Missouri State Bears reach Sweet 16 in consecutive women’s NCAA Tournaments
Another sweet season for Elle Ruffridge and Missouri State.
Ruffridge had a career-high 20 points with five three-pointers and the fifth-seeded Bears are going to their second consecutive Sweet 16 in the women’s NCAA Tournament after knocking off Wright State 64-39 on Wednesday.
“It feels amazing. I cannot tell you how much I love this team,” Ruffridge said. “We have been waiting since 2019 to punch our ticket back. I’m just speechless right now.”
Ruffridge and Jasmine Franklin, who put up a double-double Wednesday, are among nine current Missouri State players who were also part of the Sweet 16 team two years ago, though they have a different coach. The Bears (23-2) lost in 2019 to Stanford, the same team they will play in the Alamo Region semifinal Sunday in a 2 p.m. tipoff on ABC.
“We’re going to enjoy this one. Making it to the Sweet 16 is not easy,” second-year Missouri State coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton said. “There’s so many teams that would love to be in this position. We are not taking that for granted at all. So we’re going to enjoy this. We’re going to enjoy each other. That’s what we do, we enjoy the journey. Obviously, we’re going to be prepared.”
The Bears (23-2) pulled away in the second half when Ruffridge scored 17 of her points. Franklin had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Angel Baker and Shamarre Hale each had 10 points for the 13th-seeded Raiders (19-8), who were outscored 40-20 after halftime. They had gotten their first-ever NCAA Tournament victory in the opening round against Arkansas on Monday.
Agugua-Hamilton succeeded Kellie Harper, who after coaching the Bears’ 2019 Sweet 16 team was hired by Tennessee, her alma mater. Missouri State then went 26-4 in Agugua-Hamilton’s debut last season before the NCAA Tournament was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Missouri State went ahead on two tiebreaking free throws by Missouri Valley Conference player of the year Brice Calip with 2 minutes left in the second quarter before Mya Bhinhar swished a three-pointer for a 24-19 halftime lead. Sydney Manning’s three-pointer capped a 12-3 run to start the second half. That trio was also on the last Sweet 16 team.
After opening this tournament with a 21-point win over UC Davis, Missouri State now has to play the Cardinal, the No. 1 overall seed in this NCAA Tournament. Stanford beat the then-No. 11 seed Bears 55-46 in the Sweet 16 two years ago.
Wright State got even at 19-all Wednesday when Emani Jefferson made a three-pointer that hit the rim, popped straight up and then fell through the net with 3:44 left in the half. The Raiders didn’t get any more breaks after that.
“They had great execution, great patience. I think they controlled the tempo of the game,” Wright State coach Katrina Merriweather said. “They just played an amazing 40 minutes, even with the slow start that I feel like we both had. Containing them would mean we could not be a step slow like we were today.”
This story was originally published March 24, 2021 at 4:36 PM.