College – Page 343 – St. Joseph Post Archive

Husker women get routed by No. 8 Maryland

Posted on January 7, 2016January 7, 2016

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — After enduring one of the most challenging stretches of the season, Maryland coach Brenda Frese was proud that her team responded with its “most complete game.”

Malina Howard scored 15 points and No. 8 Maryland routed Nebraska 89-50 on Thursday night.

Maryland rebounded from losses to No. 1 UConn and No. 5 Ohio State last week. The setback to the Buckeyes snapped the Terrapins’ 31-game winning streak against Big Ten foes dating to 2007.

“We were ready to go from the tip,” Frese said. “I thought it showed great character. We had a lot of fun. You could see that. We got a lot better tonight.”

Brene Moseley added 14 points, and Brionna Jones and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough each had 11 for Maryland (13-2, 2-1). Tierney Pfirman was 5 of 7 from the field and finished with 10 points for the Terrapins.

Allie Havers, Jasmine Cincore and Maddie Simon each had nine points for Nebraska (9-5, 0-3). The Cornhuskers were 16 of 53 (30.2 percent) from the field.

Pfirman’s jumper capped a 10-0 run and Maryland led 24-12 with 7:30 left in the second quarter. Nebraska made just five of its opening 23 shots and had no answer for Maryland’s inside game.

Back-to-back layups and a 3-pointer by Walker-Kimbrough extended the lead to 46-21 at the break.

Maryland scored eight points off 12 turnovers in the opening half.

“Our transition was really good,” Moseley said. “I think our energy came off that. We were knocking down shots.”

The Terrapins continued to pull away in the third quarter. A layup by Moseley and short jumper by Pfirman provided a 62-29 lead with 4:19 remaining. The Cornhuskers were never effective getting into their offense with Maryland’s constant pressure and made several errant passes.

“I think Maryland is very underrated in terms of execution,” Nebraska coach Connie Yori said. “They’re just very well-coached and they are deep. They do a very good job of taking advantage of any errors that you make. We are a very young team that makes a lot of errors.”

Every player for Maryland got in the game and a layup by Kiara Leslie gave the Terps an 82-40 lead with 6:59 left in the fourth quarter. Maryland outscored Nebraska 46-16 inside the paint and had 25 assists, the second most this season.

“We came out with a chip on our shoulder,” Howard said. “We just wanted to get back out on the court and play against competition to show what Maryland basketball really is. We wanted to get back to who we really are.”

TIP-INS

Nebraska: Guard Rachel Theriot ranks eighth nationally with 7.0 assists per game. She finished with just two against Maryland. … All five of Nebraska’s losses this season have come against ranked teams.

Maryland: The Terps entered the game ranked third nationally with 87.1 points per game. … Maryland improved to 5-0 against Nebraska, beating the Cornhuskers three times in the past two seasons.

NO ANSWER FOR JONES

Jones was a tough matchup for Nebraska because of her size (6-foot-3) and her ability to drive to the basket. She finished 11 points and nine rebounds. Jones, who leads the nation in field-goal percentage at 71 percent, went 5 of 9 from the field.

EASING BACK

Nebraska freshman forward Rachel Blackburn came off the bench for the second straight game. She returned to the lineup Sunday against Northwestern after missing the previous three games with an illness. Blackburn played 14 minutes against the Terps and had 2 points.

UP NEXT

Nebraska hosts Illinois on Sunday.

Maryland hits the road against Iowa on Sunday.

— Associated Press —

Mizzou drops SEC opener at Georgia 77-59

Posted on January 7, 2016

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — When Missouri shifted more defensive attention to Yante Maten, Georgia’s outside shooters filled the scoring void.

J.J. Frazier scored 16 points to lead Georgia’s strong 3-point attack and the Bulldogs beat Missouri 77-59 on Wednesday night for their first Southeastern Conference win.

Frazier made four of six 3-pointers. Maten had 15 points, including 11 in the first eight minutes, and Charles Mann added 14 for Georgia (8-4, 1-1 SEC).

