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Category: College

Northwest women lose at No. 20 Emporia State

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A cold start for Northwest Missouri State doomed the Bearcats as the 20th-ranked Emporia State Lady Hornets pulled away with a 63-50 win Sunday afternoon in MIAA action from White Auditorium.

The Bearcats fall to 4-14 and 2-9 in league play while ESU improves to 13-3 and 9-2 in the MIAA. Northwest closes out its three-game road swing on Wednesday when they travel to Washburn to face the 16th-ranked and MIAA leading Lady Blues.

After a cold start from the field senior guard Abby Henry would pick up the scoring for the Bearcats. Henry swished a half-court shot at the buzzer of the first half and finished with a game high 16 points.

Although the Bearcats turned the Lady Hornets over 21 times, Northwest would shoot a season low 22 percent from the field.

ESU would lead by as many as 28 late in the second half, but Northwest would chip back at the Lady Hornet lead. However, it would be too little too late as the 20th-ranked Hornets out-rebounded Northwest 56-45 and 42-17 on the defensive end of the floor.

Annie Mathews returned to the starting lineup and added 11 points while Candace Boeh also finished in double figures adding 10 points and six rebounds off the bench.

All 10 players for ESU registered in the scoring column led by Heather Robben with 12 points.

Griffons lose heartbreaker to Pitt State; drop 8th straight

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A Sam Pugh three-pointer with 15 seconds remaining propelled Pittsburg State over the Missouri Western men 69-67 Saturday, Jan. 21 at the MWSU Fieldhouse. Western dropped to 6-11 and 1-10 in the MIAA, their 8th consecutive loss. Pitt improved to 11-7 and 7-4.

After Pugh’s wide-open shot, James Harris was called for a travel on a drive toward the hoop with 3.4 seconds left. On the other end, Andra Bailey made one free throw to put the Gorillas up 69-67 with 2.5 seconds left. Lavonte Douglas’ lob pass for TJ Johnson was intercepted by Pugh as time expired.

Alex Tuluka-Mfumupembe tied the game at 65 with his three-pointer from James Harris with 1:40 remaining. Deionta Mitchell gave the Griffons their first lead since the first half when he sank a free throw with 33.4 seconds remaining, then drained the second to put Western up 67-65.

Harris led all scorrers with 21 points, Johnson had five in the second half to finish with 12. Douglas scored 14 second half points and had eight rebounds in the second frame to finish with 15 and nine. Bailey and JaVon McGee each had 19 for the Gorillas and Courtney Ingram finished with 12 for Pitt. Pugh’s three gave him seven for the game.

The Griffons built a 23-16 lead with 7:01 remaining in the first half before the Gorillas went on a 17-3 run to end the half and go to the locker room up 36-26. Johnson and Harris each scored seven first half points for the Griffons. Western shot just under 43 percent from the field in the first, going 2-7 from three.

Western will head to Emporia to face the Hornets next on Wednesday, Jan. 15 at 7:30 p.m.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Ratliffe leads No. 5 Mizzou to big road win at No. 3 Baylor

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Ricardo Ratliffe made it sound like just another game for No. 5 Missouri after holding on for a big road victory at No. 3 Baylor.

Maybe Ratliffe, the nation’s best shooter, and the Tigers are just so used to having success this season.

“It was the next game on our schedule,” Ratliffe said nonchalantly after Missouri’s 89-88 victory. “We’re just trying to go out and get better and win games.”

The Tigers (18-1, 5-1 Big 12) did both Saturday in winning on the road against a Top 5 team for the first time since 1994. They also won at a place where they had lost their last three trips, this being their last before moving to the Southeastern Conference next season.

Ratliffe scored a career-high 27 points on 11-of-14 shooting for the Tigers, who built an early lead by outrebounding Baylor’s big front-line and then made 10 free throws in the final minute to hold off a furious rally by the Bears.

“Obviously this was a great win for us,” coach Frank Haith said. “Our guys showed tremendous poise down the stretch. Throughout the game, we played with great toughness.”

Ratliffe, who is shooting 77 percent from the field this season, had a big two-handed slam dunk midway through the second half when he scored six points in an 8-0 run that put the Tigers up 68-58. Missouri still had a 10-point lead with 3:07 left, then didn’t score again until his two free throws with a minute left.

Missouri had to make 10 of 12 free throws in the final minute for the victory. Marcus Denmon’s free throw with 4 seconds left made it 89-85 before Brady Heslip hit a game-ending 3-pointer for Baylor (17-2, 4-2), which has lost two in a row after a 17-0 start.

