December 5, 1998

COLUMBIA, Mo.- The Missouri Tigers women's basketball team captured their second straight Mid-America Classic title on Saturday night with an exciting 87-76 overtime win over the Louisville Cardinals (4-4). Missouri (4-2) have now won three straight games and will travel to Illinois State on Tuesday night.

In what was an up-and-down game from start to finish, the Tigers used a 42-26 rebouding advantage and forced 14 second half turnovers. Missouri took a 68-67 lead on a Julie Helm field goal with 10 seconds to play in regulation. Louisville answered with 5.1 ticks on the clock on Sharon Bellamy bucket to give the Cardinals a 69-68 advantage. Following a timeout, Helm ran the length of the court to catch a pass from Amy Monsees and was fouled at buzzer. After missing the first foul shot, Helm sank the second to tie the game at 69-69 to force the game into overtime.

The Tigers dominated the overtime period by scoring the first 13 points of the period. Missouri outscored Louisville 18-7 in the extra period. Helm led the Tigers with 27 points and was named to the All-Tournament Team. Kesha Bonds, who netted a career-best 25 points on Friday, hit for 19 points and 12 rebounds on Saturday and was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament for the second straight year.

Louisville was represented by Sharon Bellamy and Roscelle Bullock on the All-Tournament Team. Jackson State downed Texas Southern, 87-79 in the consolation game. Tameika Hill of Jackson State and Candace Williams of Texas Southern were both named to the All-Tournament Team.

Incidentally, in the middle of the game, MU assistant coach Dave Wilburs became a father when his wife gave birth to a baby girl, Bailey. She was 7 pounds and 6 ounces at birth.