March 5, 2003
COLUMBIA, Mo. - All five Missouri starters scored in double figures, one Tiger had a milestone, another had all of hers recognized, and the team closed out the regular season with a 64-51 win over Texas A&M at the Hearnes Center on Wednesday.
With the win, Mizzou (15-12, 9-7) finishes sixth in the final Big 12 Conference standings and will play No. 11 seed Oklahoma State in the first round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Tournament this coming Tuesday, March 11, at 8:30 p.m. The tournament will be played in Dallas at Reunion Arena after six years in Kansas City.
Junior forward Evan Unrau (Fort Collins, Colo. / Rocky Mountain HS) finished with a game-high 18 points, including her 1,000th career point on a reverse layup with 1 minute, 33 seconds left in the game to put Mizzou up 10 and the game effectively out of reach.
The opening minutes of the game were a defensive battle, as the teams combined to force seven steals on nine turnovers. In addition, a combined 2-for-10 shooting effort gave the Tigers a slim 5-3 lead at the first media timeout with 15:58 left.
Senior guard Kerensa Barr (West Plains, Mo. / West Plains HS), who was honored for her career accomplishments in a pre-game ceremony, hit a 3-pointer in her first shot attempt of the night to give Mizzou a 12-6 lead with 14:18 left. She finished the night with 10 points and four assists and helped the Tigers to their second above-.500 record in conference play since 1989-90.
A sloppy first half put the Tigers in the locker room with a scant 23-22 advantage at the break. Both teams shot poorly; the Aggies (10-17, 3-13) - who will be the No. 10 seed in the Big 12 Tournament - had a 33.3-to-32.1-percent edge in field-goal percentage, as well as a 20-19 rebounding edge, at the half. The two teams combined for 23 turnovers and 16 steals at intermission.
Mizzou opened the second half with a quick 6-0 run, as Unrau hit a pair of buckets and Stretch James (Columbus, Ohio / Northland HS / Tyler [Texas] JC) added another. James finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds on the night for her third double-double of the season.
Texas A&M remained within six points through most of the middle of the half before junior forward Melanie Fisher (St. Louis, Mo. / Principia HS / Southwest Missouri State) hit back-to-back midrange jumpers to push the lead to 10 (51-41) with 5:48 left. She also fed James underneath the next time down the court to keep the advantage at 10. Fisher finished with 10 points - her highest scoring output since the Oklahoma State game on Jan. 25.
Junior guard Tracy Lozier (Leawood, Kan. / Blue Valley North HS) was the other starter to finish in double-figure scoring with 11. Missouri shot 60.7 percent (17-of-28) from the field in the second half despite missing all four 3-point attempts.
"I commend the team for being able to keep it together," said Head Coach Cindy Stein. "Even when things aren't going our way and there's sloppiness out there, we were able to maintain the lead. It was a great game for our team, for all of us, to get the win. I think that's the important thing."
The Tigers leave Monday for Dallas, where the Tigers will shoot around in preparation for their opening game in the first round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Tournament.