The Bulldogs made 11 of 19 3-pointers.

Georgia scored the first 10 points and never trailed. It led 45-32 at halftime and kept the lead around 20 points for most of the second half.

Freshman Kevin Puryear led Missouri (7-7, 0-1 SEC) with 19 points. Wes Clark had 13 and no other Tigers scored in double figures.

Missouri’s defense made it more difficult to pass the ball inside to Maten after the Bulldogs’ power forward had 11 of his team’s first 17 points. Georgia had outside options, including the 3-point shooting of Frazier, Mann and Kenny Gaines, who had 11 points.

“I think he’s the best post player in the conference,” said Mann of Maten.

Maten said he “just played within the offense” during his strong start. The emergence of Maten gives Georgia a strong inside-outside game. Maten said the team’s 3-point shooters should make it tough on SEC defenses to focus their attention on him.

“I think it’s going to be difficult because I can be a dominant post presence and if they’re worried about me, Kenny, J.J. and (Mann) can hit the 3s,” Maten said. “If they’re going well, it opens up my game.”

Maten has scored at least 20 points in six of his last nine games during his breakout season. He has emerged as the Bulldogs’ leading scorer, with an average of 16.5 points.

“Tried to do everything I could to slow (Maten) down, and I think I did a decent job of that,” Puryear said.

The Tigers had a mini-rally with seven straight points midway through the second half to trim Georgia’s lead to 57-42. Mann hit a 3-pointer, followed by a basket by freshman Derek Ogbeide, to push the lead back to 20 points.

While Georgia enjoyed strong outside shooting, the Tigers made only 3 of 19 3-pointers. Namon Wright had nine points but missed each of his four 3s.

“I thought we had some looks early and we couldn’t hit them,” said Missouri coach Kim Anderson. “… I saw that we missed 13 close shots in the second half. That can’t happen.”

—

RECORD FOR MANN

Mann, a senior, made 2 of 3 free throws to pass Litterial Green’s school record of 744 career free-throw attempts. Mann has attempted 748.

“That’s not going to make my year, but I’m excited to be in Georgia basketball history forever,” Mann said.

Mann also had six assists with only one turnover and six rebounds.

“He was outstanding, he really was,” said Georgia coach Mark Fox of Mann. “I thought he played at both ends.”

Green became Georgia’s all-time scoring leader during his career from 1988-92.

TIP-INS

Missouri: The Tigers fell to 0-3 on the road. … Missouri couldn’t continue momentum gained from back-to-back wins over Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Savannah State by a combined margin of 84 points. … Clark, coming off a career-high 22 points against Savannah State, scored in double figures for the fourth straight game.

Georgia: Kenny Paul Geno ended a 0-for-14 drought on 3-pointers, covering seven games, in the second half. … The Bulldogs won their fourth straight over Missouri. … Georgia made a season-best 54.7 percent of its shots from the field. … The 11 3s set a season high.

UP NEXT:

Missouri: Hosts Auburn on Saturday.

Georgia: At Mississippi on Saturday.

— Associated Press —

Miller gives Missouri State 59-58 win over Northern Iowa

Posted on January 7, 2016

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Dequon Miller’s layup with five seconds left lifted Missouri State to a 59-58 victory over Northern Iowa on Wednesday night, snapping the Bears’ four-game losing streak.

Ryan Kreklow made three free throws, two with 42 seconds left, to cut Northern Iowa’s lead to 58-57. After the Panthers struggled to get the ball upcourt, calling two timeouts, Klint Carlson missed on a baseline drive. Kreklow got the rebound and Miller raced down the floor and scored before the Panthers’ Wes Washpun missed a short jumper at the buzzer.

The victory snapped a six-game losing streak to Northern Iowa.

Chris Kendrix scored 17 points to lead the Bears (5-10, 1-2 Missouri Valley). Obediah Church added 10 points and eight rebounds.

Washpun and Matt Bohannon each had 15 points for the Panthers (9-7, 1-2).

