Feb. 22, 2006
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Senior guard LaToya Bond (Urbana, Ill. / Urbana HS) scored a game-high-tying 22 points, and senior center Christelle N'Garsanet (Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire / Illinois Central College) posted her seventh double-double in her last eight games to lead the Mizzou women to a 67-59 win over Iowa State in Big 12 Conference action Wednesday night at Mizzou Arena.
With the win, combined with Texas A&M's 79-67 win over Texas, clinches a top-four finish for the Tigers in the Big 12 Conference for the first time in the 10 years of the league, and also checks off several other significant milestones for Mizzou (20-6, 10-4 Big 12). The 20th win marks the first time since 2001 that the Tigers have reached that plateau, and by doing so with two games left before the postseason gives Mizzou a 20-win regular-season for the first time since 1990. The 10th league win for the Tigers also ties the most in Big 12 play along with that 2001 Sweet Sixteen squad.
Bond topped 20 points for the 12th time this season to lead four Tigers in double-figure scoring, while N'Garsanet had 20 points and a game-high 13 rebounds for her 12th double-double overall on the year. Junior guard Tiffany Brooks (Leavenworth, Kan. / Leavenworth HS / Kansas State) and junior forward EeTisha Riddle (O'Fallon, Ill. / O'Fallon HS) each added 10 points and three assists.
Lyndsey Medders led Iowa State with 22 points, while Brittany Wilkins added 15 points and nine rebounds for the Cyclones (15-10, 6-8).
"I'm extremely proud of this team. We talked prior to the game about '20-something', just a phrase to make sure we wanted this game. The 20-win mark is a statement about your program," Head Coach Cindy Stein said. "These kids have fought very hard, so I'm very proud of them, and the way we did it with four players in double figures says how much they wanted it."
As they did two weeks ago in Ames, the Tigers stormed out to an early lead; in this case Mizzou made eight of its first 17 buckets in taking an 18-4 lead in the first 10 minutes, 7 seconds of the game. In that same span, Iowa State was 2-of-13 with eight turnovers.
The Cyclones trimmed the deficit to seven with a 9-2 run before Mizzou reeled off the next eight points. N'Garsanet capped the streak with her 10th point of the game and a 28-13 Tiger lead with 5:35 to go in the half. Medders, who came into the game ranked seventh in the Big 12 averaging 17.3 points per game, didn't score her first basket until a layup on the fastbreak with 2:47 to go, yet made ISU's next three shots to pull the Cyclones within 11 (32-21) at the half.
The contest continued to mirror the first meeting of the season when Iowa State slowly continued chipping away at the Tiger lead in the second half. Mizzou held a 44-32 lead with 13:40 to go when Brittany Wilkins knocked down a 3-pointer and then hit a layup; that started a 16-4 run that culminated in a Lisa Bildeaux layup to tie the game at 48 with 7:23 to go. Medders added a pair of 3-pointers in that run, while Megan Ronhovde converted a 3-point play.
Late in that stretch, N'Garsanet was sent to the bench with her fourth foul, yet the Tigers seemed to circle the wagons without their best inside presence. Brooks and Bond sandwiched a pair of free throws around a Riddle layup off a nice feed from Bond. The senior point guard then knocked down a 3-pointer before junior forward Carlynn Savant (Euless, Texas / Trinity HS) hit another pair of free throws; the Tigers finished the night 12-of-13 from the line (92.3 percent). The 11-0 run gave Mizzou a nice cushion, which came in handy when Iowa State trimmed the lead to four (59-55) with 1:37 left. Yet Brooks, Bond and N'Garsanet salted the game away with six perfect charity tosses in the game's final 33 seconds.
The Tigers play their final road game of the regular season on Saturday at Kansas. The 11 a.m. game will be televised to a national audience by Fox Sports Net. Mizzou's final game of the regular season is next Wednesday at 7 p.m. vs. Nebraska; Seniors LaToya Bond, Christelle N'Garsanet and Cherice Mack will be honored in pre-game ceremonies. Tickets are on sale at the Mizzou Arena Box Office, by calling 1-800-CAT-PAWS (884-PAWS in mid-Missouri) or visiting www.mutigers.com. Mizzou students with All-Sports passes and KMIZ-ZOU cardholders gain free admission to the game.