University of Missouri
Southern Methodist
SMU Hands Women First Loss, 72-70
11/29/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 29, 2002
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The Missouri women's basketball team had four chances to tie the game in the closing seconds against SMU, yet the Mustangs pulled out a 72-70 win Friday night in the first round of the Flint Hills Resources Islander Classic in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Missouri will play at 5 p.m. Saturday against Louisiana-Lafayette, which lost to host Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Junior forward Evan Unrau (Fort Collins, Colo. / Rocky Mountain HS) led Missouri with 16 points and eight rebounds, while Senior guard Kerensa Barr (West Plains, Mo. / West Plains HS) added 11 points and seven assists for the Tigers (2-1).
Kim Walter led four players in double figures for SMU (3-0). Walter finished with 20 points and six rebounds, and Andrea Cossey added 16 points.
With the Tigers down 65-60 and coming out of a timeout with 3 minutes, 58 seconds to play, freshman guard LaToya Bond (Urbana, Ill. / Urbana HS) hit a 3-pointer and, after forcing an SMU turnover, hit one free throw after being fouled on the ensuing possession. Barr made a 3-pointer with 1:56 left to tie the game at 67-67, then Mizzou took a timeout with the ball with 34.7 seconds left.
Coming out of the timeout, junior forward Melanie Fisher (St. Louis, Mo. / Principia HS / Southwest Missouri State) missed a turnaround jumper that rebounded out to the top of the key and was recovered by Barr, who then missed a jumper with 19 seconds left. Fisher tied up Walter on the inbounds play, yet the possession arrow was pointed in the Mustangs' direction. Shanta Ramdhanny and Kendall Shead then made 3-of-4 free throws down the final 16 seconds to seal the win for SMU (3-0).
The Tigers went into the locker room down just three points despite shooting just 28.6 percent (10-of-35) from the field. Mizzou took better care of the ball than the Mustangs, however, winning the turnover battle by a 9-5 margin. Unrau led the way at the break for Missouri with her eight points and eight rebounds, while Kim Walter made six of her seven shots on her way to a 12-point first half for SMU.
MU was down 32-25 coming out of the last media timeout, then got a jumper from Bond, a putback basket from junior forward Stretch James (Columbus, Ohio / Northfield HS / Tyler [Texas] JC) and a 3-point play from junior guard MyEsha Perkins (Detroit, Mich. / Oak Park HS / Trinity Valley [Texas] JC) to tie the game at 32 with 1:29 left in the first half. SMU's Sarah Davis then canned a shot from the top of the key to send the teams to the break.
