College – Page 259 – St. Joseph Post Archive

Tigers sweep Northern Illinois in NCAA volleyball tournament opener

Posted on December 1, 2016December 2, 2016

COLUMBIA, Mo. – No. 18 Mizzou Volleyball (26-5) advanced to the second round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament on Thursday, sweeping Northern Illinois (25-16, 25-13, 25-20) in straight sets. The Tigers’ outstanding .404 team hitting percentage tonight marked the program’s second-highest hitting output in NCAA Tournament history. Mizzou’s top NCAA hitting performance (.505) occurred on Dec. 3, 2005, against Arkansas in Mid-Missouri.

The Tigers’ offense was clicking from the get-go, as junior Courtney Eckenrode (The Woodlands, Texas) turned in a stellar performance at setter. Eckenrode finished with 38 assists, while four Tigers recorded six-plus kills on the evening. Mizzou’s attack against the Huskies marked its fifth .400-plus team hitting percentage this season.

Redshirt junior Melanie Crow (Wildwood, Mo.) was fantastic as an all-around player Thursday, recording a team-high 17 kills on .351 hitting and four service aces. Crow’s 17 strikes marked her most kills in a three-set match this season. Additionally, it marked her fifth match with four-plus aces this year. Crow now sits with 47 total aces in her junior campaign, ranking T-7th-most in a single season in program history.

Senior Carly Kan (Honolulu) produced her team-leading 13th double-double this season with 10 kills on .280 hitting plus 14 digs. It marked Kan’s third career double-double in NCAA Tournament action and the 28th all-time double-double by a Tiger in NCAA postseason play.

Senior Emily Thater (Springfield, Mo.), sophomore Alyssa Munlyn (Suwanee, Ga.) and redshirt junior Kira Larson (Fargo, N.D.) rounded up Mizzou’s impressive offensive display. Thater tallied five kills on .556 hitting, Munlyn posted six kills on .500 hitting and Larson recorded eight kills on .438 hitting.

Mizzou earned its 26th overall victory this season with its triumph against Northern Illinois, placing T-6th most wins in a single season in program history. Furthermore, Thursday evening marked the Tigers’ first victory in their all-time series against the Huskies.

Top Tigers

– Crow: 17 kills on .351 hitting, 4 aces, 4 digs, 2 total blocks, 22.5 points
– Kan: 10 kills on .280 hitting, 2 assists, 1 ace, 14 digs (double-double)
– Larson: 8 kills on .438 hitting, 3 total blocks
– Munlyn: 6 kills on .500 hitting, 2 total blocks

Up Next

Mizzou will meet Purdue in the second round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament on Friday, Dec. 2. First serve inside the Hearnes Center is scheduled for 6 p.m. (CT). The match will broadcast live on SEC Network + via WatchESPN. The Tigers and Boilermakers will battle for a trip to the Sweet 16, which is set to take place from Dec. 9-10.

— Mizzou Athletics —

KU volleyball defeats Samford in NCAA Tournament first round 3-0

Posted on December 1, 2016December 1, 2016

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Nerves? Sure, but a first appearance in the NCAA Tournament didn’t seem to faze Kansas freshman Jada Burse. She led Kansas with 14 kills and the Jayhawks rolled to a 3-0, NCAA Tournament First Round victory over Samford in Horejsi Family Athletics Center Thursday night. Kansas, playing in its fifth-straight NCAA Tournament, will play Creighton in the Second Round at 6:30 p.m. Friday night with hopes of advancing to the Regional Semifinals.

Burse, who led the No. 5 overall seeded Jayhawks (27-2) outright for the first time this season, logged a team-best six kills in the second set, including a set-clinching point after the Bulldogs (21-14) pulled within one late. She added three kills during a 7-0 run to put away Samford in the third set.

“I was nervous in the beginning,” Burse said. “(Kayla) Cheadle talked to me and helped get the nerves out. After a couple kills I let it go, it was fine.”

Kansas hit .261 as a team, a little better than its average during the regular season, but saw a varied attack as Burse (14) and junior outside hitter Madison Rigdon (11) notched double-digit kill performances with Kelsie Payne logging nine on just 14 swings. Of the 14 kills for Burse, the clincher in the second set helped rally the team from a “disinterested” effort according to Kansas head coach Ray Bechard.

Kansas had used a 6-0 run to separate itself from Samford in the opening set (25-19), then started the second set 6-1 before the Bulldogs threatened late at 22-21. Bechard called a timeout and his team responded with a pair of back-to-back kills from Tayler Soucie then Burse’s final kill for the 25-21 second set victory.

