Nov. 18, 2009

Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Lauren Woods scored a career-high 21 points, but a late 14-0 run lifted Missouri State to a 75-59 victory over Saint Louis Wednesday night at JQH Arena.

Woods was 8-of-16 from the field and tallied 13 of her 21 in the second half. Amanda Kemezys scored 14 points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. Casey Garrison led Missouri State (1-1) with 20 points and game highs of nine rebounds, seven assists and four steals. Jasmine Malone had 19 points and eight rebounds, and Lacey Boshe tallied 15 points.

Saint Louis (1-1) shot a respectable 42.3 percent in the first half but slipped to 28.1 percent in the second half to finish at 34.5 percent. Missouri State connected on 44.2 percent from the field. Also, the Lady Bears shot 40 free throws (25-of-40) to the Billikens' 26 (17-of-26).

The Billikens held early leads of 1-0 and 3-2 before Missouri State scored on three consecutive possessions to take a 9-3 advantage. Kemezys hit a baseline jumper and Janisha Gearlds buried a 3-pointer from the right corner to close the gap to 9-8 before Malone's trey gave MSU a 12-8 lead.

Woods netted a 16-foot jumper that was answered by Garrison's steal and layup that made it 14-10 Lady Bears. Kathryn Hester recorded her first Billiken basket to regain the lead for SLU, 15-14. Both teams suffered a dry spell until Gearlds made a step-back jumper at the foul line to put the Bills in front 17-14.

Missouri State then went on a 15-3 run, during which seven different players scored, to build a 29-20 cushion. But the Billikens closed the half with a 9-1 spurt of their own, scoring on each of their last five possessions, to narrow the MSU margin to a point, 30-29, at the break. Kemezys scored the first five points of the run on three free throws and a turnaround baseline jumper, and Woods finished it with a pair of transition layups after SLU steals.

Saint Louis scored on two of its first three second-half possessions to take a 33-30 lead. Kemezys grabbed an offensive rebound and converted, and Woods swished a 17-foot jumper. Missouri State then scored on its next five touches for a 10-0 run that gave the Lady Bears a 40-33 edge.

The Billikens sliced the lead to four points, 43-39, on Kaelin Reid's 3-point play. Missouri State received a spark from Boshe's 3-pointer. But Woods made a jumper in the key and later canned a free throw, Katie Paganelli made all three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point try, and Gearlds made a steal and a layup to pull the Bills closer at 49-47.

Boshe's two free throws briefly slowed the SLU run. But Woods made both ends of a 1-and-1, Paganelli made one of two at the stripe and Woods tallied on a driving layup to give the Bills a 52-51 lead.

The Lady Bears' decisive run started innocently enough with a Shorter free throw that tied the game at 52. Malone gave MSU the lead for good with two more from the stripe, then made a steal and a layup to give the hosts momentum. Another key occurred when Kemezys fouled out at the 5:33 mark, aiding Missouri State in building a double-digit lead.

Woods made two free throws to halt the run and later banked in a jumper to cut the MSU lead to 70-59 and give her the career high. But that was as close as the Billikens would come.

Saint Louis hosts Butler Saturday, Nov. 21. Game time at Chaifetz Arena is 2 p.m.