University of Missouri
Bradley
Women Defeat Bradley For 500th Win, 77-76
11/26/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 26, 2002
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COLUMBIA, Mo. - Senior guard Kerensa Barr (West Plains, Mo. / West Plains HS) hit four free throws in the final 35 seconds, including the game-winning pair with 7 seconds left, to key the Missouri women's basketball team to a 77-76 win over Bradley in non-conference action Tuesday night at the Hearnes Center. The win is the program's 500th all-time in its 29-year history.
Barr scored Mizzou's last eight points, and hit for a team-high-tying 15 while adding seven assists. Junior forward Evan Unrau (Fort Collins, Colo. / Rocky Mountain HS) also had 15 to go with six rebounds, and junior forward Melanie Fisher (St. Louis, Mo. / Principia HS / Southwest Missouri State) posted her first double-double of the year with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The Tigers (2-0) are now 500-322, making Missouri the 51st school in NCAA history to record 500 wins. Only 29 schools are known to have achieved the total faster than the Tigers.
"Give a lot of credit to Bradley. They did a great job tonight," said Head Coach Cindy Stein. "I knew that they'd come in with a lot of spit and vigor, and they did that. Our play in the first half gave them a lot of hope for the second half, but we move on. We'll learn from it."
After the Tigers took a 41-28 halftime lead, Bradley inched closer to the Mizzou lead throughout the final 20 minutes. Yet junior forward Stretch James (Columbus, Ohio / Northland HS / Tyler [Texas] JC) converted a 3-point play with 4:45 left to push the margin to 67-62, and with 6-4 sophomore and Columbia Hickman graduate Dena Williams fouled out, it seemed the Tigers were in control.
Yet on three different occasions, Bradley closed the gap to a single point, including on a jumper by Genny Mueller with 1:05 left to make it 73-72. Mueller then fouled Barr, who hit both free throws, and Rasheeda Love made a layup with 24 seconds left, setting up Sara Bailey's clock-stopping foul of Barr. After Barr put the Tigers up 77-74, James blocked Bailey's 3-point attempt, and despite Ashley Chelleen's putback, Missouri won its home opener for the 22nd time in 29 tries.
Mueller led the Braves (1-1) with 20 points, while Bailey added 15.
Unrau led all players with 10 first-half points, and Fisher nearly had her double-double at the break with nine points and rebounds.
Bradley took an early 10-5 lead, in part due to unforced turnovers by the Tigers. After making only 12 turnovers in the season-opening win at Southwest Missouri State, Mizzou committed half that many in the first 5 minutes of Tuesday night's game. Yet a Fisher jumper with 12:40 left in the first half gave the Tigers a 14-12 lead.
The Tigers will celebrate the Thanksgiving weekend on the Texas Gulf Coast by participating in the Flint Hills Resources Islander Classic this Friday and Saturday, Nov. 29-30. Mizzou plays SMU on Friday at 5 p.m., and will play either Louisiana-Lafayette or host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday at 5 or 7 p.m.
