January 4, 1999

COLUMBIA, Mo.- Head Coach Cindy Stein stated that the key to victory for Missouri would be to limit their turnovers. The Tigers didn't do it. Missouri dropped their conference opener on the road in Lincoln, Neb. to the 16th ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers by a score of 83-67 on Sunday afternoon. The Tigers turned the ball over 35 times, but didn't go down without a fight.

Missouri's turnover problem started out early and often. The Tigers turned the ball over 21 times in the first half. Trailing 26-20 with 7:13 to go in the first half, Nebraska went on a 9-0 run covering close to 3 minutes to take a 35-20 lead. The Tigers scored the next five points to cut the lead to 10 and went into halftime trailing 42-21.

The start of the second half was the worst thing that could have happened to Mizzou. The Cornhuskers (12-2, 1-0) opened the half with a 12-2 run over the first 2 minutes, 30 seconds to take a 53-33 advantage. With the Tigers looking dead in the water, Cindy Stein's club came back to life.

Amy Monsees (15 points, 5 rebounds) led a Mizzou 13-2 run to cut Nebraska's lead to 57-48. Monsees scored 13 of her 15 points in the second half. The Tigers continued to battle as a Julie Helm jumper with 8:25 to go made it 60-53 Cornhuskers. The Tigers still weren't done. Freshman Ali Johnston came up with a steal and fed Monsees for a jumper in the lane to bring the Tigers within five points at 64-59 causing Nebraska to use their final timeout.

Nebraska Head Coach Paul Sanderford must have lit a fire under the Huskers as Nebraska closed the game out with a 20-6 run. Five Cornhuskers scored in double figures led by the backcourt tandem of Nicole Kubik and Brooke Schwartz who scored 16 a piece. Julie Helm netted 19 points to lead the Tigers. Kesha Bonds added 12 points.

The Tigers will take on Kansas State (7-4, 0-1) Wednesday night at the Hearnes Center beginning at 7:00 p.m.