Jan. 25, 2003
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Senior guard Kerensa Barr (West Plains, Mo. / West Plains HS) scored her 1,000th career point in leading the Missouri women's basketball team to an 87-65 win over Oklahoma State at the Hearnes Center on Saturday for its season-best third straight win. With her 15 points, Barr is the 22nd player in Missouri history to reach the plateau.
Barr was one of four Tigers in double-figure scoring. Junior forward Evan Unrau (Fort Collins, Colo. / Rocky Mountain HS) posted her third straight double-double and seventh overall of the season, hitting for a game-high-tying 20 points and pulling down 10 rebounds for Missouri (9-7, 3-2 Big 12). Junior forward Stretch James (Columbus, Ohio / Northland HS / Tyler [Texas] JC) added 15 points, seven rebounds and three blocks, and Melanie Fisher (St. Louis, Mo. / Principia HS / Southwest Missouri State) chipped in a season-high 14 points.
"I actually got a little more caught up in it than I thought I would," said Barr, who now has 1,010 for her career and is just 19 shy of passing former teammate Amanda Lassiter for 21st. "I knew that it was coming sooner or later. But at the same time, I knew this was a big game for us, so I wasn't really worried about how I was going to get it. We've gotten some big wins in a row, and I'm happy with that."
Trisha Skibbe also scored her 1,000th career point during her 20-point performance for the Cowgirls (5-12, 1-5). Thia Willis (13 points) and Meghan Craig (12) also scored in double figures for OSU.
The Tigers effectively put the game out of reach within the first 6 minutes, 35 seconds of the first half, going on an 18-0 run spanning 4:54 to take a 24-4 lead. Missouri made nine of its first 10 shots, including its first five 3-pointers, and was shooting better than 70 percent for most of the first half before ending 19-of-31 (.613) in the first 20 minutes.
The first-half Missouri lead grew to as many as 26 points (43-17) on a layup by Unrau. Mizzou led by a 49-30 score at the half, giving the Tigers their most prolific offense in any half this season. Six different Tigers scored five or more points in the half, led by 12 from Unrau.
The second half saw Oklahoma State close to within 17 three times in the first 3 minutes, yet the Tigers pushed the lead to 28 at 67-39 on a Barr jumper with 13:21.
"We're very proud of the win and the momentum that we're building right now; we feel good about that," said head coach Cindy Stein. "We know that we still need to fine-tune some quality control throughout the game and make sure the level of play doesn't drop, but I think all of those things are obviously fixable."
The Tigers return to the road next Tuesday, Jan. 28, for a 7 p.m. contest at Texas Tech. Missouri's next home game is the annual "Head to the Hearnes" ticket promotion against Colorado next Sunday, Feb. 2. For more information or to order tickets, call 1-800-CAT-PAWS (573-884-PAWS in mid-Missouri).