Biography
Honors: Lady Bears Most Improved Player (2019, 2021)...Lady Bears Sixth Player of the Year (2021)...Athletic Director’s Honor Roll (Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Spring 2021)...MVC President’s Council Academic Excellence Award (2021)...MVC Commissioner’s Academic Excellence Award (2019, 2020, 2021)...MVC Academic Honor Roll (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021)...President's Council Academic Excellence Award (2020-21)
Senior/Career Summary: Missouri State’s third-leading scorer as a senior, averaging 9.7 points and connecting on 39 percent of her 3-pointers...Added 59 rebounds, 46 assists and 27 steals in 26 games, including 15 starts...Scored in double figures 12 times, matching a career high with 20 points in the NCAA Second Round win over Wright State (March 24)...Posted 19 points at Missouri (Dec. 14), and 18 against top-seeded Stanford (March 28) in the Sweet Sixteen, hitting four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter for the second consecutive game...Ended career as Missouri State’s all-time leader in NCAA Tournament 3-point accuracy at 65.2 percent (15-for-23) in six games, and finished second on the overall field goal percentage list at .667 (24-for-36)...Averaged 12 points per game in her NCAA Tournament career...Missouri State went 16-0 with Ruffridge in the starting lineup during her time on campus...Ended career with tied for 10th in MSU history with 139 3-pointers, scoring 675 points with 226 rebounds, 134 assists and 67 steals...Career 36.4 shooter from beyond the arc in 124 games, and played in 95 wins to ranked ninth in school history.
2019-20: Led the MVC in 3-point accuracy after shooting 45-for-103 (.437) from beyond the arc for the fifth-best season percentage in MSU history...Played in all 30 games with one start, when she scored 20 points and hit six treys against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Nov. 8)...Averaged 6.4 points per game with 51 rebounds, 31 assists and 13 steals...Scored in double figures seven times...Shot 25-for-45 (.556) from 3-point range in the final 13 games of the season...Buried multiple treys in 14 games...Scored 15 points on 5-of-8 from bonus distance in the Lady Bears’ conference championship-clinching win against Valparaiso (March 5)...Tallied 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting versus Southern Illinois (Feb. 15)...Scored 14 points at Drake (Feb. 9) and 13 versus Missouri (Dec. 15)...Dished out multiple assists seven times with a 1.24 assist-to-turnover ratio...Hit 47 percent of her 3-point attempts at home, the second-best season figure in JQH Arena history.
2018-19: Came off the bench in all 35 games, averaging 3.7 points and 1.6 rebounds with 27 assists and 18 steals...Knocked down 26 3-pointers at a 33 percent clip...Shot 82 percent from the foul line in 27 attempts...Played 13.3 minutes per game...Hit multiple 3-pointers in seven contests...Scored a season-high 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting with three treys in MSU’s NCAA first round victory over No. 24 DePaul (March 23)...Had 14 points with four 3-pointers in the MVC Tournament semifinal win against UNI (March 16)...Went 3-for-4 from beyond the arc against South Dakota (Dec. 4)...Scored eight points in back-to-back games at Valpo and Loyola (Feb. 22 and 24)...Had a season-high five rebounds and two assists in the MVC Tournament championship win against 21st-ranked Drake (March 17)...Dished out multiple assists in six games, with one or zero turnovers each time...Voted the team’s most improved player by her teammates.
2017-18: Played in all 33 games as a freshman, averaging 3.2 points and 1.8 rebounds in 13.5 minutes per contest...Added 30 assists and nine steals, while 26 of her 59 rebounds came on the offensive end...Buried 19 3-pointers, and went 21-for-24 (.875) at the foul line...Scored a season-high 10 points with a pair of treys and 4-for-4 free throws at Indiana State (Dec. 29)...Tallied seven or more points in five games...Hit multiple 3-pointers in three games...Handed out five assists against Wichita State (Dec. 7) and four at Evansville (Dec. 31)...Pulled down six rebounds against eighth-ranked Baylor (Nov. 23).
Background: One of the most decorated players in Iowa high school basketball history, Ruffridge owns state records for career points (2,951), assists (802) and 3-pointers (466)...Guided Pocahontas Area High to back-to-back state titles her final two seasons, winning Iowa Gatorade Player of the Year honors both years...Iowa Miss basketball in 2017, two-time Iowa Basketball Coaches Association Class 3A Player of the Year, four-time all-state selection (first-team her final three seasons), and team owned a combined 100-7 record during her career...Scored 840 points as a senior, the second-most in state history, while averaging 30 points, seven assists and 4.6 steals, shooting 58 percent overall and making 157 3-pointers at a 54 percent clip...Shot 91.6 percent from the foul line as a senior, ending her career second in Iowa history with an .891 career percentage from the charity stripe...Owns state record with 12 3-pointers in a game, and holds eight state tournament records, including 250 career points in the playoffs...Averaged 28.4 points and 8.5 assists with 114 triples on the way to a 27-0 record and state title as a junior...Made 116 3-pointers as a sophomore, and owns three of the four all-time seasons in Iowa basketball history of at least 100 makes from beyond the arc...Set Iowa’s sophomore scoring record with 733 points (27.1/game) that season, adding 199 assists (7.4/game) to rank second in that category...Led the state with 79 treys as a freshman, ranked third with 170 assists for a 6.8 average, and scored 612 points (24.5/game) to set the state scoring mark for freshmen.
Personal: Elle Ruffridge is the daughter of Brandon and Karla Ruffridge...Born April 18, 1998 in Storm Lake, Iowa...Has two brothers, Shea and Tyce...Majoring in elementary education.