The Panthers never trailed in the second half until Miller’s winning basket, leading by 10 with 9:17 remaining.

— Associated Press —

Kansas women fall at home to No. 6 Baylor

Posted on January 7, 2016January 7, 2016

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Despite holding the Lady Bears to their second-lowest scoring performance of the season, Kansas women’s basketball fell to No. 6 Baylor, 58-40, after a third quarter offensive surge on Wednesday evening inside Allen Fieldhouse.

Kansas emerged from the locker room after halftime trailing Baylor by only eight points. The Lady Bears’ 30 points tied the second-lowest first half total this season, despite shooting 52 percent from the field. BU turned things up in the second half, however, connecting on its first eight field goal attempts to push the lead to 20 points and out of reach for the Jayhawks.

The Lady Bears (15-1, 2-1 Big 12) were led by the Big 12’s second-leading scorer, junior forward Nina Davis. A game-high 16 points from Davis continued her streak of double-figure scoring in every game this season, but also marked her lowest scoring performance in the last six games. Senior guard Niya Johnson and redshirt junior Alexis Jones each logged 12 points, with Johnson dishing out a game-high eight assists and Jones draining Baylor’s two long-range buckets of the night.

Sophomore guard Chayla Cheadle brought the energy all night for the Jayhawks (5-9, 0-3 Big 12), leading the team in both points (12) and rebounds (6). The Columbia, Missouri native shot 2-of-7 from the field and 7-of-8 from the charity stripe, while also grabbing three of Kansas’ four offensive rebounds. Junior forward Caelynn Manning-Allen tallied nine points and three rebounds. The only Jayhawk to shoot 50 percent or better was freshman guard Kylee Kopatich, connecting on 3-of-6 attempts.

It took two and a half minutes for either team to score, before Davis rattled in a jumper to get the Lady Bears on the board first. By the first media timeout at the 4:53 mark, the Jayhawks forced four Baylor turnovers and trailed by a single point. Out of the break, four-straight made field goals helped the Bears take off on an 11-2 run to push their lead to 17-4. Kansas answered by claiming the last five points of the first quarter to bring the score to 17-9 after the first ten minutes of play.

Freshman guard Aisia Robertson gave the Jayhawks a spark on the first play of the second quarter with a steal and a fast-break layup. Baylor then collected six of the game’s next seven points, stretching its lead to 11 points. A five-point scoring streak midway through the period brought Kansas back to within six, 23-17. The conference foes remained evenly matched over the final minutes of the half, with a pair of free throws from Cheadle cutting the Baylor lead, 30-22, concluding the second quarter’s scoring.

The Lady Bears entered the game averaging more than 45 points in the paint per game, but Kansas managed to hold the visitors to just 14 points inside in the first half. Each team played tight defense over the first 20 minutes of action, forcing the other to commit 11 turnovers. The Jayhawks tallied six steals to Baylor’s four.

The second half opened with a 14-2 run by Baylor to extend its lead to 44-24 by the 4:33 mark of the third quarter. The two squads traded baskets through the remainder of the period, putting up six points each. Jones hit Baylor’s first three-point attempt of the second half as time expired, giving the visitors a 50-30 advantage. BU shot 75 percent from the field in the third quarter, sinking 9-of-12 attempts from the field to outscore Kansas by 12 points. The Jayhawks’ eight points was the lowest third quarter total this season.

Kansas continued to fight in the final 10 minutes of action, and significantly slowed down the Baylor offense. The Lady Bears shot 3-of-14 from the field as the Jayhawks outscored the conference favorites 10-8. It marked just the third time this season that Baylor was held to single-digit scoring in a quarter. Manning-Allen’s layup with less than 30 seconds left in the contest brought the score to 58-40, where the score would hold to give the Lady Bears their second conference victory.

— KU Athletics —

Western women move up to No. 13 in latest WBCA/USA Today Top 25

Posted on January 5, 2016

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western women’s basketball team has moved up three spots to No. 13 in the latest WBCA/USA Today Division II top 25 poll. It’s the highest ranking for the Griffons since 2007 as they’re off to a 14-0 start, the best official start in school history.

