Jan. 10, 2004
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Despite a feverish second-half rally, the Missouri women's basketball team dropped a 55-52 decision to Kansas in the Tigers' Big 12 Conference home-opener Saturday night at the Hearnes Center.
Mizzou (9-4, 0-2 Big 12) took its first lead on the second possession of the game, getting a 3-pointer from senior guard Tracy Lozier (Leawood, Kan. / Blue Valley North HS). Freshman guard Blair Hardiek (Effingham, Ill. / Effingham HS) gave the Tigers the lead on their next possession with another trey, and after a couple of Jayhawk baskets, senior All-America forward Evan Unrau (Fort Collins, Colo. / Rocky Mountain HS) gave Mizzou the lead again with a layup off a nifty post dish from senior forward Stretch James (Columbus, Ohio / Northland HS / Tyler [Texas] JC).
The Jayhawks (8-5, 1-1) responded with a 9-4 run to take a 21-18 lead with 8 minutes, 12 seconds left in the first half. The Tigers committed five turnovers in that span, and finished the half with 12. Kandis Bonner's inbounds layup and foul pushed the Kansas lead to 25-19 with 5:32 left. Mizzou went without a basket for 9:02 until sophomore center Christelle N'Garsanet (Abidjan, Ivory Coast / Illinois Central College) drove for a layup with 1:40 left, yet the KU advantage was just six points. Kansas hit three free-throws in the final 25 seconds, though, and took a 32-24 lead into the locker room.
Kansas hit a couple of jumpers, and MU missed its first six shots of the second half as Kansas built a 36-24 lead. Lozier then sank her fourth 3-pointer of the game to pull within 11, yet Crystal Kemp and Larisha Graves combined for three baskets to push the lead to 15.
Unrau canned her first trey of the game with 13:55 to go, and less than two minutes later, freshman center EeTisha Riddle (O'Fallon, Ill. / O'Fallon HS) converted a 3-point play. Lozier stole the ball at mid-court, and sank a pair of free throws after being fouled the next time down. The 8-0 run closed the Tigers to within seven (42-35) with 10:32 to play.
Lozier hit her fifth 3-pointer with 7:04 left to trim the lead to six (48-42). Two plays later, Unrau followed with a second trey, and freshman Carlynn Savant (Euless, Texas / Trinity HS) swished home another triple as the Tigers pulled within two at 50-48 with 3:55 left, and again at 52-50 with 2:09 to go on a pair of Unrau free throws.
The Tigers had the opportunity to tie the game in the final seconds, but Lozier's three-point attempt fell short. The miss was rebounded by Kansas' Aquanita Burras, and the horn soon sounded on Mizzou's comeback bid.
Lozier's 19 points paced the Missouri squad, and James' nine rebounds were good enough for the team lead. Unrau joined Lozier as the only Tigers in double figures with 15 points, while also dishing out four assists, which tied her for the team-high with senior forward/center Melanie Fisher (St. Louis, Mo. / Southwest Missouri State). Riddle carded a career-high-tying six rebounds, to go along with three points.
Kemp led the Jayhawks with 20 points, and Burras tallied 10 points and 10 rebounds.
"It was tough game and I felt like we were doing everything we could.," Head Coach Cindy Stein said. "We got the right shot and nothing was going. We're taking good shots and they're just not dropping. We'll have to go to the film and try to get more shots in, get more pressure shots and then go from there."
The Tigers conclude their two-game homestand on Wednesday at 7 pm. vs. Nebraska. 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.