University of Missouri
Basketball Travelers
Missouri Downs Basketball Travelers in Season Opener
11/2/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 2, 2000
Columbia, Mo.-The University of Missouri women's basketball team opened the 2000-2001 season with a 82-72 victory over the Australia Basketball Travelers tonight. The Tigers shot 53 percent in the game, taking 60 percent of their 3-point shots to the net.
The game started out slow for the Tigers who were unable to capitalize on the offense. Australia took the early lead, including a seven point run before the Tigers were able to settle their nerves. MU wasn't able to top Australia until the 11th minute when senior Tracy Franklin and Natalie Bright downed back-to-back 3-pointers to boost the Tigers to a 22-18 lead. Freshman Terianne Wolford found a hot streak in the last few minutes of the half shooting three-for-three from the 3-point arc to give MU a 39-28 lead at the half-time buzzer.
Missouri returned to dominate the second half of play relying on the strengths of MU's seniors Amanda Lassiter and Marlena 'Pep' Williams. Despite only seeing 16 minutes of playing time, Lassiter led the team with 14 points and Pep came in second with 12. Sophomore Kerensa Barr highlighted on the boards for Mizzou raking in seven defensive and two offensive rebounds.
"The key to our success this season is a matter of putting our spurts together," MU Head Coach Cindy Stein says. "Of our 14 players, we have to have seven of them hot and aggressive if we are going to win. We always work hard, but this game has shown us that we need to get a lot stronger and we have to be able to react to other styles and speeds of play. We have 11 days before our next exhibition game and taking from what we learned tonight, we'll be ready."
