Nov. 23, 2003
PEORIA, Ill. - Last year, free-throws decided the outcome. This season, the Mizzou women's basketball team made sure that wouldn't be necessary.
Sophomore point guard LaToya Bond (Urbana, Ill. / Urbana HS) and junior center Megan Roney (Independence, Mo. / Truman HS) both had career days, and the Tigers ran to a 77-58 win Sunday afternoon at Robertson Field House - Mizzou's largest non-conference road win since the 2000-01 season. The victory is the 150th of Head Coach Cindy Stein's career.
Bond scored a game-high 17 points and was 11-of-12 from the free-throw line, and Roney tallied 12 points and nine rebounds. All are career highs for the pair who played significant roles Sunday after coming off the bench last season.
Mizzou blocked 12 Bradley shots on the day - more than last year's single-game highs of eight in back-to-back games last January. In addition, the Tigers recorded 21 fast-break points to BU's six; Mizzou also had 20 points off turnovers while giving up 11. The Tigers held Bradley to just 32.4 percent (23-of-71) from the field for the game, yet hit 24-of-54 (44.4 percent) of its own. Mizzou was also 26-of-38 from the free-throw line (68.4 percent).
The Tigers (1-0) started out slowly, missing their first three shots and committing a pair of charging fouls in the first 4 minutes of the game as Bradley staked to a 4-0 lead. Yet on consecutive possessions, Bond made a steal and went coast-to-coast for the layup, senior forward and All-America candidate Evan Unrau (Fort Collins, Colo. / Rocky Mountain HS) made a steal and sank an 18-footer on the fast break, and senior forward Stretch James (Columbus, Ohio / Tyler [Texas] JC) blocked a shot to Unrau, then took the return feed to give the Tigers a 6-4 lead.
The Tigers would soon go on a 9-0 run spanning more than 6 minutes - capped by a pair of baskets from Roney - to take a 16-6 lead with 9:27 to go in the first half. Roney added a put-back with 5:40 left to make the Mizzou lead 22-12.
Unrau made a nifty spin move off a defender and banked a shot off the glass to give the Tigers their final points of the half. Mizzou went into the locker room with a 12-point advantage (31-19).
Roney notched a trio of milestones early in the second half. With 18:38 left in the game, she hit her first career 3-pointer and broke her single-game scoring high (previously eight) in the process. The next time down the floor, Roney notched her first career assist on a dump-off to James to give MU a 42-21 lead. That was during a 16-2 run to open the half, which put the game out of reach.
James and freshman point guard Blair Hardiek (Effingham, Ill. / Effingham HS) each tallied 10 points for the Tigers, while Unrau had seven points and 12 rebounds. Amy Fuller had 13 points to lead Bradley (0-2).
"We talked all along about how we have to have other people [than Unrau] step up," said Stein. "LaToya and Megan came in and did some great things. I like how everyone's looking to be an asset. I liked the way we ran the floor. We pushed the action and made tough shots, which is what basketball is all about. As far as the 150th win here in Peoria, it wasn't planned, but I'm glad to celebrate it with family and friends."
The Tigers play their home opener this Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 26, vs. Southern. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. at the Hearnes Center. For ticket information, call 1-800-CAT-PAWS (573-884-PAWS in Mid-Missouri). Holders of the KMIZ-ZOU Spririt Pass, as well as the student All-Sports Pass, get into all women's basketball games free.