University of Missouri
Houston Jaguars
Jaguars Hand Missouri A 77-72 Exhibition Loss
11/9/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 9, 2001
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri women's basketball team suffered a 77-72 loss Friday night to the Houston Jaguars in exhibition action.
Despite a game-high 24 points by Kerensa Barr, Missouri found itself trailing almost the entire contest. Barr opened the game with a 3-point field goal but the Jaguars would scored 10 of the next 11 points to open a 10-4 lead and would trail only once more in the game.
In the game's first 11 minutes, Missouri was hampered by eight turnovers. Barr and backcourt mate Natalie Bright scored 13 of MU's first 16 points.
Houston's Jamie Redd sank three 3-point field goals in the first half's final three minutes to help the Jaguars take a 42-36 halftime lead.
Former Tiger Amanda Lassiter led Houston with 19 points, nine rebounds, four blocked shots and two steals. Lassiter also blocked a late 3-point attempt by Barr.
"It was very weird (playing against my former team). It was like going against family. I'm just glad we came out of this game with a victory," said Lassiter. "I told (MU head coach Cindy Stein) I couldn't let 'KB' (Barr) get that last shot off of the game. That wouldn't have been good. I apologized to (Barr) about it but it was something I had to do."
For Missouri, Barr sank four 3-point field goals on her way to finish with 16 points while Melanie Fisher made six of seven field goals to score 12 points. Evan Unrau, who scored seven points, grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
"As a post, your goals are to get a good read on the defense, make a good flash and score," said Fisher. "It's exciting to get it in there and score because it builds confidence with the guards as they can pass the ball in there and see results."
While the Tigers suffered their first exhibition loss in four seasons, they feel they learned from it.
"I think we got a lot better playing tonight," said Bright. "That's what we need to improve this season. They're great athletes. They came from successful college programs and there's a few in the WNBA. We have some problems handling the ball. We're going to work on getting better on that.
"It's hard for our wings to get in the offense right now," continued Bright. "We haven't implemented a lot of things yet. They're going to get more shots after we're able to add some different options."
Missouri opens the regular season at UMKC on Nov. 16.
