Jan. 7, 2006
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Senior guard LaToya Bond (Urbana, Ill. / Urbana HS) had a game-high 20 points in leading the Mizzou women to a convincing 68-42 win, its 11th straight, over Kansas State at Mizzou Arena on Saturday afternoon.
It is the sixth 20-point game of the season for Bond, who was 7-of-8 from the field, and made all five of her free-throw attempts and her only 3-pointer of the day.
At 12-2 overall, the Tigers have matched the best start in school history after 14 games, and Mizzou is 2-0 in conference play for the first time since the 1992-93 season. In addition, the 26-point win is the second-largest for Mizzou against the Wildcats (11-2, 1-1), who shot a dismal 28.8 percent from the field.
Junior forward EeTisha Riddle (O'Fallon, Ill. / O'Fallon HS) and junior guard Marchele Campbell (Kansas City, Kan. / Schlagle HS / Syracuse / Daytona Beach CC) joined Bond in double-figure scoring. Riddle had 12 points and five rebounds, and defensively held KSU's leading scorer, Claire Coggins, to two points on 1-of-13 shooting. Campbell came off the bench in the second half and contributed 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting, including three 3-pointers.
"We really set the tone defensively, and I think we caught Kansas State on an off-night shooting," Head Coach Cindy Stein said. "We really wanted this game and prove that the Baylor game [in which the Tigers posted a three-point win on Wednesday over the defending national champions] wasn't a fluke."
Mizzou stormed to a 10-point lead in the game's first eight minutes. It was punctuated with a pair of dazzling plays on both ends of the floor. With 12:57 left in the first half, Bond blocked a short jumper by 6-foot-2 center Jessica McFarland. Sophomore guard Kassie Drew (Anna, Ill. / Anna-Jonesboro HS) snared the rebound, and after the Tigers transitioned down the floor, used good ball movement to find junior forward Carlynn Savant (Euless, Texas / Trinity HS) wide open at the top of the key for a 3-pointer and a 12-2 lead.
Mizzou held K-State to 1-for-13 shooting in the first 8:35 before the Wildcats got buckets from Shalee Lehning and Danielle Zanotti in their next three trips to cut the lead to six.
But a 20-0 run that the Tigers threw at Kansas State over the next 7:38 - which included three straight baskets from Bond - moved the advantange to 32-6 with 2:41 remaining. Midway through that stretch, Bond followed a layup on the fastbreak with another short, quick jumper. The next time down the floor, Bond banked in a 3-pointer with the shot clock running down. The Tigers led 35-11 at the half, holding Kansas State to 16.1 percent shooting (5-of-31), including 1-of-9 from 3-point range. It was the Wildcats' fewest points scored in a half in the 10 years of the Big 12 Conference.
JoAnn Hamlin got K-State on the board first after halftime, and the Wildats scored five of the first seven points of the second half, yet the Tigers held Kansas State to just two field goals over the next 9:09. Mizzou extended its lead to 33 (53-20) in that span, getting points from five different players.
With its long homestand concluded, the Tigers hit the road for the first time since Thanksgiving with a Wednesday trip to Nebraska. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. Mizzou's next home game is a week from Wednesday (Jan. 18) when the Tigers welcome Colorado to Mizzou Arena. Tickets are available by visiting the Mizzou Arena Box Office, calling 1-800-CAT-PAWS (884-PAWS in mid-Missouri) or going online to www.mutigers.com.