Missouri Western entered this week ranked 16th in the poll and is one of three MIAA teams inside the top-13. The Griffons are one of just two remaining undefeated teams not ranked in the top-10 of the poll. Four undefeated teams are ranked ahead of Missouri Western including No. 1 West Texas A&M (12-0). MIAA foe Fort Hays State dropped from No. 1 to No. 3 after its first loss of the season, 82-71, on Dec. 19 at Southwest Baptist. Another MIAA team, Emporia State is the only two-loss team in the top-10 at 11-2 on the season. The Lady Hornets have losses to Fort Hays and Missouri Southern.

Missouri Western sits atop the MIAA standings and entered the week second in all of Division II in field goal percentage, scoring margin, scoring offense and steals. Overall the team ranked in the top-10 nationally in eight statistical categories. MIAA leading scorer LaQuinta Jefferson was named the MIAA Athlete of the Week for the third consecutive week and fourth time in the last five weeks on Monday. Jefferson entered the week third in the nation in scoring and her 23.5 points per game are most in the MIAA by more than three points per game.

The Griffons will be tested in the coming weeks. After ending a four-game homestand this coming Saturday with Northwest Missouri State, the Griffons travel to Washburn and Emporia State next week. Washburn currently sits fourth in the MIAA, tied with No. 8 Emporia State. Missouri Western then returns home for games against No. 3 Fort Hays, which sits second in the MIAA, and Nebraska-Kearney before travelling to fifth place Pittsburg State and Missouri Southern the last week of January.

— MWSU Athletics —

K-State comes up short at Texas 60-57

Posted on January 5, 2016January 5, 2016

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Far from pretty, Texas’ win over Kansas State was certainly gritty. And it earned new coach Shaka Smart a very important milestone: his first Big 12 victory.

Isaiah Taylor scored 17 points and the Longhorns overcame a tough shooting night with some key late-game 3-pointers to beat the Wildcats 60-57, snapping a two-game losing skid.

“When it comes to the result, we always want to win, especially coming off a couple of losses, you want to get it any way you can,” Smart said.

Javan Felix scored 14 for Texas (9-5, 1-1 Big 12) and his 3-pointer with just under 4 minutes left gave Texas its first lead of the second half. Barry Brown scored 15 for Kansas State (10-4, 0-2), but two 3-point attempts in the final seconds were both partially blocked.

The win also let Texas and Smart avoid the program’s third 0-2 start in the Big 12 in four years.

“A must-win,” said Taylor, a junior who has experienced the rugged road through the Big 12.

The Longhorns still struggled to find offensive rhythm after losing senior center Cam Ridley to a foot injury for 8-to-10 weeks three games ago. But despite a 6 of 23 shooting effort on 3-pointers, the Longhorns got key long-range baskets from Felix and Connor Lammert down the stretch to secure the win.

The Longhorns were 4 of 20 shooting 3-pointers before making two of their last three. Felix scored seven in a row in the run to grab the lead.

“That’s my job: stay aggressive and keep shooting, even when the shots are not falling,” Felix said.

Texas led 24-16 late in the first half before Kansas State closed with a 13-2 run to take a 29-26 lead into the locker room. Two Texas turnovers on the Longhorns’ final two possessions led to easy layups, including a buzzer-beater by Carlbe Ervin II.

Taylor struggled in the first half with three fouls against just three points and three assists.

With little production inside, Texas kept firing away 3-pointers will little to show for it early in the second half. But even with those constant misfires, Kansas State struggled to build on its lead and could only push the margin as high as 45-41.

“It would help to jump up and make some shots,” Kansas State coach Bruce Weber said. “You can say we’re young, we’re new, we play hard, but we can’t accept losing.”

Texas grabbed its first lead of the second half when Felix hit a 3-pointer from the top of the arc and scored seven straight in a run that put the Longhorns up 58-52 with 3 minutes left.

“That’s my job: stay aggressive and keep shooting, even when the shots are not falling,” Felix said.

