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.
MSU turned a 19-19 game late in the first half into a 14-point lead holding the Raiders scoreless for seven minutes and without a made basket for nearly ten, jumping out to a 36-22 lead in the third quarter and never looking back.
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.
Missouri State is set to face Stanford, the tournament’s overall seed, in the Alamo Region semifinal at 2 p.m. Sunday on ABC in a rematch of a 2019 Sweet 16 contest.
Story: MSU Athletics
