Feb. 10, 2010
Box Score
MANHATTAN, Kan. - The University of Missouri women's basketball team fell to the Kansas State Wildcats, 37-33, Wednesday night in Manhattan, Kan. The loss drops the Tigers to 11-12 overall and 1-9 in Big 12 Conference play, while the Wildcats improve to 12-11 and 4-5.
Down 35-31, senior Jessra Johnson hit a jumper with 17.3 seconds remaining to bring the Tigers within two points, 35-33. Kansas State made one-of-two free throws to give Mizzou a chance to tie on their final possession but the team was unable to get a three-point attempt off in the waning seconds.
Sophomore Christine Flores led the Tigers with 11 points and eight rebounds.
The two teams traded baskets in the first few minutes but Kansas State took an early 8-4 advantage after a layup from Shalin Spani and two free throws from Taelor Karr with 12:08 remaining in the opening frame. Free throws from the Wildcats' Ashley Sweat eventually gave the home squad its biggest lead of the first half, 14-8, with 3:11 on the clock.
Junior RaeShara Brown responded immediately with a driving layup and hit another after a Kansas State basket. With 1:11 left in the first, sophomore Christine Flores made one-of-two free throws after getting fouled for a 16-13 Wildcat advantage.
A defensive rebound by senior Amanda Hanneman in the closing seconds of the first half gave the Tigers one last chance to score but sophomore Christine Flores missed a running jumper to give the Wildcats a 16-13 lead at the break.
Brown found junior Shakara Jones for a layup to open scoring in the second half but Kansas State reeled off six straight points as the team took a 21-15 advantage with 17:01 on the clock. Mizzou used a free throw from senior Jessra Johnson before junior Jasmyn Otote nailed a three-pointer to cut the Wildcats' lead to two, 21-19, at the 13:55 mark.
A basket from Flores against cut the Tiger deficit to two, 23-21, before the Wildcats used a jumper from Shalin Spani and a triple from Karr for a 38-21 advantage with 9:47 left. Missouri responded with two free throws from Flores, a driving layup from Brown and a layup from Flores for a 28-27 game with 7:30 remaining.
The Tigers went to Flores again with 5:52 on the clock as the sophomore converted another layup as Mizzou took its first lead since early in the first frame, 29-28. Kansas State regained its lead two minutes later with a jumper from Karr then used a three from Karr on its next possession as the home team went up 33-29 with 3:20 left in the contest.
Flores was fouled with 2:21 on the clock and made both free throws for a two-point game, 33-31, but the Wildcats responded again with a jumper to take a 35-31 advantage with 1:52 on the clock. .
Mizzou returns home to host No. 3 Nebraska on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 1 p.m. in the WBCA Pink Zone® game. It is a global, unified effort for the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's nation of coaches to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond. Free t-shirts will be given to the first 500 fans and $2 discount will be given to anyone wearing pink. All proceeds will benefit the Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the Kay Yow Foundation.-