Lammert’s 3-pointer put Texas up by 56-50 before Brown answered with a 3-pointer on the other end. Taylor made two of four free throws in the final seconds for the Longhorns.

“We were in a six-minute game and down two. It becomes a make-or-miss game,” Smart said. “I was proud of Connor for taking the 3 he made because he had missed a few beforehand.”

TIP-INS

Kansas State: The Wildcats continue to struggle on the road with just four wins in the past two seasons.

Texas: The Longhorns are still looking for better production inside without Ridley. Prince Ibeh and Shaq Cleare combined for 11 points.

MOMENTUM SHIFT:

Kansas State led 45-41 with 8:31 left, then made just four field goals and had four turnovers the rest of the way. “They made the shots and we didn’t get the stops. We had some real bad possessions,” Weber said.

UP NEXT

Kansas State plays at No. 2 Oklahoma on Saturday

Texas plays at TCU on Saturday

— Associated Press —

Nebraska falls on the road at No. 19 Iowa

Posted on January 5, 2016January 5, 2016

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s first performance as a Top 25 team wasn’t nearly as pretty as the ones that landed it in the rankings.

The Hawkeyes won anyway — and now they have over a week to prepare for a rematch with Michigan State, which they knocked out of the No. 1 ranking.

Jarrod Uthoff had 25 points, eight rebounds and four blocks as No. 19 Iowa held off Nebraska 77-66 on Tuesday night for its fifth straight win.

Mike Gesell had 22 points and 10 assists for his first career double-double with the surging Hawkeyes (12-3, 3-0 Big Ten). They have victories in nine consecutive league games dating to last season.

Gesell “needed to be great because (starting guard Anthony Clemmons) clearly wasn’t himself,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said of Clemmons, who was held scoreless while struggling through a hip pointer. “It took a lot for us to get this win and it was all experience.”

Iowa survived a sluggish start to the second half with a late 9-0 run, capped by a long 3 by Uthoff, to go ahead 63-48 with 7:15 left.

Tai Webster scored a season-high 22 points and Shavon Shields had 13 for Nebraska (8-8, 0-3). The Cornhuskers shot 59 percent in the second half but still lost their third straight.

“The competition is good. But I want to see us now, and I want to see us at the end of the year,” Nebraska coach Tim Miles said.

The Hawkeyes surged into the Top 25 on Monday after beating two ranked teams, including then-No. 1 Michigan State, in the same week for the first time since 1987.

The pressure defense Iowa used to rally from a 19-point deficit to win at Purdue on Saturday came in handy again versus Nebraska.

The Huskers could hardly miss in their first few possessions, storming ahead 10-0. The Hawkeyes responded by defending the full 94 feet, and within a few minutes they were in front 19-17.

“Once we got into it we stayed into it because we got them a little sideways,” McCaffery said of the press. “When we got the lead, we didn’t panic.”

The Hawkeyes didn’t have a ton of trouble the rest of the way, though the Huskers didn’t make it easy on them.

Iowa hit eight of 10 baskets during a 12-0 run late in the first half — while holding Nebraska to 4-of-24 shooting at one point — to go up 31-22.

Nebraska briefly got within eight points midway through the second half. But Uthoff’s 3 and a one-handed jumper from Gesell put Iowa ahead by 16 points with just over 4 minutes left.

TIP-INS

Nebraska: The Huskers went scoreless over the final 7:35 of the first half. … Jack McVeigh, who matched a career high with 16 points in his last game, scored five points on 2-of-9 shooting.

Iowa: Uthoff entered play ranked fourth nationally with 3.3 blocks per game. …The Hawkeyes went 24 of 32 from the free throw line. … Reserve Dom Uhl had 10 points and eight rebounds.

STAR POWER

Gesell has notched career highs in nearly every statistical category this season, and his versatility keyed the Hawkeyes on Tuesday. He had 22 points on 5-of-7 shooting and was 11 of 13 from the line. He had four rebounds.

