by SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Elle Ruffridge scored 17 of her career-high 20 points in the second half, Jasmine Franklin had a double-double in her third straight NCAA Tournament game, and the fifth-seeded Missouri State Lady Bears advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive tournament and fifth time in school history with a 64-39 victory over 13th-seeded Wright State Wednesday at the UTSA Convocation Center.
The Lady Bears improved to 23-2 with their 19th consecutive victory while setting a school record for fewest points allowed in an NCAA Tournament game with the third-largest margin of victory in the school’s NCAA history.
It was a back-and-forth game early and tied at 19-19 with 3:44 left in the first half before the Lady Bears turned up the defense, holding the Raiders (19-8) scoreless for the next seven minutes and without a field goal for nearly 10, pushing the lead to 36-22 during that stretch after a Sydney Manning 3-pointer.
Missouri State led by double digits for the remainder of the game, with eight different players scoring during a 21-point third quarter. Ruffridge the buried four of her five 3-pointers, which tied a single-game MSU NCAA Tournament record, in the first 5:17 of the fourth period as the lead grew to as many as 27 points .Brice Calip (Mvskoke Creek) had nine points, seven rebounds and six assists while primarily guarding WSU’s leading scorer Angel Baker, who finished with 10 points on 3-for-14 shooting.
Franklin finished with 11 points and 11 boards, and Mya Bhinhar pulled down a career-high eight rebounds to help MSU to a 47-31 lead on the glass against the No. 6 rated team nationally in rebound margin.
Missouri State shot 36 percent overall but 8-for-16 from long range and 14-for-17 at the foul line, while the Raiders became MSU’s 23rd opponent in 25 games to score below its average, shooting 27 percent from the floor and 3-for-18 on 3-pointers.
The Lady Bears’ current 19-game win streak is the second-longest in school history behind the 21-game streak the 1991-92 team carried into the Final Four. It also ties Baylor for the longest active Division I streak among teams participating in the 2020-21 season.
