Dec. 1, 2010
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. - The University of Missouri women's basketball team earned a 56-45 win over the Ball State Cardinals Wednesday night in Muncie, Ind. The Tigers improved to 3-3 on the season with the victory, while the Cardinals fell to 3-3.
Junior Christine Flores led the Tigers with 13 points to go along with eight rebounds. Senior RaeShara Brown had 12 points, four steals and tied her career high with eight assists and senior Shakara Jones added 10 points and nine rebounds. Additionally, senior Jasmyn Otote had nine points and a career best nine rebounds and sophomore Sydney Crafton had eight points and nine boards.
Mizzou used three baskets from Flores to run out to a 12-2 advantage less than seven minutes into the contest. Three layups from senior Jasmyn Otote and Brown increased the Tigers' lead to 18-6 four minutes later. However the Cardinals reeled off a 10-2 run of their own to cut Missouri's advantage to four, 20-16, with 5:34 on the clock.
Ball State did get within three, 22-19 after a three-point play from Ty'ronda Benning but Mizzou scored the final three points off the frame on a Brown layup and a Flores free throw for a 26-18 Tiger halftime lead.
The Tigers used hot shooting in the early minutes of the second frame to open an 11-point advantage, 33-22, with 17:34 left in the contest. Flores had two baskets during the run while senior Shakara Jones and Otote each had one.
The Cardinals used two three-pointers from Benning to help the home team pull within three, 35-32, with 13:47 remaining but consecutive threes from Otote and Brown and a layup from Flores put the Tigers back ahead 43-32 with just less than 10 minutes left.
Benning hit another trey for a 40-37 game with 7:32 on the clock but Missouri used an 11-0 run, with points from Brown, Crafton, Jones and Otote, to open its biggest lead of the second half, 56-40, with 3:39 left in the game.
The Tigers outrebounded the Cardinals 45-36.
Missouri concludes a seven-game stretch away from Mizzou Arena with a contest against the Northwestern Wildcats in Evanston, Ill., on Sunday, Dec. 5 at 1 p.m. The game, part of the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge, will be televised live on the Big Ten Netork. The Tigers then open the home portion of the 2010-11 schedule on Tuesday, Dec. 7 with a game against UT Martin at 7 p.m. The contest will be televised on the Mizzou Sports Network, which can be found on Fox Sports Midwest in mid-Missouri and Metro Sports in Kansas City.
