Dec. 10, 2006
EVANSTON, Ill. - Senior EeTisha Riddle tied her career-high yet again, this time netting 22 points and 11 rebounds as Missouri cruised past Northwestern 78-59 on Sunday at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
With former MU standout and current Chicago Sky player Amanda Lassiter looking on, Riddle posted 16 points and nine boards by halftime. She finished 10-of-13 from the floor in posting her second-consecutive double-double and fourth of the season.
While Riddle was doing her thing inside, senior Carlynn Savant made four 3-pointers and also tied her career-high with 22 points. As a team, Missouri (9-1) made seven threes and controlled the boards with a 33-30 edge. But the stat that improved the most from Wednesday's win was the 13-6 edge on the offensive glass that the Tigers turned into 16 second-chance points.
Mizzou shot 45 percent from the floor and committed a season-low 12 turnovers in winning its sixth-consecutive game.
"We felt like they couldn't stop Tish inside," MU coach Cindy Stein said. "We told them in the locker room at the half that they key word was `paint' and they responded."
Missouri came out and made seven of its first 10 shots for a 14-3 lead in the opening four minutes. The stretch included a pair of second-chance buckets and a fast-break lay-up by Riddle. She made her first five shots and had six rebounds in the first 10 minutes.
Northwestern cut the Missou lead to 22-19 on a Sara Stutz 3-pointer before the Tigers got a pair of threes from Alyssa Hollins and a Riddle basket to stretch the margin to 30-19 with 6:15 to play in the half. MU took a 41-29 lead into the locker room as they forced 11 Wildcat turnovers.
Missouri came out in the second half and extended its lead to 19 points with a 9-0 run that included a pair of Carlynn Savant 3-pointers and a Blair Hardiek steal and fast-break bucket that forced a Wildcat timeout. Another Riddle lay-up made it 52-31 with 16:37 left.
The Wildcats cut the lead to 14 with just over 11 minutes to play but that was as close as they would get.
Northwestern (6-3) was led by A.J. Glasauer's 15 points. Stutz and Kristin Cartwright had 10 apiece.
Missouri will take a week off for final exams before opening a three-game homestand on Sunday, Dec. 17 against South Dakota State. Tip-off at Mizzou Arena is set for 1 p.m. Central time.