University of Missouri
Oklahoma State
Missouri Steals One in Stillwater
2/3/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 3, 2000
COLUMBIA, Mo.- The Missouri Tigers (13-6, 3-5) picked up a win when they needed it the most on Wednesday night in Stillwater, Okla. The Tigers overcame a seven point halftime deficit to defeat the Oklahoma State Cowgirls (12-8, 4-4) by a score of 77-73.
The victory ended a two-game losing streak for Missouri and gave the Tigers their 13th in of the season, matching last year's win total.
Junior Amanda Lassiter led Mizzou with a career-high 30 points in what turned out to be a physical and emotional game. Natalie Bright added 14 points for the Tigers, 12 of them coming late in the game.
Oklahoma State jumped out to an early 10-point lead by taking advantage of several Missouri defensive miscues. The Cowgirls connected on their first three 3-point attempts while forward Jessica Bates tallied 15 first half points. Lassiter had 15 for the Tigers at the break, but Mizzou still trailed 43-36.
Missouri opened up the second half by going on a 14-0 scoring run to open up a 53-43 lead. The Tigers held OSU scoreless for the first 9:14 of the half.
The Tigers led 55-45 until Marlena Williams was whistled for a foul, and then a technical foul at the 9:58 mark. OSU's Jennifer Crow (27 points, 10-10 FT) sank six straight free throws to cut the lead to 55-51.
After two ties and one lead change, Oklahoma State jumped out to a four-point lead at 71-67 when Crow buried back-to-back three pointers. The Tigers answered with back-to-back treys of their own by Bright and Lassiter to give Mizzou a 73-71 lead.
A Bright layup with 1:04 left gave Mizzou a 75-71 advantage and never looked back.
