March 7, 2000
By JUSTIN HECKERT
Missourian staff
KANSAS CITY - The Colorado backcourt of Jenny Roulier and Mandy Nightingale, in a four-minute span that squished MU's dream of making the NCAA Tournament, put on a hit-the-screen, sink the wide-open-shot instructional seminar at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City on Tuesday.
After playing the Buffaloes close until midway through the second half, MU faded down the stretch in an 83-68 loss.
Combined, Roulier and Nightingale scored 19 points in the final eight minutes and almost single-handedly propelled the Buffaloes to the second round of the Big 12 tournament with an 83-68 victory over the MU women's basketball team.
The Tigers played more than 30 minutes of neck-and-neck basketball, and the game was tied at 56 with fewer than 10 to play. But 27 combined points wasn't good enough from Tiger seniors Julie Helm and Amy Monsees.
Amanda Lassiter scored a team-high 17 points, but fouled out late in the game.
"It's tough to explain this team, because they try so hard," MU coach Cindy Stein said. "I think that if they want to learn how to win, they have to learn how to play at a high intensity, remain under control and value the ball, all those things at once. When you're playing in one of the best conferences in the country, sometimes that is a learning process that gets smashed in your face a couple of times."
At 17-11 overall, and 7-10 in conference, now the Tigers' only post-season hopes are of making the Women's National Invitational Tournament.
"They run the triangle offense so well," Helm said of Colorado. "That's because they are constantly moving. They are constantly reading our defense, making different cuts, and it's not a set pattern. They read us well.
"We would play a backdoor cut and they would come the other way or pick. I mean, they were just all over the floor. They just constantly found a way to score."
The two Colorado guards, as well as their coach, were giddy after the game.
"That run in the second-half really made a difference," Colorado coach Ceal Barry said.
"At about that eight-minute mark, I felt that either team could've won this game. Mandy hit some threes, and Jenny hit some, and our guards really loosened things up for us. Once we got control of the game, I didn't think our team wanted to give it up. Al so, Mandy had great command of the game - this is her second Big 12 tournament, and I think guard play is so critical at this time."
Nightingale finished with 21 points and five assists.
"I started out air-balling a three, if you guys noticed," she said. "That got me a little mad, and I was frustrated. Jenny started hitting some shots, and I couldn't let her be the only one on the team to do that."
Roulier, Colorado's leading scorer this season, finished with 23 points, four assists and four steals.
"We didn't want to go home," Roulier said. "I think we decided to put it on our shoulders. We realized that we needed to take it upon ourselves to step up our play. They were also double-teaming our post-players, and that left our guards open a lot."
The loss was MU's third in a row in the Big 12.
"Colorado came ready to play," Stein said. "They outplayed us."