“I said get to 25 first, let’s go,” Bechard laughed after listening to Burse and Rigdon struggle to recall the momentum changing speech. “I just think at that point we were disinterested, we didn’t look like we were very engaged. We had a lead early in that set and really could have put the pressure on them and that was probably the most disappointed I was in the match tonight.

“That set was in doubt, in the balance and there was no reason for that. I told them we have to play like we want to beat Creighton and beyond, so let’s compete like that, and they responded well.”

It wasn’t the last challenge for Samford, but perhaps the most serious. The Bulldogs led by as many as five points in the third set (10-5) before Kansas rallied with a 6-1 run – including four points off Samford errors – to tie the game at 11. The set was tied again at 12 and 13 before the 7-0 run put significant distance between the squads and Kansas closed with a 12-4 run overall to put the match away with a 25-17 third-set win.

“She had 14 kills, only 3 errors on 32 swings and had a lot of great touches form a blocking standpoint,” Bechard said of his freshman from DeSoto, Texas. “She’s making more volleyball plays, not just athletic plays. The light came on for her six weeks ago when she said, ‘I belong out here and am a good enough volleyball player.'”

Perhaps Burse’s only rookie move was questioning whether or not to take the complimentary water after the postgame press conference.

“Can I take this,” Burse asked after grabbing the water, hesitating, and drawing a chuckle from the media and her coach.

UP NEXT
The Jayhawks, who advanced to the program’s first NCAA Championship Final Four last season, will face a Bluejay squad that needed five sets to dispatch Northern Iowa earlier Thursday after leading 2-0. It’ll be the second meeting between Kansas and Creighton this season, with the Jayhawks owning a five-set victory over the Jays at the Bluejay Invitational (Sept. 8).

— KU Athletics —

Missouri Western women roll past Northeastern State in MIAA opener

Posted on December 1, 2016

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – Rob Edmisson said he didn’t know what kind of road team the Missouri Western women’s basketball team would be. He may have got a pretty positive answer to that question Wednesday night as his team throttled Northeastern State, 74-50, in its MIAA opener.

HEADLINES
MWSU outscored Northeastern State 38-16 through the second and third quarters.
Nine of 11 Griffons scored in the game, all with at least four points.
Missouri Western won its fifth straight game and fourth straight over Northeastern State.
The Griffons have won nine consecutive MIAA games dating back to the 2015-16 season.

KEY MOMENTS
Missouri Western went on a 17-5 run in the second quarter to take a 34-22 lead.
The run kick started the Griffons to outscore NSU 38-16 through the second and third quarters.

TOP PERFORMERS
Savannah Lentz led the Griffons with 14 points on 4-7 shooting from the field.
Julia Torres was close to her second straight double-double, finishing with 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
Dwanisha Tate scored 12 points with six rebounds.
Chelsea Dewey scored nine with a team-high six assists and also had six rebounds.

WHERE THEY ARE
The Griffons are 7-1 after winning their fifth straight game and 1-0 in MIAA play.
The loss dropped Northeastern State to 2-4 and 0-1 in MIAA play.

UP NEXT
Missouri Western hosts Central Missouri (6-1) on Saturday, Dec. 3 at 2 p.m. in the MWSU Fieldhouse

— MWSU Athletics —

No. 3 Bearcats rally to defeat Central Oklahoma Wednesday

Posted on December 1, 2016

By David Boyce

EDMOND, Okla. – As the defending regular-season conference champions and tournament champions, Northwest Missouri State was going to get Central Oklahoma’s best shot in the MIAA opener at Hamilton Field House.

The Bronchos created a few turnovers with their hustle. They made baskets. But the Bronchos didn’t have enough juice to handle the methodical, smart play of Northwest.

By midway through the second half, the Bearcats used their poise on offense and increased their intensity on defense to come away with a 73-66 victory Wednesday evening at Central Oklahoma.

“What we need to understand is every single time we step on the floor and wearing that jersey, other teams are going to play their best game,” Northwest coach Ben McCollum said. “If we are not up to 100 percent and playing at 80, there are talented players in this league that can beat you.

“Central Oklahoma is a very good basketball team. I think they are going to win a lot of games if they play the way they did tonight. We need to make sure we are ready from now on.”

Northwest, ranked No. 3 in the NABC top 25, improved to 7-0 overall and 1-0 in the MIAA. The Bearcats will get six days off before returning to Bearcat Arena 7:30 p.m. Tuesday against rival Missouri Western.

