March 21, 2010

Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Missouri State's Casey Garrison scored 32 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to lead the Lady Bear women's basketball team to a 75-54 win over Samford in the second round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament Sunday afternoon at JQH Arena.

Samford ends its season with a record of 23-11. Missouri State advances to play the winner of tomorrow's game between Illinois and Marquette.

"It's always disappointing when your season ends," Samford head coach Mike Morris said. "We lost to a very good team today. The bottom line was we couldn't stop them down the stretch. I am very proud of our team and the season they've had."

Samford was led in scoring by Savannah Hill with 12 points. Monica Maxwell scored 10 points and pulled down six rebounds, while Megan Wilderotter added 10 points. Alex Crow led the team in rebounding with nine.

For Missouri State, Garrison made 10-of-18 shots from the floor and 10-of-12 from the free-throw line. Garrison was followed by Christiana Shorter with 17 points and eight rebounds.

The game was close throughout the first half. With the game tied at 15-15, Samford went on a 7-2 run to take the largest lead for either team in the opening half at 22-17 with 5:32 to go in the first half after a layup by Wilderotter.

Missouri State scored the next six points in a row to take a one-point lead at 23-22 with 3:07 to go in the opening half. Samford fought back to take a 27-25 lead with 1:18 left in the first half after a pair of free throws by Hill. Missouri State scored six of the last seven points in the first half to take a 31-28 lead into halftime.

After a basket by Hill early in the second half cut the MSU lead to 31-30, Missouri State went on an 11-3 run to take a 42-33 lead with 13:57 to go in the game. Samford fought back to cut the lead to four at 46-42 with 8:16 to go in the game after a free throw by Paige Anderson.

Missouri State scored the next six points to push its lead to 10 at 52-42 with 6:47 left in the contest. With MSU leading, 57-47, the Lady Bears went on a 16-3 run to push its lead to 23 at 73-50 with 55 seconds to go. Missouri State came away with a 75-54 win.

For the game, Missouri State made 41.4 percent of its shots from the floor, including 33.3 percent from three-point range. Samford made 33.3 percent of its shots overall and 25.9 percent of its attempts from beyond the arc. The Lady Bears out-rebounded the Bulldogs, 45-32.

The loss ends the most successful season in Samford women's basketball history. The team's win total of 23 ties the school record for wins in a season. The Bulldogs reached the finals of the Southern Conference Tournament for the first time, and they played in their first national postseason tournament, earning a win in the first round of the WNIT over Ole Miss.