Nov. 26, 2003
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Senior forward Evan Unrau (Fort Collins, Colo. / Rocky Mountain HS) posted her first double-double of the season, tallying game-highs of 21 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Missouri women's basketball team to a 79-43 rout of Southern at the Hearnes Center Wednesday afternoon.
MU stormed out to a 10-0 lead in the first 2 minutes, 29 seconds, and took advantage as Southern (0-3) missed its first 11 shots. By the time Sher? Cunningham banked in a 3-pointer from 22 feet with 9:55 left in the first half, the Tiger lead was 18-6. In that time, six different Missouri players had scored. While Cunningham's trey sparked a 7-4 run for Southern, Mizzou responded with a 9-2 break over the next 4:36 to boost the Tiger lead to 31-12 with 3:17 remaining in the first half.
Southern went on its own 8-3 run, capped by a half-court buzzer-beater by Cunningham, to close the half and give Missouri a 34-20 lead going into the locker room. That would be as close as Southern would come to the lead the rest of the game, as the Tigers went on an 11-4 run to start the second half. Southern got the lead under 20 points once the rest of the game.
The Tigers (2-0) posted a monstrous 55-29 rebounding edge, including 20-8 on the offensive end. That allowed Mizzou to score 24 second-chance points.
Sophomore guard LaToya Bond (Urbana, Ill. / Urbana HS) added 11 points, and senior forward Melanie Fisher (St. Louis, Mo. / Prinicipia HS / Southwest Missouri State) added 10 for the Tigers. Senior forward Stretch James (Columbus, Ohio / Northland HS / Tyler [Texas] JC) had 11 rebounds to go with four points.
Cunningham led the Jaguars with 17 points.
"Well it was a tale of two halves, and I would tell you that we weren't pleased with the way we played the first, but I was very proud of the way they played in the second half," Head Coach Cindy Stein said. "I think we have a very solid group that's playing well together. We've just got to get a few more kids in that mix, but I like what I see right now."
After a day off for Thanksgiving and to travel to Wisconsin, the Tigers continue their stretch of three games in four days at the Oneida Bingo & Casino Holiday Tournament. Mizzou begins play at 5 p.m. Friday vs. Austin Peay, and concludes Saturday at either 3 or 5 p.m. vs. Centenary or host UW-Green Bay. The Tigers' next home action comes next Friday and Saturday, Dec. 5-6, when Mizzou hosts the annual Unilever Tiger Tournament. 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.