Baylor was coming off a 92-74 loss at No. 7 Kansas that ended the Bears’ record 17-game winning streak. The loss to Missouri ended their 10-game home winning streak.

“That’s what makes our league so great. There’s no easy game,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “Hopefully we’ll get back to rebounding a little better, trying to get to the free throw line like we were for most of the year, and then go from there.”

The top two scoring and shooting teams in the Big 12 certainly lived up to that billing in the league’s first top-five matchup that didn’t involve either Kansas or Texas.

Missouri shot 55 percent (30 of 55), and Baylor finished at 57 percent (36 of 63).

Freshman Quincy Miller led Baylor with 29 points while Pierre Jackson had 20 points and 15 assists. Quincy Acy had 18 points with nine rebounds while Heslip had 10 points.

Phil Pressey had 18 points for the Tigers while Denmon had 15 and Kim English 10.

The Tigers, who have won four in a row since their loss at Kansas State two weeks ago, led only 58-56 midway through the second half when Pressey had a turnover. Heslip tried a 3-pointer and appeared to be hit when he shot, but there was no foul and Drew was called for a technical foul.

“I deserved it,” Drew said. “I didn’t cuss at him though.”

Denmon made both of those free throws, then after a layup by Acy, Ratliff had his big dunk and added two free throws between consecutive turnovers by Jackson. Ratliffe’s layup after Pressey’s steal made it 68-58 with 8 minutes left.

Jackson had 11 points and three assists in the final 2:06 when Baylor closed the game with a 19-10 run. Jackson started that when he drove and was fouled, yelling out “and one!” before he even hit the floor and the ball fell through the hoop. He made the free throw, cutting the deficit to 79-72.

After Denmon’s last free throw, his fifth in the final 33 seconds, Jackson tried to throw up a 3-pointer and draw a foul in the same motion. The ball wound up in Heslip’s hands along the left wing with no one around him.

Missouri led 39-35 at the half after a 6-0 run that included consecutive putback baskets.

By that point, the Tigers had a 14-0 advantage in second-chance points and its 10 offensive rebounds were only one fewer than the Bears’ total rebounds. Missouri finished with a 32-26 rebounding edge, and 18-11 advantage on second-chance points.

“Our ability to rebound the ball was important for us to win this game, and we were able to get that,” Haith said. “And against a team that played zone, I thought we did a great job. We didn’t want to settle for a bunch of 3s. … Those are the things we really wanted to do and get accomplished, and I thought we did that, and obviously we were able to hang on and win the game.”

— Associated Press —

Western women get clobbered by No. 15 Pittsburg State

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The Missouri Western women couldn’t overcome red hot shooting by No. 15 Pittsburg State, falling 86-68 Saturday, Jan. 21 at the MWSU Fieldhouse. The Griffons fell to 5-11 overall, 3-8 in the MIAA and the Gorillas improved to 16-2 and 10-1.

Western shot 36.8 percent from the field and just 43.5 percent from the free throw line after coming into the game leading the conference in free throw percentage. Meanwhile, the Gorillas shot 49 percent from the field for the game.

Western trailed by 33 with 4:35 remaining in the game but was able to close the gap with a full-court press defense. Jessica Koch extended her streak of consecutive games scoring in double digits to 26 games with 24 points to lead all scorers. Ashleigh Curry finished with a double-double on 11 points and 13 rebounds. Curry was held scoreless in the first half and didn’t find a bucket until 15 minutes remaining in the game. Alicia Bell added 11 points and Alex Saxen had nine on 3-5 shooting from behind the arc.

The Griffons shot a balmy 22.2 percent from the field in the first half and after going into the game shooting 76.5 percent from the lin,e the women were just 4-8 from the charity stripe. Koch managed 13 points in the first to extend her double digit scoring streak. The Gorillas jumped out to an 11-0 run to start the game. Pitt. went to halftime shooting 61.5 percent from the field and a perfect 6-6 at the free throw line. Drew Roberts was hot from outside in the first, shooting 4-7 and gong to the locker room leading all scorers with 12 points.

The women return to action Wednesday, Jan. 25 when they travel to Emporia, Kan., to take on the Hornets at 5:30 p.m.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Jayhawks survive scare at Texas

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What looked like a rout soon turned into another Kansas-Texas classic.

And in the end, the Jayhawks walked away with another hard-fought win over the Longhorns.

