Nov. 10, 2002
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Senior guard Kerensa Barr led all scorers with 20 points, and the Missouri women's basketball team forced 26 turnovers to defeat Solna, Sweden, by an 86-46 count in its exhibition opener Sunday afternoon at the Hearnes Center.
Four of Mizzou's five starters finished in double-figure scoring, and six Tigers accomplished the feat overall, against the reigning Swedish National Champions. Joining Barr in double figures were junior forward Chinyere "Stretch" James with 13 points and junior guard Tracy Lozier with 11; junior forward Evan Unrau, freshman guard LaToya Bond and junior guard MyEsha Perkins each added 10 points.
In addition, the Tigers were 19-of-20 from the free-throw line for the game (.950); Barr, Unrau and Bond each finished 4-of-4 from the charity stripe.
"I thought we came out and were really nervous in the first half," said head coach Cindy Stein. "We obviously stepped it up in the second half. I feel generally good about the level of play. We obviously exposed some weaknesses, such as post defense, that we have to get a little better with."
The Tigers staked out to an early 13-4 first-half lead on the strength of four points apiece from Barr and Unrau. Yet junior forward Melanie Fisher picked up two quick fouls, and Solna pulled to within 15-12 on a jumper by Michaela Livijn.
The Tigers charged to their largest lead of the half at 26-16, however, on a 3-pointer by Barr, who led all first-half scorers with 11 points. Solna cut the lead to four at 28-24 with 6:28 left, yet a layup by James, a jumper by Bond, and a pair of Barr free throws bumped the lead again to 10.
Missouri went into the locker room with a 36-30 advantage despite shooting just 38.5 percent from the field. The Tigers were bolstered, however, from a 25-17 rebounding advantage, including a 9-2 edge on the offensive glass. Mizzou finished the game with a 47-31 edge on the boards, and out-rebounded Solna 19-4 on the offensive end.
Coming out of the break, the Tigers went on the break, going on a 14-4 run over the first five minutes of the second to take a 50-34 lead. Mizzou then pulled away with help from its defensive pressure; through the first 11 minutes of the second half, the Tigers capitalized with 20 points off 11 Solna turnovers. Conversely, MU had just one turnover in that span. The lead grew to 70-44 with 5:10 left on a pair of free throws from Bond, who just minutes before had converted on a nifty right-handed scoop with the shot clock running down.
"I'd like to think that I'm teaching all of the guards how to make plays," joked Barr, who earned Honorable Mention All-Big 12 plaudits last season, "but that shot shows you how athletic [Bond] is."
Mizzou held Solna to just four field goals in the second half on 23.5 percent shooting; MU shot 16-of-37 (.432) in the period.
The Tigers conclude their exhibition season this Friday evening, Nov. 15 with a 7 p.m. tipoff at the Hearnes Center against Division II Truman State. For ticket information, call 1-800-CAT-PAWS (884-PAWS in Mid-Missouri) or visit www.MUTigers.com.