University of Missouri
Colorado
Savant's Double-Double Leads Tigers to 69-49 Win
1/18/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 18, 2006
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Junior forward Carlynn Savant (Euless, Texas / Trinity HS) earned her second double-double of the season, and was one of four Tigers to score 14 or more points, as Missouri posted a 69-49 win over Colorado in Big 12 Conference action Wednesday night at Mizzou Arena.
With the win, the Tigers (14-3, 4-1 Big 12) retain sole possession of second place in the league, and remain unbeaten at home with their 10th straight at Mizzou Arena. It is also Mizzou's 13th win in its last 14 games overall, coming back after a disappointed loss at Texas on Saturday. At 4-1, Mizzou is off to its best-ever start in the 10 years of the Big 12, and the best conference start overall since the 1983-84 team started the Big Eight season 12-1.
Savant had 14 points, a game- and season-high 13 rebounds, and four assists to get her first double-double since the season-opener against Clemson; she nearly had the double-double at halftime with 11 points and nine boards. Senior center Christelle N'Garsanet (Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire / Illinois Central College) and senior guard LaToya Bond (Urbana, Ill. / Urbana HS) each led all scorers with 15 points apiece; N'Garsanet added eight rebounds and four assists. Junior forward EeTisha Riddle (O'Fallon, Ill. / O'Fallon HS) joined Savant with 14 points.
Jasmina Ilic led Colorado with 15 points, and Caley Dow and Jackie McFarland each added 11.
"We entered today's game extremely disappointed with the performance at Texas. I felt like we did a great job rebounding against Colorado," Head Coach Cindy Stein said. "We expected a zone and wanted to play well against a zone after the Nebraska game, and we did those things tonight. We focused on our game goals. I thought we shared the basketball well today; our starting five plays pretty well together."
Ilic hit a pair of jumpers and Whitney Law a pair of free throws to give the Buffs (6-11, 1-4) an early 6-4 lead. Mizzou stormed back, though, and held the Buffs to just two field goals over the next 7 minutes, 37 seconds. The resulting 22-4 run gave the Tigers a comfortable 26-10 lead with 9:57 left in the half.
CU put together a quick 11-3 run, started by a 3-pointer and layup from Ilic, and capped by the first three points of the game from McFarland, Colorado's second-leading scorer. Yet Mizzou scored 12 of the final 13 points of the half, capped by Savant's third 3-pointer of the opening frame, to take a 41-22 lead into the break.
Riddle hit a jumper to start the second half and push the Tiger lead past 20 points. The Buffs dipped under that margin just twice, and a jumper from Bond with 15:23 left started a 7-0 run that kept the game out of reach.
The Tigers hit the road again on Saturday for a 7 p.m. tipoff at Texas A&M (14-4, 3-2), whose conference losses have come in close games at Texas Tech and at Baylor. Mizzou's next home game is a week from Saturday (Jan. 28) against Texas Tech in game that will be televised nationally by FSN. 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.
