Dec. 5, 2003
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Five players scored in double figures and the Missouri women's basketball team posted its highest single-game point total since 2001 Friday night as the Tigers rolled over Alcorn State, 103-41, in the first round of the Unilever Tiger Tournament.
Missouri (4-1) will play Tulsa, an 80-70 winner against UAB in Friday's first game. The Tigers and Golden Hurricane will play at 7 p.m. Saturday in the title game. Alcorn State (0-4) will face the Blazers in the 5 p.m. consolation game.
The Tigers' 103 points represents the team's largest single-game point total since they scored 106 on Eastern Illinois on Nov. 17, 2000. This win also marks the first occasion the Tigers have hit the century mark since defeating Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 102-47, on Dec. 20, 2001.
The Tigers got stellar play on the boards from sophomore center Christelle N'Garsanet (Abidjan, Ivory Coast / Illinois Central College) midway through the first half. N'Garsanet finished with a team-leading seven rebounds in just 14 minutes on the floor to go with 11 points.
A 29-0 run that spanned halftime put the game out of reach for the Lady Braves. With 5:32 remaining in the first half, senior forward Evan Unrau (Fort Collins, Colo. / Rocky Mountain HS) drained a 3-pointer, and senior guard Tracy Lozier (Leawood, Kan. / Blue Valley North) and junior center Megan Roney (Independence, Mo. / Truman HS) capped it off with back-to-back three's of their own to push the score to 62-15.
Unrau led all scorers with 22 points while also chipping in five rebounds and three assists. She was joined by four teammates in double figures, all with 11 points - Lozier, N'Garsanet, sophomore center Cherice Mack (St. Charles, Mo. / St. Charles HS) and freshman forward Carlynn Savant (Euless, Texas / Trinity HS).
Sophomore guard LaToya Bond (Urbana, Ill. / Urbana HS) led all players with eight assists and four steals, in addition to recording eight points. Unrau and senior forward Stretch James (Columbus, Ohio / Tyler [Texas] JC) combined to lead the Tigers with two blocks each.
Tiffaney Smith led Alcorn State, which shot just 27.3 percent from the field (15-for-55), with 10 points. The Tigers forced the Lady Braves into 26 turnovers, while posting a sparkling 31 assist-to-9 turnover ratio of its own.
"I was pleased with our effort," said Head Coach Cindy Stein. "There are still some things we need to work on. Free throw shooting should probably have been better. The team responded to every challenge, and we are pleased going into the next game."
In the first game, Tulsa's Sarah Lundberg led all players with 29 points and nine rebounds, and the Golden Hurricane (3-0) had 14 blocks in the win over UAB (1-4).
The Tigers are now 43-8 (.843) all-time in the Unilever Tiger Tournament, including a perfect 26-0 in the first round.