Jeff Withey made a layup and free throw with 37 seconds to play and Thomas Robinson added a free throw with 8 seconds left, giving No. 7 Kansas a 69-66 win Saturday after Texas rallied from a big early deficit.

Texas had a last chance to force overtime, but J’Covan Brown’s 3-pointer with 2 seconds to play bounced off the rim. Brown led Texas with 24 points.

“To win on the road shows a lot of toughness,” said Tyshawn Taylor, who scored 22 points for the Jayhawks in their first game since handing Baylor its first loss of the season. Robinson finished with 17 points and nine rebounds and Withey scored 12.

While the win over Baylor came at home, this one was on the road in a tough environment and required a late rally after the Jayhawks blew a big lead against a Texas team that counts six freshmen in its nine recruited scholarship players.

Kansas coach Bill Self liked how his team pulled it out.

“We needed that,” he said. “This is the best win we have had all year. … I thought we were fortunate.”

After the game, Taylor was already looking ahead to the rematch at Kansas on March 3. Last season, Texas beat Kansas in Lawrence to end the Jayhawks’ 69-game home winning streak.

“I’m sure it’s going to be another dogfight,” Taylor said.

So many Kansas-Texas games are.

Kansas (16-3, 6-0) is the only Big 12 team still undefeated in conference play and came in confident against a young Texas lineup. Taylor was sharp early and the Jayhawks quickly built a 15-point lead.

Texas came in desperate for a big win this season and things got chippy in the first half when Robinson and Texas’ Alexis Wangmene were whistled for technical fouls after they tangled at midcourt.

The Jayhawks still led by 14 early in the second half before Brown slowly started reeling them in.

Clint Chapman scored 15 and gave Texas its first lead at 59-58 with just over 5 minutes to play. Brown, who scored just four points in the first half, kept firing up shots in the second. His 3-pointer with 3:20 to play put Texas up 64-60.

Brown, who had two 3-pointers reviewed by game officials earlier, turned and shook three fingers in the air after making it. Brown has averaged 26 points in Texas’ three straight losses but was just 7-of-26 shooting against Kansas.

Kansas retook the lead on a three-point play by Taylor before Brown made two free throws. Kansas looked to be in trouble when Taylor then missed two from the line and Robinson missed a layup before Withey’s three-point play.

Brown had a chance to tie it before he missed with 15 seconds left. Kansas’ Travis Releford grabbed the rebound before Robinson’s final trip to the line.

Taylor said Kansas was determined to keep Brown from getting a good shot on the last play.

“He still got a good look. That scared me,” Taylor said. “He made his best plays late in the game.”

Texas has now lost five games by six points or less. The Longhorns had to replace all five starters this season and the youthful lineup has struggled to finish games.

Brown has shouldered much of the burden, often taking over the offense late in games.

“There’s no pressure,” Brown said. “I want to be a big-time player and big-time players need to make big-time shots.”

— Associated Press —

K-State snaps 11-game losing streak at Oklahoma State

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Frank Martin was in disbelief that Kansas State’s lead could be slipping away in Gallagher-Iba Arena again.

He’d seen a lead fade with a series of turnovers his first time coaching in the building. A rebound bounced off one of his players’ heads to spark an Oklahoma State rally the next time he was back.

This time had a different ending.

Freshman Angel Rodriguez scored 14 points in his second start, Jamar Samuels added 12 points and 12 rebounds and Kansas State (No. 25 AP) snapped an 11-game losing streak at Gallagher-Iba by beating Oklahoma State 66-58 on Saturday.

“Every year I’ve been here, something’s happened where we’ve unraveled and K-State hasn’t won here since ’93. You know these things,” Martin said. “I don’t tell them that.

“You sit there and you’re saying, ‘This can’t happen again.’ I was real proud of the way that they stayed the course.”

The Wildcats (14-4, 3-3 Big 12) held Oklahoma State without a made basket for a 15-minute stretch spanning halftime, building up a 46-33 lead after Will Spradling’s runner in the lane with 9:08 to play. Then, they held off a late charge as the Cowboys (9-10, 2-4) pulled within 59-56 with just over 2 minutes left.

Rodriguez and Rodney McGruder combined to make seven of 10 free throws down the stretch to seal the Wildcats’ first win in Stillwater since 1993. It was the team’s longest losing streak in any conference venue, starting when both teams were in the Big Eight.

