Amanda Lassiter had 19 of her game-high 28 points in the second half and 13 in the final 12 minutes to lead Missouri past Illinois State 83-63 in womens college non-conference basketball Sunday at Redbird Arena.
The Tigers, 8-1, are just one basket from an undefeated season (a one-point loss at Pepperdine) this year and have out-scored their opponents by an average of 25 points per game. MU used a 47-35 rebounding advantage to overpower the Redbirds in the second half
The Redbirds, 1-7, dropped their sixth straight in a game which was much closer than the score indicated. Mizzous biggest lead was the final score and the Birds were within 55-51 with 12 minutes left.
Illinois State is getting better and better and we knew we were going to have our hands full tonight, Missouri head coach Cindy Stein said. We feel lucky to get out of here with a win tonight.
Missouri took a 44-31 lead at halftime thanks to 12 offensive rebounds and a 12-6 turnover advantage. The Tigers had a 39-25 lead with 1:46 left, but ISU sliced it to 44-31 with baskets by Nadia Peruch, Jaci McCormack and Sharon Blade. Tracy Franklin hit a three-pointer with 14 seconds to complete the first-half scoring.
The Tigers stretched the lead to 15 in the first three minutes and led 55-43 but ISU scored the next eight points, four by Taren OBrien and four more by Reichle to close it to 55-51 with 12:57 left.
But back-to-back buckets by Lassiter set MU on a 10-4 run to get back up 10 points. An 8-0 Mizzou blitz put the Tigers up 73-57 heading into the final five minutes.
We used so much energy trying to get back in the game that we had little left in the tank down the stretch, McCormack said.
Stein liked the way Lassiter took charge.
She really stepped up tonight, said Stein. She wants to play at the next level (the WNBA) and she has worked hard since the summer to get better. She was our leader tonight.
Missouri connected on 50 percent of its shots and used a 46-34 rebounding advantage, including a 22-13 edge on the offensive glass to dictate the tempo of the game. Evan Unrau controlled the boards on both ends of the court for Missouri, grabbing 13 boards, including nine on the offensive end. Unrau got help on the glass from Lassiter with nine and Kerensa Barr with seven.
ISU was led by Steph Reichle with 14 points and six boards while McCormack added 13 points. Although limited with foul trouble, Blade chipped in with 11 points and six rebounds.
I certainly believe that our kids are going to feel confident going into conference play. We know that were not going to run into many teams in conference play which have challenged us as much as our non-conference schedule has, ISU head coach Jenny Yopp said of her tough non-conference schedule.
