BIMINI, Bahamas -- Missouri State made a season-high 11 3-pointers Thursday afternoon in the first game of the Junkanoo Jam, but eighth-ranked Baylor shot 60 percent from the floor to hand the Lady Bears a 100-58 setback at Gateway Christian Academy.
Baylor (4-1) jumped ahead 6-0 in the first minute and led throughout, building a 27-8 lead in the first quarter before an
Aubrey Buckley trey 12 seconds into the second period capped an 8-0 MSU (1-3) run at 27-16.
BU used a 14-0 run midway through the second period to push the margin to 25 points, then put together a 10-for-11 shooting stretch to go ahead 67-25 with 6:37 left in the third.
Alexa Willard and
Lee Ann Polowy hit back-to-back triples and
Abby Hipp followed with a bucket for another 8-0 MSU run, and Missouri State played Baylor within a point in the third quarter before BU extended the margin late, scoring with 75 seconds left to become the first MSU opponent to hit 100 points since January 1989.
Willard paced the MSU scoring with 13 points on 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, Buckley added 12, and Polowy went 3-for-4 from long range, matching her career highs of nine points and three treys.
Buckley and
Elle Ruffridge shared high rebounding honors with five each, and MSU grabbed 15 offensive caroms while trailing 42-33 in overall boards against one of the nation's top teams in rebounding margin.
Liza Fruendt handed out three of Missouri State's 11 assists.
Missouri State plays Penn on Friday at 6:45 p.m. Central.
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