Columbia, Mo. ? Crystal Kemp led all players with 20 points, and Kansas University’s women’s basketball team snapped a seven-game losing streak against rival Missouri with a 55-52 victory.
The Jayhawks had not defeated the Tigers since Jan. 26, 2000 and had not won in Columbia since 1999.
KU (8-5 overall, 1-1 Big 12 Conference) made only six of 17 free-throw attempts and had more than twice as many turnovers (20) as assists (nine). But KU shot 47.1 percent (24-of-51) from the field compared to 32.7 percent (17-of-52) for MU.
The Tigers (9-4, 0-2) had the opportunity to tie the game in the final seconds, but Tracy Lozier’s three-point attempt fell short. The miss was rebounded by KU’s Aquanita Burras, who finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Lauren Ervin also had 10 rebounds for KU, which owned a slim 37-36 edge on the glass.
Kansas took a 21-18 lead with 8:12 to play in the first half with a 9-4 run. The Tigers committed five of their 19 turnovers during the Jayhawks’ spurt and finished the half with 12.
MU went 9:02 without a field goal until center Christelle N’Garsanet drove for a layup with 1:40 left in the half, and Kansas took a 32-24 lead into the locker room.
The Jayhawks led by as many as 15 when Kemp hit a turnaround jumper with 14:08 to play.
Missouri rallied with a barrage of three-pointers and pulled within two points twice in the final minutes.
Lozier sank for three-pointers and led MU with 19 points. Evan Unrau had 15.
“It was tough game, and I felt like we were doing everything we could,” MU coach Cindy Stein said. “We got the right shot and nothing was going. We’re taking good shots, and they’re just not dropping. We’ll have to go to the film and try to get more shots in, get more pressure shots and then go from there.”
Next for Kansas is a 7 p.m. game Tuesday against No. 14 Colorado (12-2) at Allen Fieldhouse. The Buffaloes lost to No. 11 Kansas State, 76-69, Saturday at Boulder, Colo.
