17, 2016December 17, 2016

The Northwest Missouri State University women’s basketball team fell to Northeastern State, 72-58, on Saturday at the NSU Event Center in Tahlequah, Okla.

– The Bearcats fall to 5-6 on the year and 0-4 in MIAA play. The RiverHawks improve to 4-6 overall and 1-4 in conference action.

– Jasmin Howe scored a game-high 19 points on 5-of-10 shooting. She was 3-of-8 from long range and 6-of-6 from the free throw line. She added five rebounds and an assist.

Key Northwest Statistics
– Northwest shot 33 percent (18-54) for the game from the field and hit 7-of-28 three point attempts (25 percent).

– The Bearcats out-rebounded the RiverHawks, 33-31.

– Macy Williams had 10 points and a team-high four assists.

– Tanya Meyer had 10 points and six rebounds. She added a blocked shot and a steal.

– Taryne Shull recorded a game-high 10 rebounds. It was her second double-digit rebound performance of the year.

Key Northwest Sequence
– Northwest cut into the RiverHawk lead at the end of the first half and into the start of the third. Carlie Wilhelmi hit a layup with 40 seconds to play in the second quarter to cut the NSU advantage to 28-24. At the start of the third quarter, Meyer hit a layup and was fouled. She hit the free throw to make the score 28-27 just 20 second in.

Up Next
– Northwest will return from holiday break on Thursday, Jan. 5, at 5:30 p.m. against Missouri Southern at Bearcat Arena.

— Northwest Athletics —

Johnson scores 19 in K-State’s 89-70 win over Colorado State

Posted on December 17, 2016

DENVER (AP) — Kansas State found strength in numbers.

D.J. Johnson had 19 points to lead six Wildcats scoring in double figures, and Kansas State pulled away in the second half to beat Colorado State 89-70 Saturday.

Barry Brown had 14 points and Xavier Sneed added 12 for Kansas State (10-1), which won its fifth in a row since its loss to Maryland on Nov. 26.

Johnson, who fouled out with just under two minutes remaining, also had 10 rebounds for his third career double-double.

“You get six guys in double figures, assists to turnovers of 17 to 9, and our rebounding was a huge thing,” said Kansas State coach Bruce Weber. “We got some timely offensive rebounds and a great start to the second half that broke their spirits.”

Prentiss Nixon had 30 points to lead Colorado State (8-3).

Up by seven at the break, Kansas State stretched its lead 58-41 with a 14-4 run to open the second half. The surge featured two 3-pointers by Kamau Stokes and Johnson’ rim-rattling, one-handed dunk off an offensive rebound.

By the time Johnson converted a 3-point play with 9:33 left, the Wildcats were up by 20 points, and the Rams could make little headway the rest of the way.

“I feel we have not peaked, but I feel we are in a good place,” Brown said. “We got a lot of guys involved. A lot of guys in double figures. The bench really picked us up and gave us a lot of energy in the first half and we carried it over to the second half.”

Nixon said a lackluster defensive effort was at the center of the Rams’ double-digit loss.

“We weren’t guarding anybody,” Nixon said. “They were getting open looks. We played terribly.”

Kansas State led 44-37 at halftime, using a 9-0 run to surge in front after Nixon’s 3-pointer had pulled the Rams to within a point.

Brown capped the burst by converting a 3-point play.

BIG PICTURE

Kansas State: A Wildcats’ strength this season has been their balanced scoring and it was once again on display in their latest victory. The game marked the eighth time this season that at least four Wildcats had scored in double figures.

Colorado State: Nixon led all scorers with his 30-point game but it wasn’t enough to keep up against the diversified offensive display by the Wildcats. The Rams were hurt by turnovers (14) and defensive breakdowns that saw Colorado State allow a season high in points.

ONGOING UPSIDE

Their strong start notwithstanding, Johnson said he continues to see an upside for the Wildcats. “I think we played well as we have,” he said. “I thought our defense lagged a little bit in the first half. There is always room for improvement.”

UP NEXT

Kansas State: Rounds out its non-conference schedule by hosting Gardner-Webb on Wednesday night.

Colorado State: Finishes a five-game home stand by returning to Moby Arena on the Fort Collins campus and hosting Loyola Marymount.

— Associated Press —

Missouri State holds off Southeast Missouri 71-66

Posted on December 17, 2016

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Ryan Kreklow scored 17 points Saturday night and Missouri State held off Southeast Missouri for a 71-66 win in the campus round of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic.

Ronnie Rousseau III added 15 points and Chris Kendrix had 12 for Missouri State (7-3). Alize Johnson, who had double-doubles in the three previous games, was held scoreless Saturday but hauled in 11 rebounds.

Missouri State pulled away with a 16-2 run in the first half to build a 30-14 lead with 5:22 left before intermission. The breakaway run included a pair of 3-pointers from Kreklow, and the Bears led the rest of the way.

Despite trailing by 20 in the second half, Southeast Missouri continued to chip away, cutting the deficit to 65-63 on a pair of free throws from Denzel Mahoney with 2:10 left but it was as close as it got.

Antonius Cleveland’s 23 points led three Southeast Missouri players in double figures.

— Associated Press —

Mizzou women cruise past Tennessee-Martin

Posted on December 17, 2016

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Women’s Basketball used a well-balanced offensive attack to run past Tennessee-Martin, 80-69, on an icy Saturday afternoon in Mid-Missouri. Four players scored in double-figures, marking the sixth time Mizzou has accomplished that this season, as the Tigers shot 27-for-56 from the floor and held off a comeback attempt from the Skyhawks in the fourth quarter for the win. Mizzou improves to 9-3 on the season.

Senior guard Sierra Michaelis (Mercer, Mo.) poured in a game-high 23 points to lead Mizzou. The reigning SEC Co-Player of the Week has reached the 20-point plateau in two of the last three games. She drained five three-pointers Saturday and moved to third all-time in program history for career three-pointers made with 143 triples.

Sophomore guard Sophie Cunningham (Columbia, Mo.) tallied 21 points, six rebounds and three assists and sophomore Cierra Porter (Columbia, Mo.) posted 19 points and 14 rebounds to secure her fifth double-double of the season. The 14 boards for Porter were one shy of a career-high. Senior Lindsey Cunningham (Columbia, Mo.) added 13 points, five rebounds and two assists in the win.

Mizzou dominated the first half of play thanks to Sophie Cunningham and Porter. Together, they were responsible for Mizzou’s first 14 points. The Tigers raced out to a 25-17 lead after a bucket down low from Cunningham.

Mizzou went on to outscore UT-Martin, 26-4, in the opening half of action. The dominance in the paint allowed the Tigers to string together a 13-3 second-quarter run and build a 16-point advantage. The Cunningham-Porter duo combined for 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting with 11 rebounds and two assists in the first half as Mizzou entered halftime up 43-27.

Coming out in the second half, Michaelis caught fire, connecting on back-to-back triples to get Mizzou’s offense going. She stayed hot, finishing with five 3-pointers in the third quarter alone.

UT-Martin cut the lead to just nine points midway through the fourth quarter, but Mizzou was able to hang on behind efficient free throw shooting and stout defense, limiting UT-Martin to just 2-for-9 shooting down the stretch. The Tigers finished 18-of-23 from the foul line.

Mizzou will be back in action Monday against UC-Riverside at 7 p.m. inside Mizzou Arena.

— Mizzou Athletics —