“We have to do a better job of respecting our opponent no matter who it is,” said junior Chris-Ebou Ndow, who finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds. “In the second half, we really did that. We got on ourselves. We knew what we needed to do.

“We know we are ranked No. 3. We know everybody is going to have their best game against us. We know that. Tonight, we really got a taste of it so we know we got to come ready.”

Five minutes into the second half, Northwest took the lead for good on a three-pointer by Zach Schneider that gave the Bearcats a 44-41 lead.

The Bronchos tied the game at 44-44 and then Justin Pitts showed why he is one of the best point guards in Division II. He made a three-pointer and after a basket by the Bronchos, Pitts made a two-point field goal followed by a three-pointer, pushing Northwest’s lead to 52-46.

“My teammates gave me the confidence,” said Pitts, who finished with a game-high 28 points. “They trust me to make those shots. Coming out of a timeout, Chris said, ‘take over. This is your game. We need you to win this.’ That is what I started to do. I focused more and the shots started to fall through.”

Northwest increased its lead to 59-50 with 7:32 left and moved it to 62-52 with 6 minutes left. With under three minutes left, Northwest held a 70-59 lead. From that point on, the Bearcats only needed to take care of the basketball and hit free throws.

“It starts on the defensive end,” Ndow said. “In the first half, we didn’t get stops. We let them get a lot of O-boards. We just didn’t come out ready to play.”

In the first half, Northwest never found its rhythm on defense and went into halftime behind 32-29.

“They executed better than us,” McCollum said. “I thought they got to 50/50 balls better than us.”

Although the Bearcats struggled behind the three-point arc, making two of eight attempts, they shot the ball well overall, connecting for 54.2 percent in the first half.

“We have shot makers and our execution is great,” Ndow said. “We don’t have any selfish players. We know our roles.”

But throughout the first half, Northwest had trouble putting together consecutive stops. Because of that, the lead changed many times. In the first six minutes, there were nine lead changes.

When Central Oklahoma went ahead 11-10, the Bronchos were finally able to keep the lead for more than one minute.

Northwest eventually regained the lead at 16-15 on a basket by D’Vante Mosby, who finished with 10 points and is four points shy of reaching 1,000 career collegiate points.

The Bronchos went right back in front. Northwest took its final lead of the first half at 20-19 on a three-pointer by Schneider.

Central Oklahoma regained the lead at 23-22 and then extended it to 30-24 on back-to-back field goals by Josh Holliday.

“Everything was kind of negative the first half and the second half I thought we turned it into some positives and were able to respond and that was huge,” McCollum said.

— Northwest Athletics —

Griffons struggle offensively in 55-41 loss at Northeastern State

Posted on December 1, 2016

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – A big run down the stretch by Northeastern State cut out a late threat from the Missouri Western men’s basketball team in a 55-41 loss in the MIAA opener for both teams Wednesday night.

HEADLINES
Northeastern State outscored Missouri Western 22-4 over the final 7:32 of the game.
Missouri Western shot 28.6 percent from the field and Northeastern State shot 34 percent from the field.
Combined, the teams missed 68 field goal attempts.
41 points scored was the lowest total for a Missouri Western team since a 32-21 loss to Rockhurst in 1984.

KEY MOMENTS
Cameron Martin made a three-pointer with 2:44 left in the game to give Northeastern State a seven-point lead, capping an 11-0 run by the home team after Missouri Western had taken a four-point lead with 8:17 left
Northeastern State went on a 12-0 run after Missouri Western had built a three-point lead with 8:03 to go in the first

WHERE THEY ARE
The loss dropped Missouri Western to 1-6 overall and 0-1 in MIAA play
Northeastern State improved to 2-4 overall and 1-0 in league play

UP NEXT
Missouri Western returns to the MWSU Fieldhouse to host 4-1 Central Missouri, Saturday, Dec. 3 at 4 p.m.

— MWSU Athletics —

Northwest women lose on the road at Central Oklahoma

Posted on December 1, 2016

By David Boyce

EDMOND, Okla. – Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team faced a difficult task in its MIAA opener at Central Oklahoma Wednesday evening at Hamilton Field House.

The Bearcats left 20.2 points back in Maryville, Mo. Junior forward Tanya Meyer didn’t make the trip to Edmond because of an ankle injury. Without its leading scorer, Northwest struggled to score points, particularly in the first half.

“It hurt. You could tell right away,” Northwest coach Buck Scheel said. “She has that scoring presence.”

