The Missouri Tigers sank 12 3-pointers, led by eight from Abbey Schreake, to go on the road and beat Western Illinois, 75-55, Friday night in Macomb, Ill.
Screacke was 9-of-17 shooting from the floor and 8-of-14 from 3 to total a career-high 26 points, powering the Tiger offense off the bench.
Grace Slaughter (14), Laniah Randle (11) and Nyah Wilson (10) joined Schreacke in double figures, while Randle added a team-high nine rebounds and Averi Kroenke dished out seven assists, starting her second game after joining the lineup this week.
The Tigers jumped out to a 9-2 lead after two Slaughter free throws ended a 9-0 Tiger run with 6:24 left in the first quarter, then Schreacke’s first 3 made it 15-7 with 4:25 left before the first break.
Western Illinois came back to tie at 15, then took a 17-15 lead into the first break after ending the quarter on a 10-0 run.
The Leathernecks extended their lead to 19-15 after a jumper from Raegan McCowan, two of her game-high 27 points, but the Tigers stormed back with a 18-2 run to take a 33-21 lead after a Screacke 3 with 1:41 left before halftime.
Western Illinois chipped away at the lead with a 6-0 run to end the half and send the teams into halftime with Missouri up 33-27.
Western Illinois never cut the lead within five points in the third quarter as the Tigers put up 23 in the quarter, the most they have scored in a quarter this season. The Tigers extended the lead to 11 points on a Schreacke 3 with 3:11 left in the quarter, then Ashton Judd hit a free throw to put the Tigers up 56-44 going into the fourth.
The lead kept growing in the fourth as Missouri poured in another 19 points.
A Wilson layup made it 61-44 with 8:32 left, a Randle jumper put the Tigers up 65-46 with 5:57 to play and a Randle free throw gave the Tigers a 20-point lead at 70-50 with 4:28 remaining.
De’Myla Brown hit an and-1 layup with 25 seconds left to create the final margin.
Missouri shot 26-of-59 (44.1 percent) overall, 12-of-25 (48.0 percent) from 3 and 11-of-16 (68.8 percent) at the free-throw line.
The Tigers still committed 21 turnovers to the Leathernecks’ 10, but Western Illinois scored only 13 points off those turnovers and the Tigers had 11. Missouri out-rebounded Western Illinois 34-20.
Missouri (3-2) returns home to face Saint Louis at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Head on over to the Tiger Walk to discuss the game and so much more.
