University of Missouri
Iowa State
Tiger Women Post Dominating Win at Iowa State, 86-55
1/19/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 19, 2003
AMES, Iowa - Five University of Missouri women's basketball players scored in double figures, and Mizzou played its most complete game of the year in registering its first Big 12 Conference win of the season, an 86-55 demolition of Iowa State on Sunday.
The win was Missouri's first against a Big 12 opponent since Feb. 9 of last year against Kansas, and it broke two streaks against the Cyclones. It snapped a nine-game losing skid against Iowa State, and it was also Mizzou's first win at Hilton Coliseum since Jan. 22, 1995.
Junior forward Evan Unrau (Fort Collins, Colo. / Rocky Mountain HS) led five Tigers in double figures with 21 points, and she also added 11 rebounds. Junior guard Tracy Lozier (Leawood, Kan. / Blue Valley North HS) hit a game-high-tying four 3-pointers on her way to 14 points, and Lozier and senior guard Kerensa Barr (West Plains, Mo. / West Plains HS) combined for 11 assists against just one turnover. As a team, Missouri had 21 assists and just seven turnovers, which are the fewest for a Tiger team since at least the start of the 2001-02 season.
Missouri (7-7, 1-2 Big 12) made 62 percent of its shots in the second half, and held Iowa State (6-9, 1-3) to just 32 percent shooting for the game.
"The team that showed up today is the team we know we've had all along," Head Coach Cindy Stein said. "I was proud of how hard the team played. They played great defense and took Iowa State's outside game away, and offensively, our success from the outside in the first half opened up a lot of things inside in the second half. We didn't have one kid afraid to pull the trigger, and that was the difference today."
Lozier got the Tigers on the board first, hitting a 15-foot jumper and a pair of 3-pointers to stake Mizzou to an 8-2 lead just 4 minutes, 50 seconds into the game. The Tigers continued to apply pressure on both ends of the court and hit seven of their first 13 shots; Barr hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to give Mizzou a 20-6 lead with 12:00 remaining in the first.
Mizzou went on a 9-0 run, and junior forward Stretch James (Columbus, Ohio / Northland HS / Tyler [Texas] JC) scored six points to give the Tigers a staggering 31-12 lead. Yet with the help of all-Big 12 point guard Lindsey Wilson, the Cyclones pulled to within 40-26 at the half.
The Tigers committed just two turnovers in the first half, and against the Cyclones' 2-3 zone hit 6-of-11 from behind the 3-point arc. Three Missouri players - Lozier (11), James (10) and junior forward Terianne Wolford (Nixa, Mo. / Nixa HS) - hit for double figures in the first 20 minutes.
Unrau bookended four minutes of solid play coming out of the locker room, hitting a layup at the start and converting a 3-point play at the end to give Mizzou a 52-34 lead with 15:55 left in the game. After Lozier's fourth 3-pointer of the game, Unrau then hit two straight baskets to give the Tigers their largest lead of the game to date at 63-36.
The Tigers return to Columbia for a two-game homestand beginning this Wednesday, Jan. 22, when Mizzou hosts Nebraska in a 7 p.m. game that will be televised statewide by FOX Sports Midwest. The Salvation Army will be conducting a clothing drive prior to the game; fans who donate an article of clothing will receive discounted admission of $2 to the game. MU's men's and women's golf teams will be collecting the clothing donations at the door.