Northwest made only six field goals in the first half and trailed by 21 points at halftime. The offense picked up for the Bearcats in the third quarter, but the deficit was too much to make up. Northwest lost 68-58.

“When we are without her, we have to have other people step up,” Scheel said. “It is an opportunity for other people to step up.”

Junior Taryne Shull did exactly that in the second half, scoring 13 points and finishing with a career-high 18 points.

Northwest showed plenty of fight in the second half. They came out in the third quarter behind 38-17. The Bearcats scored 18 points in the third quarter, closing to 49-35.

In the fourth quarter, Shull made a couple of three-pointers. Jasmin Howe added another and when Carlie Wilhelmi had a put-back bucket, the Bearcats found themselves trailing 60-48 with 4:51 left.

“I thought finally in the second half we had some players step up and it showed,” Scheel said. “We fixed some things at halftime. We came out in the second half and made those adjustments and they played harder with a lot more confidence. That is what we have to put together for four quarters.”

Northwest kept grinding and when Shull hit her third three-pointer of the game, the Bearcats were within six at 64-58 with 33.5 seconds remaining. Central Oklahoma put the game away by making four straight free throws.

The Bearcats return to action Tuesday evening at home against rival Missouri Western.

“Friday and Saturday is about us,” Scheel said. “Now we have an opportunity to focus on things we need to fix. We have to build off this second half.

— Northwest Athletics —

Brown scores 18, Kansas State beats Green Bay 80-61

Posted on December 1, 2016December 1, 2016

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Kansas State head coach Bruce Weber has remarked several times this season about sophomore Barry Brown’s commitment to staying in the gym this season.

Wednesday night’s performance against Green Bay gave Weber the chance to talk about Brown’s commitment once again.

Brown scored 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting, Xavier Sneed added 14 points and Kansas State beat Green Bay 80-61 on Wednesday night.

“He’s been the most consistent and been in the gym the most,” Weber said. “I don’t know if he’ll be in there tonight but usually he’s in there every night and that’s why he’s making shots.”

Wesley Iwundu had 11 points and five assists and Carlbe Ervin II scored 10 for Kansas State (6-1). Dean Wade added eight points and eight rebounds.

Turner Botz led Green Bay (4-3) with 11 points.

Iwundu, Kamau Stokes and Sneed each hit a 3-pointer during a 13-2 run that put the Wildcats up 30-14 with 7:27 left in the half. The Phoenix trimmed its deficit to 37-29 at halftime, but Wade and Brown hit back-to-back 3s before a dunk by Iwundu to make it 45-29 fewer than two minutes into the second half and Kansas State led by double figures the rest of the way.

Green Bay was 11-of-33 shooting, including 3 of 15 (20 percent) from 3-point range, and committed 11 turnovers in the first half.

“I think their defense had a lot to do with it,” Green Bay coach Linc Darner said. “We cannot match their length and size in practice. We are shooting over 6-foot-7 to 6-foot-9 guys. We do not have a lot of those guys in our practice and that’s one area where we’ve struggled this season.”

Kansas State shot 57 percent from the field and never trailed.

BIG PICTURE

Green Bay: The Phoenix had not faced a Big 12 opponent since they hosted Kansas State in 2002.

Kansas State: With the win over Green Bay, Kansas State is 7-1 against opponents from the Horizon League.

UP NEXT

Green Bay: Green Bay will face off with Toledo on Saturday as the second game of their four game road trip.

Kansas State: On Saturday, the Wildcats travel to St. Louis to face off against the Saint Louis Billikens.

STAT OF THE NIGHT: The Wildcats had 20 assists but committed 20 turnovers.

FRESHMAN STANDOUT: Xavier Sneed rebounded from a poor performance against Maryland to rebound with a 14 point, three rebound effort against Green Bay on Wednesday night.

LETDOWN: Green Bay’s Khalil Small struggled from the field early and often missing his first three shots of the game. He finished with just four points on 1 of 11 shooting.

— Associated Press —

Nebraska falls short at Clemson in ACC/Big Ten Challenge

Posted on December 1, 2016December 1, 2016

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Clemson coach Brad Brownell was pleased his team finally did well in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. He was also happy to beef up the Tigers early season resume for when decisions are made in March.

Jaron Blossomgame scored 15 points, Donte Grantham had a tiebreaking free throw and the Tigers held on despite a wild final stretch for a 60-58 win over Nebraska on Wednesday night.

