Missouri State handles Mizzou women's basketball for the Tigers' second-straight loss
The Lady Bears left no doubt about it — Missouri is still their State.
Missouri State (7-2) put on a show in a 79-51 win over in-state rival Mizzou (8-2) on Friday night at JQH Arena.
The Lady Bears have now beaten the Tigers three years in a row — which matches the program's longest winning streak over Mizzou since the first three times the programs played from 1973-75.
"It's not a good game for us," Missouri coach Robin Pingeton said. "That's all I can tell you."
The win saw the Lady Bears put on their best offensive performance of the season while they maintained the excellent level of defensive play they've shown all season long.
Missouri State held Aijha Blackwell to just 11 points on the night. Haley Troup led all Tigers with 12 points. MU shot 4 of 20 from 3-point range — that's just 20 percent from beyond the arc.
With the game tied at 25 with 6:20 left in the second quarter, it appeared to be a high-level game until the Lady Bears put the Tigers away with a 16-0 run before halftime.
Brice Calip led the way through the first 20 minutes with 12 points with nine coming off of 3-pointers. MSU hit 6-of-13 shots from beyond the arc — marking a single-game season-high when there were still 20 minutes to go.
Mizzou didn't score a point for the final 6:20 of the half. Over the stretch, the Tigers turned the ball over three times while finishing the half with nine. The Lady Bears had a 14-3 margin in points off of turnovers while taking a 41-25 lead into the break.
The Lady Bears kept their feet on the pedal in the third quarter while going on a 13-1 run over the final 4:35 of the period. The stretch saw dominant play inside from Jasmine Franklin while Mya Bhinhar and Sydney Wilson each contributed to the run.
Mizzou wasn't able to put together one of the great comebacks in college basketball history as it trailed by as many as 31 in the fourth quarter. The Tigers had their smallest scoring output of the season with the previous coming in a 70-68 loss on Dec. 4 to No. 5 Baylor.
Franklin finished the game with 13 points and 15 rebounds. Wilson added 17 with Calip scoring 14.
Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or Twitter at @WyattWheeler_NL.
Contact the Columbia Tribune's sports editor at CKwiecinsk@gannett.com, or 435 414-3261.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri State handles Mizzou for the Tigers' second-straight loss
