Missouri vs. Truman State - exhibition game
11/15/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 15, 2002
Recap?|? Final Stats
Missouri 92, Truman State 46
15 November 2002
Columbia, Mo.
Missouri head coach Cindy Stein
On the game: "I think we're a second-half team. I told the young ladies that I thought Truman State did a great job of coming in here and playing hard, pressing us. We love that. That was a great opportunity for us, and that's exactly what we needed. They had a lot of energy; I was very impressed with their team and the things they did. They took it as us from the start, and that was a tremendous effort on their part. For the most part, I thought the second half was the key. The first group that came out in our press and took the game out of control."
On the play of freshman guard LaToya Bond:
"LaToya's a gamer. She's played very well in our games, and LaToya has to play well in practice, so that's how you win a starting position. She shows glimpses of that in practice, and she's getting closer and closer to being more consistent in practice. I think LaToya would even agree she has to be able to do that in practice to earn that spot."
On poor shooting in the first half:
"The shooting in the first half was just a result of us trying to rush too much, trying to catch the ball and sink it at the same time, and that's one thing with this team. They work very hard and sometimes they're overexcitable. They really get geared up. Sometimes they have to be that geared up on the defensive end, which is what you need, and offensively they have to learn to be calm, and sometimes it's a hard tradeoff. I thought we had some early jitters again in the first half, and once we get into the flow, it seems like everyone relaxes. The key for us is that we need to make sure that the way we played in the second half is that we need to start our game on Saturday against SMS like that."
Missouri senior guard Kerensa Barr
On the game: "It's good to get a win anytime, but we like to have teams pressure us like that because that's how it's going to be during the season, especially in our conference. I think that's it; we can definitely get better from this game, and I think that's the purpose of exhibition games, is to learn where you get better."
Missouri junior forward Evan Unrau On her performance: "There's always room for improvement. Right now my shot isn't falling as consistently as I'd like it, but today was just a fun day. It allowed everybody to be everywhere and feed off of everyone's energy and get steals and rebounds."
Truman State head coach John Sloop On MU: "They've got a really good group. Sometimes when you play a Division II team, teams feel like they just have to get up for the game, and they'll take care of the other ladies. But, they really were aggressive, and they've got some talent."
On how his team remained aggressive throughout the game: "When you get on a stage this big, it's easy. I'm extremely proud of their effort. We have to make sure it carries over to the next game."