COURTSIDE

Miles, as is his custom, tweeted at halftime that “When we get a open look we have to knock it down. We also have to get into the lane on offense and contain Uthoff on defense.” The Huskers did much better on offense after halftime, but Uthoff hit a bunch of key shots in the second half.

UP NEXT

Nebraska plays Rutgers on Saturday.

Iowa gets a rematch with No. 5 Michigan State on Jan. 14.

— Associated Press —

Missouri’s Porter named SEC Freshman of the Week

Posted on January 5, 2016January 5, 2016

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Mizzou Women’s Basketball freshman forward Cierra Porter (Columbia, Mo.) was named Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week, it was announced Tuesday. Porter scored 13 points and tied a career-high with nine rebounds (five offensive) in the 88-71 victory over Charlotte on Dec. 29.

For the week, Porter averaged 8.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.0 steal vs. Charlotte and No. 12 Tennessee on Monday. She shot 50 percent (7-for-14) from the floor. Against Charlotte, she was 5-for-9 from the field, 3-for-4 from the foul line and added two assists and two steals.

Through 14 games, Porter is averaging 10.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 0.9 blocks per game. She is shooting a team-best 62 percent (52-for-84) from the floor to go along with a 78 percent (38-for-49) mark at the free throw line.

No. 20 Mizzou (13-1, 0-1) returns to action on Thursday evening with a 6 p.m. CT tipoff at Georgia (12-2, 0-1).

— Mizzou Athletics —

No. 16 Missouri Western rallies past UCO; off to best start in school history

Posted on January 4, 2016

ST. JOSEPH – For the first time in program history, the Missouri Western Women’s Basketball team is 14-0 after a thrilling 77-69 victory over Central Oklahoma Monday night inside the MWSU Fieldhouse.

No. 16 Missouri Western trailed at the break but opened the second half with an 8-0 run to take back the lead. Two second half three pointers from Sarafina Handy helped seal the deal for the Griffons. Trailing by two with 2:47 left in the third, Handy sunk a three from Chelsea Dewey to give Missouri Western the lead back. Handy nailed another triple with 2:15 remaining in the game to stretch a four-point Griffon lead to seven. Handy was fouled on the attempt and made the penalty shot to give the Griffons an eight-point lead. Central Oklahoma closed the gap to four with 31 seconds remaining but two Handy free throws iced the Griffons’ eighth MIAA victory of the season.

Handy finished with 21 points to lead Missouri Western. LaQuinta Jefferson had her six-game streak of 24 points or more broken but still scored 19 with three rebounds and four assists. Mhykeah Baez dropped 17, led the Griffons with 10 rebounds and had four steals. Dewey scored 11 with five assists.

The win for Missouri Western set up a rivalry matchup Saturday between an undefeated Griffon squad and a Northwest Missouri State team in search of its first MIAA victory of the season.

— MWSU Athletics —

Griffons defeat Central Oklahoma for second straight win

Posted on January 4, 2016

ST. JOSEPH – The Missouri Western Men’s Basketball team won its second straight game and gave Griffon Basketball its second straight MIAA Doubleheader sweep with a 77-60 victory over Central Oklahoma.

The Griffons trailed by seven with 9:30 left in the first half then rattled off a 22-10 run to take a five-point lead to the break. Missouri Western opened the second half on a 10-0 run that extended the lead to 15 and never let up from that point on. The Griffons would lead by as many as 23 in the second half. Missouri Western shot 42 percent from the field in the second frame but limited Central Oklahoma to 39 percent from the field and 3-13 three-point shooting. The Griffons out-rebounded UCO 42-33 and had 40 points off the bench to the Bronchos’ 28.

Aaron Emmanuel led Missouri Western with 14 points. Miles Wentzien hit double figures for the second straight game, scoring 13. Currie Byrd also scored 13 and Wes Mitter added 12.

The win ran Missouri Western’s record to 5-9 overall and 3-5 in the MIAA. The Griffons host Northwest Missouri, Saturday at 5 p.m.

— MWSU Athletics —