The Tigers (4-2) won a challenge game for the first time defeating Iowa in 2011, a season after they made their last appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

“It’s good. It builds momentum. It helps in terms RPI against a team that’s going to have a good RPI in their league,” Brownell said. “It gets you going in a good direction. That’s important for us right now.”

It looked for a while that Clemson would succumb to Nebraska’s deliberate pace designed to make the Tigers work extremely hard on defense and wear down at the end. Instead, Clemson dug in as it overcame a nine-point deficit and led 58-54 on Grantham’s 3-pointer with 3:16 to go.

But the Cornhuskers (4-3) tied it up at 58-all on Glynn Watson Jr.’s 3 two minutes later. Grantham followed by making the front end of a one-and-one that put the Tigers up for good. Nebraska, though, had several chances to pull this one out.

Watson missed two jumpers and Anton Gill missed an open shot before turning the ball over. After Avry Holmes hit a foul shot for the final margin with 5 seconds left, Tai Webster failed on a runner in the lane that hit the rim and bounced away.

“Tai got in there on a little bit of an awkward, tough two,” Nebraska coach Tim Miles said. “He sat it on the rim, it just didn’t go in.”

Grantham finished with nine points and five rebounds for Clemson.

Watson had a game-high 20 points and Webster scored 12. Ed Morrow had 10 points and 12 rebounds for Nebraska.

THE BIG PICTURE

Nebraska: The Cornhuskers showed speed, quick hands and a solid shooting touch in building a nine-point lead in the first half. What Nebraska did not display was a strong front-court game and it cost them in the second half. Its tallest players in 6-foot-11 Jordy Tshimanga and 6-8 Jack McVeigh had little impact early on with two shots combined. They ended 1 of 3 from the field for three points.

Clemson: The Tigers pledged a stronger early season performance to help build an NCAA resume. So far, it hasn’t worked out that way. Clemson lost to Xavier and Oklahoma in an Orlando, Florida, tournament. The Tigers also went back to their shooting struggles, going 8 of 25 from the field in the first 20 minutes and making just two of their nine 3-pointers. Things picked up after halftime, as they hit 5-of-6 shots from behind the arc to hold off Nebraska.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
Clemson guard Avry Holmes said the Tigers struggled to make shots and turned to their defense to pull the game out. It worked as Clemson held Nebraska to just five baskets in their last 24 attempts. “We tried to win defensively and stopped worrying about our offense,” he said. “It was good to see.”

IT’S DABO

Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney was in the crowd watching the late-night showcase. He played a time-out game where he was challenged to make a face like the toothy emoji on the big screen scoreboard. When his first-half TV interview was wrapping up, Clemson hit a 3-pointer and Swinney said, “I need to stay here. We just hit a three.”

The football Tigers head to Orlando, Florida this week to play Virginia Tech in the ACC championship game on Saturday night.

UP NEXT

Nebraska starts a two-game homestand on Saturday against South Dakota.

Clemson continues its run of five in a row at home against Coppin State on Sunday.

— Associated Press —

Vick leads No. 4 Kansas to 91-61 rout of Long Beach State

Posted on November 29, 2016

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Dan Monson never spent much time scouting Lagerald Vick in preparing to play Kansas.

It wound up being a big mistake.

The sophomore guard scored a career-high 23 points on near-perfect shooting, Svi Mykhailiuk added 14 and fourth-ranked Kansas rolled to a 91-61 victory over the 49ers on Tuesday night.

“That’s what makes Kansas so good. (Vick) was not one we were focused on,” Monson said, shaking his head. “He just opened up the game with his shooting.”

Josh Jackson added 13 points and Devonte Graham had 12 for the Jayhawks (6-1), who doubled up the 49ers (1-8) at 50-25 out of the break and coasted to their 44th straight win at Allen Fieldhouse.

Vick was 9 for 9 from the floor, one shy of the school record held by Norm Cook and Danny Manning, and hit four 3-pointers. His only miss came on the second of two free throws with 5:47 left.

“It was pretty big,” he said of the basket. “Pretty big.”

Justin Bibbins had 13 points to lead Long Beach State, which has lost eight in a row — all on the road and mostly to teams that will be in the NCAA Tournament.

“Kansas is a great team,” Monson said, “and when you’re a great team and you’re better than the opponent, and then you play harder than them, it gets ugly.”

Making his second straight start, Vick got the high-flying Jayhawks off to a quick start.

The paper-thin shooting guard knocked down a 3-pointer in the opening couple minutes, then showed his versatility with a shot-fake for an easy layup. Later in the half, he jumped in front of a pass and took it coast-to-coast for a reverse dunk that got the crowd on its feet.

