Missouri St women claim MVC title for 14th time since 1990

<p>CARBONDALE, Ill. &mdash; Jasmine Franklin led a balanced attack with 14 points and nine rebounds and No. 23 Missouri State beat Southern Illinois 67-55 on Wednesday night to claim the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title for the 14th time since 1990.</p>
<p>Brice Calip added 13 points and Abby Hipp scored 12 for the Lady Bears (16-2, 12-0), who are off to their best start since the 2003-04 club opened 20-1. They are 12-0 in Valley play for the first time since 1996. </p>
<p>Gabby Walker scored 18 points for Southern Illinois (8-11, 5-9) and Makenzie Silvey added 14. The Salukis were without leading scorer and rebounder Abby Brockmeyer, averaging 14.2 points and 9.3 rebounds, for the fifth straight game with an ankle injury.</p>
<p>Missouri State has four games remaining in the regular season — against just two opponents in Loyola Chicago and Evansville. The Lady Bears host the Ramblers on Saturday and Sunday.</p>
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<p>More AP women’s college basketball: <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball">https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/AP_Top25">https://twitter.com/AP_Top25</a> </p>