Nov. 17, 2006
Behind senior Carlynn Savant's fourth career double-double, the Missouri women's basketball team defeated Arkansas State, 74-53, at Mizzou Arena Friday night.
Savant established career highs with 22 points and four blocks to go along with 12 rebounds and four assists. She also made a game-high three 3-pointers in 36 turnover-free minutes.
Senior guard Tiffany Brooks tied for team-high honors with 22 points and a career-best six steals. Senior post EeTisha Riddle posted her seventh career double-double with 10 points and 12 boards.
The Tigers grabbed 46 rebounds for the second-straight game as they held a 46-33 edge on the glass. Mizzou committed a season-low 14 turnovers while turning 21 Lady Indian miscues into 20 Tiger points.
Missouri (3-0) won its third-consecutive game overall and its 11th-straight non-conference match-up at home. The Tigers managed to take control of the contest with an 11-0 run midway through the opener period. During the run, Tiffany Brooks and EeTisha Riddle each scored four while freshman Jessra Johnson made the first 3-pointer of her career on her first attempt.
The Tiger advantage stayed between nine and 12 points for the remaining seven minutes with Mizzou stretching the lead to 40-25 on a Blair Hardiek 3-pointer. The Lady Indians got a pair of free throws and a lay-up to make it 40-29 at the break.
MU shot just 29 percent in the half but pulled down 16 offensive rebounds to account for a 9-0 margin in second-chance points.
Arkansas State cut the lead to nine points with an Adrianne Davie basket to open the half but a pair of Brooks jumpers pushed the lead back to double figures. The Tigers' lead never fell below 11 the rest of the game. In fact, during a 16-0 MU run that began with 13:38 showing on the clock, Brooks, Riddle and Savant scored all 16 points as the Tigers led 64-35 with 6:12 to play. Savant had 10 alone during the stretch.
ASU (1-2) was led offensively by Davie's 26 points and seven rebounds. Rudy Sims had 15 and five assists.
Missouri will take an eight-day road trip next week where it will play at No. 4 Stanford on Tuesday before meeting Alabama in the opening round of the St. Mary's (Calif.) Thanksgiving Tournament on Friday.