Missouri
Southwest Missouri State
SMS Ends Mizzou's Win Streak With 79-70 Decision at Hearnes
12/10/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 10, 2003
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Senior forwards Evan Unrau (Fort Collins, Colo. / Rocky Mountain HS) and Stretch James (Columbus, Ohio / Northland HS / Tyler [Texas] JC) combined for 49 points - including a game-high 28 for Unrau - yet the Southwest Missouri State women held on for a 79-70 win over Mizzou at the Hearnes Center Wednesday night.
Unrau was 10-of-18 from the field and 3-of-5 from 3-point range in falling just two points shy of her career high, set her sophomore year vs. Southwestern Louisiana. James followed with 21 points and a career-high-tying 13 rebounds for Mizzou (5-2).
Kari Koch scored 16 of her team-high 23 points in the second half for SMS (5-1), which broke a two-game losing streak to the Tigers.
"Southwest Missouri deserved a win tonight," Head Coach Cindy Stein said. "We did not do the things we needed to do most of the game. They played a great game. The first half was a great half and Stretch played well. Evan also had a great half, but we needed people alongside them."
James dominated the early minutes of the contest, personally out-scoring SMS 6-2 with four rebounds in the first 2 minutes, 6 seconds. The Lady Bears slowly chipped away, scoring six straight points to tie the game at 16-all on a K.C. Cowgill jumper with 11:43 left in the half. Less than a minute and a half later, SMS took its first lead with its first 3-pointer of the night, by Cowgill. SMS took a four-point lead (42-38) into the locker room.
Nicole Lehman hit the first two baskets of the second half to push the Lady Bear lead to eight points, then again to nine (53-44) on a pair of Kari Koch free-throws with 13:19 left. The Tigers went on a quick 8-0 run - capped by an Unrau free-throw following a technical foul on the SMS bench - over the next 65 seconds to pull within one at 53-52.
After the two teams traded buckets to keep the lead at one in favor of SMS, the Lady Bears erupted for a 13-2 run to take its largest lead of the game at 66-54. Mizzou would not get closer than five the rest of the way.
The Lady Bears, who came into the game ranked sixth in the country in 3-point shooting at 46.7 percent, were in danger of posting their worst 3-point performance of the season - a 36.3 percent effort in its lone loss to Georgia Tech. SMS finished at 40 percent with its 6-for-15 showing.
Two other significant career highs were set. Senior guard Tracy Lozier (Leawood, Kan. / Blue Valley North HS) had a game-high eight assists, and James had a game-high seven blocks to go with her 13 boards.
The Tigers now have 11 days off to concentrate on Fall Semester exams before resuming play on Sunday, Dec. 21 at Evansville. Mizzou's next home game is on Tuesday, Dec. 30, vs. Iowa. For ticket information, call 1-800-CAT-PAWS (573-884-PAWS in Mid-Missouri). As a reminder, holders of the student All-Sports Pass or the KMIZ-ZOU Spirit Pass gain free admission to all women's basketball games.