“We got the W in Stillwater. I’ve never won in this place, and it feels good to win,” Samuels said.

“It’s good to get a road win in the Big 12, and to be in Stillwater makes it a lot better.”

Keiton Page had 17 points on 4-for-17 shooting to lead Oklahoma State, and Markel Brown scored 14.

Brown converted a three-point play off a steal that led to a two-handed slam during a string of nine straight points for the Cowboys to get the lead down to four. Page’s 3-pointer from the left wing — Oklahoma State’s only make in 16 attempts from 3-point range — cut it to 59-56 with 2:01 remaining.

Kansas State didn’t allow another point until Page’s jumper at the buzzer, securing the victory at the foul line despite making only 23 of 40 free throws during the game.

“This is one of most intimidating places that I’ve ever coached a basketball game in,” Martin said. “The crowd, the way it sits right on top of you, it seems like the court is smaller because everything is so congested there.

“It’s awesome. I mean, it’s incredible.”

McGruder, who had been averaging 22.7 points over the previous seven games, finished with 14. The Wildcats had a 50-29 rebounding advantage while playing without top shot blocker Jordan Henriquez, who was suspended indefinitely for conduct detrimental to the team.

There were 52 fouls called in a physical game, and Cowboys coach Travis Ford — who earned a technical foul late in the first half — suggested there could have been 102.

“That was a wild deal, that game. That takes the game back,” Ford said. “Good grief.”

Ford said he spent the two days before the game marveling at how roughly Kansas State’s previous game against Texas had been and feeling grateful his team hadn’t played in it — until the Cowboys’ turn ended up much the same.

“That’s going to be a tough night for us when it’s played like that,” Ford said. “This time next year, we’ll be able to battle — when these guys get a little bigger and stronger and we get other players back.”

Both teams entered the day stacked up in a four-way tie for fifth place in the conference, along with Texas and Oklahoma.

Kansas State charged ahead to stay with a 13-0 run midway through the first half, getting the first 11 points in a 40-second span. Rodriguez hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to get it started, and the Wildcats didn’t even have to go back across midcourt to score the next eight.

Rodriguez stole a backdoor pass and got fouled while converting a fast-break layup. He missed the free throw but the rebound went out of bounds to Kansas State, and Thomas Gipson scored underneath also while getting fouled. He, too, missed the free throw and Samuels tipped it in. An Oklahoma State turnover on the inbounds play led to another bucket by Gipson underneath.

The Cowboys finally crossed the center line before Gipson’s hook shot made it 21-11 with 10:34 left before halftime.

Michael Cobbins led Oklahoma State back, converting a pair of three-point plays during a 10-0 response. The second, off of a two-handed dunk of LeBryan Nash’s alley-oop, got the Cowboys back within 24-23 with 3:58 to go before the half.

The Cowboys then missed their final three shots of the first half and 10 straight to start the second half.

Brown finally snapped the drought with a layup that led to a three-point play with 8:57 remaining, and the Cowboys were still within striking distance down 46-36 but never could overcome the deficit.

“Defense is always the most important thing in our team. That’s how we play,” Rodriguez said. “We knew that it wasn’t going to be an easy game here. We took the challenge, we stepped up and played good ‘D’ and it gave us a win.”

— Associated Press —

Missouri State gets road win at Bradley

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Caleb Patterson scored 16 points and sank the go-ahead basket with 1:09 left as Missouri State nudged Bradley 51-48 on Saturday night.

After Patterson’s shot broke a 45-45 tie, Kyle Weems hit two free throws to put the Bears up 49-45. Walt Lemon Jr.’s 3-pointer brought Bradley within 49-48 with 4 seconds left before Nathan Scheer added two foul shots for the final margin.

Weems added 15 points to notch his 100th career double-digit game for the Bears (12-9, 5-4 Missouri Valley), who snapped a three-game losing streak.

Taylor Brown led the Braves (6-15, 1-8) with 17 points. Jordan Prosser had 13 points and 12 rebounds, and Lemon scored 13.

Bradley shot just 37 percent (20 of 54), but Missouri State was worse at 35 percent (17 of 49).

Neither team ever led by more than six points.

— Associated Press —

Northwest volleyball signs two to letters of intent

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Northwest Missouri State head coach Jessica Rinehart announced the signings of Janaya Fox and Dallas Gardner to National Letters of Intent on Friday as the duo will begin their Bearcat careers in the fall of 2012.

