Dec. 6, 2002
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COLUMBIA, Mo. - Junior forward Evan Unrau (Fort Collins, Colo. / Rocky Mountain HS) poured in a game-high 20 points to lead the University of Missouri to a 74-53 win over McNeese State in Friday night's first-round action in the Unilever Tiger Classic at the Hearnes Center. Missouri continues its first-round success in the tournament, as the Tigers have now advanced to the Unilever title game in each of the tournament's 25 years.
Missouri (3-2) will play Austin Peay, a 70-62 winner against UMKC in Friday's first game. The Tigers and Lady Govs will play at 7 p.m. Saturday in the title game. McNeese (0-4) will face the Kangaroos in the 5 p.m. consolation game.
Unrau was 8-of-11 from the field and led the Tigers in scoring for the fifth straight game. Junior forward Stretch James (Columbus, Ohio / Northfield HS / Tyler [Texas] JC) added a season-high 14 points, and senior guard Kerensa Barr (West Plains, Mo. / West Plains HS) posted an excellent all-around game with 11 points, seven assists, seven steals and five rebounds.
"I thought Stretch and Evan played tremendous games," said Head Coach Cindy Stein. "They did a really good job of keeping us in the game early when we made lots of mistakes. I was pleased with the win, but disappointed with our energy and the way we took care of the ball. Those are things we need to fix quickly."
Shamika Stewart made each of her first three shots to give McNeese a 9-4 lead. The Tigers hit just one of their first seven shots in that span, yet they'd pull to a 9-all tie when Unrau made her first 3-point play of the night with 14 minutes, 42 seconds left. That sparked a ferocious 25-4 run spanning the next 8 minutes. Over that span, the Tigers held McNeese to 1-for-15 shooting and forced seven turnovers.
That gave Missouri a comfortable cushion with which to work, and the Tigers took a 16-point lead (40-24) into the locker room. Mizzou hit on 47.1 percent of its first-half shots, and made all six of its free throws.
Mizzou never let the Cowgirls get closer than 14 points in the second half, starting with McNeese's second-half-opening basket. The Tigers grew the lead to 24 points at its largest point, when sophomore center Megan Roney (Independence, Mo. / Truman HS) converted a nice fast-break pass from junior guard Tracy Lozier (Leawood, Kan. / Blue Valley North HS) with 4:39 left in the game.
The Tigers are now 42-7 (.857) all-time in the Unilever Tiger Classic, including a perfect 25-0 in the first round.