Dec. 7, 2002

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Katie Houlehan scored 29 points in a battle of high-scoring veterans, as UMKC won the consolation game of the 25th annual Unilever Tiger Classic over McNeese State, 65-61, Saturday afternoon at the Hearnes Center.

Houlehan was 8-of-12 from the field, including 7-of-10 from 3-point range, in leading the Kangaroos (2-4). Kellie Burbridge had a game-high 30 points for McNeese State (0-5).

A basket by Taylor Morrell with 10 minutes, 43 seconds left gave McNeese a 47-38 lead, and the lead went back to nine points with 9:06 left on a pair of Burbridge free throws.

Yet UMKC made its move in the following six minutes, largely on the strength of Kristi Kenton, and then took the lead on a Houlehan 3-pointer with 3:30 left.

UMKC took an early 11-5 lead on the strength of three 3-pointers from Houlehan. The Kangaroos held onto the lead through most of the first half until Burbridge made a put-back with 9:22 left in the opening stanza. The lead changed hands twice more until Burbridge canned a trey with 5:21 left. That gave McNeese a 27-25 lead, and propelled the Cowgirls to a 35-31 advantage at halftime.

On the strength of Burbridge's 9-of-14 shooting in the first half, McNeese State shot 53.6 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes. UMKC's five 3-pointers kept them in the game the first half, as did its 15-11 edge on the boards.

The all-tournament team will be announced following the conclusion of the 7 p.m. championship game between Missouri and Austin Peay.