Southern Illinois University
4-4
Missouri
8-2
Women's Basketball falls to Missouri, 96-69
12/18/2005 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 18, 2005
By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Four of five starters scored in double figures, as Missouri (8-2) won its seventh-straight game with a 96-69 victory over Southern Illinois (4-4) earlier tonight at Mizzou Arena.
The loss marked SIU's seventh in a row against Big 12 opponents and dropped the Salukis to 1-13 in their last 14 games on the road.
Mizzou scored several easy baskets in transition and SIU missed nine of its first 10 field goals in a lopsided first half.
SIU trailed by 12 after Christelle N'Garsanet's jumper gave the Tigers an 18-6 lead with 13:19 remaining.
The Dawgs later sliced the Tiger lead to seven (20-13) on Erin Pauk's layup at the 12:09 mark, but missed its next six shots. Mizzou took advantage of SIU's frigid shooting, and as a result, stormed to a 25-8 run.
Back-to-back three-point plays by Carlynn Savant and Blair Hardiek contributed to the rout, which also saw N'Garsanet pitch in eight points.
The run also helped Mizzou outscore SIU, 29-12, in the last eight minutes of the half, as the Tigers built a 49-25 lead.
Despite improving its field goal percentage from 34.4 percent to 55.9 (19-of-34) in the second half, SIU was too far behind of the Tigers to ever really catch up.
Mizzou, on the other hand, never cooled off, and topped its 55.9 first half field goal percentage with a boiling 61.3 clip (19-of-31) in the game's final 20 minutes.
The Tigers also led by as many as 30 points on two occasions before polishing off their 96-69 win.
LaToya Bond, who at one time scored, eight consecutive points in the second half, led all Tiger scorers with 21 points on 7-of-11 field goals and 6-of-6 free throws.
Savant followed with 18 points, including nine from three-point range, while Garsanet had a double-double 16 points and 10 rebounds and Tiffany Brooks pitched in 16 points.
SIU also saw four of its five starters reach double-digits in the scoring column.
Carlai Moore paved the way with 18 points, while Elyse Morris had 14, Pauk chipped in 11 and Jayme Sweere added 10. Neither one of the four, however, had more than six points in the first half.
Mizzou also outmuscled the Dawgs to a 40-28 advantage on the boards.
SIU closes out its non-conference schedule at Saint Louis on Dec. 22. The Saluki and Billikens square off at 5 p.m., CST, at the Savvis Center.
