
Tigers Defeated By No. 5 Kansas State
2/5/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb 5, 2003
MANHATTAN, Kan. - Junior All-America candidate Nicole Ohlde led all scorers with 28 points to lead the fifth-ranked Kansas State women to a 68-52 win in Big 12 Conference action Wednesday night at Bramlage Coliseum. The Wildcats (20-2, 7-1 Big 12 Conference) won their 17th straight at home.
Senior guard Kerensa Barr (West Plains, Mo. / West Plains HS) led three Tigers in double-figure scoring with 13 points and six assists; junior guard Tracy Lozier (Leawood, Kan. / Blue Valley North HS) and junior forward Evan Unrau (Fort Collins, Colo. / Rocky Mountain HS) each added 10 points for Missouri (10-9, 4-4), which remained in a fifth-place tie with Oklahoma following the Sooners' loss to Texas A&M.
"There were a couple of things that hurt us in the second half. We turned the ball over and couldn't get open," Head Coach Cindy Stein said. "We moved the ball really well, but they made some adjustments in the second half. We couldn't get a bucket inside, and that's a credit to Kansas State."
Sophomore center Megan Roney (Independence, Mo. / Truman HS) tied her career high with six rebounds, and junior forward Stretch James (Columbus, Ohio / Northland HS / Tyler [Texas] JC) had seven rebounds to go with her six points.
The Tigers and Wildcats played see-saw for the first 5 minutes, and Kansas State was ahead until Lozier hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give Mizzou a 16-13 lead. The Tigers dominated the boards in the first 8 minutes, registering a 14-5 advantage.
K-State went on their own 7-0 run to take a 20-16 lead, and the Tigers chipped away until junior forward Terianne Wolford (Nixa, Mo. / Nixa HS) hit a fastbreak layup that prompted the Wildcats to call timeout down 27-25; Wolford then a 3-pointer with 1:10 left in the half to put Mizzou up 32-27. Kansas State got a layup from Nicole Ohlde with 37 seconds left to pull within 32-29 heading into the locker room.
Missouri hit six 3-pointers in the first half and shot 55 percent from behind the arc compared to half that from inside. Despite committing eight turnovers in the opening 20 minutes, the Tigers stayed in the game with the help of a 24-17 first-half rebounding edge. Kansas State shot just slightly better from the field at 38 percent in the first half, and was just 2-of-9 from 3-point range.
In the second half, the Wildcats turned up the pressure defensively, yielding only a pair of baskets in the first 14:40 of the second. In that stretch, Kansas State out-scored the Tigers 24-9 to put the game away.
The Tigers conclude their two-game road swing Saturday night at Nebraska; tipoff is set for 7:05 p.m. at the Bob Devaney Center. Mizzou's next home game is next Wednesday, Feb. 12, when the Tigers go for the season sweep against Iowa State at the Hearnes Center. For ticket information, call 1-800-CAT-PAWS (573-884-PAWS in Mid-Missouri).