“He did play well. He shot it great,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “He’s improved a ton. He’s confident. He’s reacting instead of thinking, for the most part.”

Vick matched his career-best of 15 points set last weekend in the first half.

“You could just tell during the game that he was hot,” Graham said. “I kept telling everyone to keep trying to find him. That’s what I tried to do.”

Just about everybody from Kansas had a hand in the rout: Jackson continued to make his early case for freshman of the year with some dynamic passing to go with his scoring and rebounding, and Graham and Frank Mason II continued to show why they form arguably the nation’s best backcourt.

Missing from the party was big man Landen Lucas, who has played crucial minutes for Kansas the past couple of years but has struggled this season. He missed the game with an oblique injury.

The Jayhawks got inconsistent production from the rest of their post players, too.

“You’re not going to win consistently against good teams relying on making 3-point shots,” Self said, “because there are times you’re not going to make them.”

STATS AND STREAKS

Kansas had a 41-24 advantage on the boards. … The teams combined to go 19 of 37 from the foul line. … Kansas was 14 of 26 from the 3-point line (53.8 percent) but 9 of 19 on foul shots (47.4). … The Jayhawks committed 19 turnovers while the 49ers had 15.

BIG PICTURE

Long Beach State looked weary after the opening few minutes. The 49ers have one more game left on a nine-game trip that covers more than 15,000 miles, and has included losses to North Carolina, UCLA, Louisville, Washington and Wichita State.

Kansas had the final 20 minutes to toy with lineups, and Self emptied the bench for the second straight game. His son, Tyler Self, hit a 3-pointer to a huge roar in the final seconds.

TIME WARP

Long Beach State beat then-No. 1 Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse in 1993. Lucious Harris had 24 points to lead the 49ers to a 64-49 victory. It remains their only win in five meetings.

UP NEXT

Long Beach State finishes its grueling trip Saturday at New Mexico State.

Kansas continues its homestand against Stanford on Saturday.

— Associated Press —

Mizzou women hang on to defeat Western Illinois 71-68

Posted on November 29, 2016November 30, 2016

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Women’s Basketball downed Western Illinois, 71-68, in a tight battle on Tuesday at Mizzou Arena. Mizzou (5-2) used clutch free throws and defensive stops in the final minute to prevail over the Leathernecks, who made 11 three-pointers in the contest.

Sophomore Cierra Porter (Columbia, Mo.) tallied 13 points, a career-high 15 rebounds and a career-high five blocked shots. She has three double-doubles this season and has reached double figures in all seven of Mizzou’s games so far in 2016-17. Do-it-all sophomore Sophie Cunningham recorded a double-double of her own with 17 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Cunningham scored 15 of her 17 points in the second half to lead Mizzou to a victory.

Freshman Jordan Chavis (Lexington, N.C.) recorded 11 points for her third double-digit performance in the last four games. She also matched her career-high with four rebounds. Chavis accounted for 11 of Mizzou’s 21 bench points and hit three 3-pointers. The freshman has made 12 treys this season.

Porter and Chavis sparked the Mizzou offense in the second quarter, engineering a 10-0 run that gave the Tigers a 29-24 advantage. After back-to-back buckets down low by Porter, Chavis gave Mizzou its first lead of the frame after sinking her second three-pointer. Western Illinois responded to the momentum swing and clawed back to tie it at 31-31, but Chavis drilled another long ball with eight seconds remaining to give Mizzou a 34-31 edge at halftime.

It was a back-and-forth contest throughout the second half as the lead changed 12 times in the final 20 minutes of play. A last-second layup by Cunningham handed Mizzou a 53-52 lead at the end of the third quarter. The sophomore guard went for 5-for-10 from the floor in the second half.

The fourth quarter remained tight as the score was even at 68-68 with 1:17 remaining. Cunningham drew a foul on the Tigers’ ensuing possession to garner two free throws. She drained them both to put Mizzou ahead, 70-68. Redshirt senior guard Lianna Doty (St. Louis, Mo.) came up with the big defensive play on the other end, forcing a Western Illinois turnover. Doty finished with seven assists, five rebounds and five steals in 26 solid minutes.

Cunningham added another free throw to give Mizzou a three-point lead and the Tigers sealed its fifth win of the season with one more defensive stop.

Mizzou finishes a two-game home stand when it hosts Missouri State on Friday at Mizzou Arena. Tip is set for 7 p.m. on SEC Network Plus.

— MU Athletics —