“I’m very excited about these two,” said Rinehart, who recently completed her second season at the helm of the Northwest program, “They’ve both experienced a large degree of success at the high school and club levels, and I expect that trend will continue for them as Bearcats.  They are both extremely consistent players and I feel they will make an immediate impact on our team.”

Gardner comes from St. James Academy in Lenexa, Kan., where she won three Kansas State Championships for the Thunder. She also helped the Thunder finish No. 1 in the nation her junior year and No. 4 this last fall. Gardner was also a three-time Academic All-State selection.

Joining Gardner is Janaya Fox from Bellevue East in Bellevue, Neb. Fox holds school records for career kills (605), season kills (449) and digs in a match with 29. She was a First-Team All-State selection and named All-Metro while earning Player of the Year accolades from the Bellevue Leader. She competed at the national tournament four times with her club team and won a Nebraska state championship in basketball.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

Bearcats compete at the Nebraska Wesleyan Invitational

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Northwest Missouri State junior Will Haer improved on his NCAA provisional mark Friday in the pole vault as both men and women competed for the second straight weekend at the Devaney Center.

This weekend’s meet was hosted by Nebraska-Wesleyan, but still saw plenty of strong performances for both men’s and women’s squads.

The highlight of the day was Will Haer taking home the pole vault title and improving on his NCAA provisional mark. Haer had a vault of 4.85m taking home first-place in the pole vault.

Porter Groves also earned a top five finish for Northwest in the long jump. The junior recorded a jump of 6.42m, as Ronnie Taylor of Hastings College earned the title with a jump of 7.50m.

Also picking up a top five finish was the Northwest 4×400 meter relay team. Zach Dixon, Rashaad Scott, Eli Smith and Kellen Schroeder who raced to a fifth place finish, just six second behind Concordia University.

On the women’s side Lekiesha McKnight who nabbed a NCAA provisional last week at the Husker Holiday Invite, narrowly missed a first-place finish. McKnight had a top throw of 13.27m just .13m of the NCAA provisional mark and .48m behind Abby Griffith of Hastings College’s first-place finish.

Distance runners for the Northwest women were able to bring home five top five finishes on the afternoon.

Northwest was paced by Brittany Poole’s third-place finish in the 3,000 meter run and Madison Marshman in the 5000 meter run who also ran to a third-place finish. Poole recorded a time of 10:22.99 while Marshman covered the 5k in 18:26.78.

Brianna Evans and Samantha Fender finished back-to-back, in third and fourth-place as the top sprinters of the day for the Bearcats. Evans raced to a third-place finish narrowly missing a NCAA provisional with a tie of 7.97. The NCAA provisional mark in the in the 60 meter dash is 7.75.

Both Northwest squads will return to Nebraska next weekend as they travel to Concordia University Invitational next Friday and Saturday.

— NWMSU Sports Information —

Two Missouri State football players earn All-Freshman honors

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Two Missouri State football Bears, Zack Cooley (RFr., OT, Lebanon, Mo.) and Mike Crutcher (RFr., S, Wentzville, Mo.) are part of the first College Sports Journal All-Freshman Team, the CSJ released this week.

The squad of 40 newcomers were selected for making significant national-scale contributions in their first year of playing college football. The 2011 team was selected by a blue-ribbon panel of FCS experts put together by College Sports Journal executive editor David Coulson and CSJ publisher and managing editor Chuck Burton.

Cooley — a 6-5, 284-pound offensive lineman — started all 11 games at left tackle for the Bears in 2011. He had an assignment grade of 98 percent for the season and an execution grade of 75 percent. His overall season grade of 82 percent was highlighted by 57 knock-down blocks. Cooley was named MSU Offensive Lineman of the Week on Oct. 22.

Crutcher — a 6-2, 198-pound safety —  also started all 11 games this season. He was one of 22 finalist for the Jerry Rice Award presented to the FCS National Freshman of the Year and finished 14th in the season-end voting. He finished his freshman season with 83 total tackles, including team-high 45 solo stops. Crutcher also had one sack, one interception and broke up three passes. He finished 13th in the Missouri Valley Football Conference in total tackles (7.54) and had at least 6 tackles in 9-of-11 games. Additionally, he was named MSU Media Player of the Week on Sept. 3 for his efforts against Arkansas in the season opener.

Missouri State finished 2-9 in 2011, but ended the season with wins in two of its final four games, in addition to a double-overtime loss in that span. MSU was 2-6 in the MVFC to tie for seventh place.

— MSU Sports Information —

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