University of Missouri
Nebraska
Late Rally Falls Short For Women, 74-69
1/14/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 14, 2004
COLUMBIA, Mo. - For the second consecutive game, a late Tiger rally fell just short, as the Missouri women's basketball team dropped a 74-69 decision to Nebraska on Wednesday night at the Hearnes Center.
Down 18 with 10 minutes, 47 seconds to play, Mizzou (9-5, 0-3 Big 12) battled to within one of the Cornhuskers in the final two minutes, but a game-tying 3-point attempt by senior guard Tracy Lozier (Leawood, Kan. / Blue Valley North HS) was blocked.
The game was tight through most of the first half, with the biggest lead for either team being only five points. With 3:06 remaining in the half, however, Nebraska (12-2, 2-1) started a 16-4 run that spanned halftime and opened up a 45-30 Cornhusker lead with 17:03 left to play.
Senior All-America candidate Evan Unrau (Fort Collins, Colo. / Rocky Mountain HS) made a 3-point play on the ensuing possession, and senior forward Stretch James (Columbus, Ohio / Tyler [Texas] JC) sandwiched back-to-back layups around a pair of Margaret Richards free throws to bring the Tigers within 10 (47-37) with 14:42 left. The Huskers countered, however, with a 3-pointer from Keasha Cannon-Johnson and then a steal, layup, and 3-pointer on consecutive possessions by Kiery Hardy to boost the lead to 18.
Mizzou came right back, though, throwing a 13-4 run at Nebraska to trim the lead to single digits. James had three of the Tigers' six buckets in the stretch, which included a 3-point play by freshman guard Carlynn Savant (Euless, Texas / Trinity HS).
After Alexa Johnson hit a fastbreak layup to put the Huskers up 11 with 5:03 left, the Tigers reeled off a 12-2 run to pull within one with 1:53 to go. Lozier hit a 3-pointer - she now is just one shy of Julie Helm's Mizzou career record after canning her 122nd - Unrau and Savant followed with baskets. Following a pair of Margaret Richards free throws, Unrau had back-to-back baskets, the latter coming on a 3-point play.
Katie Morse and Kiera Hardy each hit a pair of free throws to make it 71-66 with 1:29 left. James hit a put-back, and Unrau made one of her two free throws with 29 seconds on the clock, making the score 71-69.
Nebraska converted three of four free throws in the final 30 seconds to ice the game.
James poured in 20 points to lead the Tigers in scoring, and her 10 rebounds tied her for the team high with Unrau, who also had a double-double with 15 points. Lozier finished with a dozen points and five assists, while Savant chipped in nine points and five rebounds in her first career start.
"It's kind of rough right now around the seams," Head Coach Cindy Stein said. "Our job right now is to get this team united and ready to go. This is a team that we play really hard. We did a lot of really strong things. We kept our turnovers down and put ourselves in a position to win. We just need to do a little more to get over the hump."
The Tigers next hit the road for the first of two games to be televised nationally by FOX Sports Net. The first comes Sunday at Colorado before a return trip to Allen Fieldhouse a week from Saturday against Kansas.
