Jan. 14, 2001
Boulder, Colo.-The Missouri women's basketball team falls to 11-4 with a 2-2 Big 12 Conference record after a devastating 98-90 loss to Colorado. The win boosts the Buffaloes to 12-3 and 3-1 in the conference.
The game had all the qualities of a gut wrenching action adventure thriller. In the first half, the Tigers shot a dismal 36 percent from the field and only 31 percent from the 3-point arc. Colorado shot 61 percent from the field and 87 percent from the free throw line to post its points. Keeping Missouri in the game however was repeated shot attempts and heavy rebounding. Missouri pulled down 23 boards in the first half alone, including 14 offensive rebounds. Despite the defensive efforts, MU left the half with a 12-point deficit.
The Tigers throttled into the second period with a five-point run. Back-to-back steals by senior Amanda Lassiter enabled Mizzou to take control of the court for seven more unanswered points. In the scoring flurry, the Tigers edged the Buffaloes into a one-point game. The contest intensified rounding into the last minutes of play, where the heated match turned into a fouling frenzy that led to CU's victory. In the last minute, Colorado scored six-points from the charity stripe to exit with an eight-point win.
Lassiter led the Tigers with 28 points, four blocks and two steals. The game is her 15th scoring in double figures and her ninth with more than 20 points. Senior Marlena Williams scored a career-high 24 points. She was 10-of-19 from the field, 3-for-4 from the foul line and 1-for-1 from 3-point range. The center is hitting 100 percent from the 3-point arc making 3-for-3 in Big 12 Conference action. Freshman Evan Unrau, a native of Ft. Collins, Colo., scored seven points and pulled down six rebounds in front of her hometown crowd.
"I told the team I was proud of they way they came back in the second half," MU head coach Cindy Stein said. "I told them I was very proud of their effort. We are tireless workers. We work extremely hard, but every time we had a defensive breakdown they (Colorado) scored. It was things we'd practiced and things that we'd coached them on. For us to be a better team we need to be disciplined and not have those little breakdowns because they made us rush a little bit on offense. It all comes down to execution and not forcing things, and in that area we are still growing."
More from Coach Stein...
"We were playing hard, doing some really good things. The problem was that the play was extended. Our kids got tired. We subbed and we didn't get anything out of our subs and I feel that is where we broke down."
"We were beating them (Colorado) on the boards in the first half and the second half we gave up a lot more rebounds. That is something in the second half that we needed to do just as good a job."
"Obviously the team is down and disappointed, especially when you fight that hard to come back. At the same time, we understand that's life in the Big 12 and that things aren't always going to go well on the road. We need to keep challenging ourselves to get better. The team understands that, they don't like it a whole lot, but it all comes down to keeping focused on getting better and we'll be ok."
"Pep came to play. She had a lot of pushing going on down low. Colorado's kids inside are very tough and lead with the elbow. That is something that is very hard to defend, when your face is almost getting taken off at every turn. I give her, Wannette and Evan a lot of credit for hanging in there and trying to have good attitudes."