Feb 11, 2004
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Senior All-America candidate Evan Unrau (Fort Collins, Colo. / Rocky Mountain HS) scored 14 points, and two other Tigers were in double figures, but the Missouri women's basketball dropped an 83-59 decision to the No. 18/20-ranked Baylor Bears.
Senior guard MyEsha Perkins (Detroit, Mich. / Oak Park HS / Trinity Valley [Texas] JC) got the Tigers off on the right foot, getting a rebound and a layup on MU's first possession. Baylor forced five turnovers and made eight of its first 11 shots to take a 17-8 lead with 14 minutes, 20 seconds left in the first half.
Sophomore guard LaToya Bond (Urbana, Ill. / Urbana HS) entered the game at that time to mark her first game action since Jan. 4. She finished the game with nine points, an assist and a steal in 13 minutes.
Mizzou (12-9, 3-7 Big 12) found itself down by double digits less than 7 minutes into the contest, and trailed by as many as 16 in the opening frame. With less than a minute left in the half, senior guard Tracy Lozier (Leawood, Kan. / Blue Valley North HS) took a feed from freshman forward EeTisha Riddle (O'Fallon, Ill. / O'Fallon HS) and converted a layup, pulling the Tigers within 12 (40-28) at intermission.
The Tigers closed the margin to nine points on a 3-pointer from junior center Megan Roney (Independence, Mo. / Truman HS) at the 19:15 mark of the second half - her first trey since Dec. 6 against Tulsa. That capped a 9-2 run spanning halftime, yet the Bears (18-5, 6-4) responded with a 9-4 run over the next 1:28 to push the lead back to 14 (51-37). Emily Niemann extended the margin back to 15 with a 3-pointer. The Tigers would again get that close, on a Perkins layup with 11:36 to go, yet a 17-6 Baylor run over the next 3:37 gave the Bears their largest lead of the game to that point at 20 (71-51).
"I would say 'frustration' is probably the key word," Head Coach Cindy Stein said. "I think that we showed a lot of frustration on the court, and it was a very frustrating game to be a part of. It's almost an embarrassing game to be a part, and we didn't come out on the good end of that. We have to get better and we have to get tougher. That's the key right now."
Unrau led the Tigers with 14 points and six rebounds. Senior forward Stretch James (Columbus, Ohio / Tyler [Texas] JC) and Perkins close behind with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Sophomore center Christelle N'Garsanet (Abidjan, Ivory Coast / Illinois Central College) also pulled in six boards for Mizzou.
Baylor's Steffanie Blackmon led all scorers with 22 points while Sophia Young led both teams in rebounding with 13.
The women hit the road on Saturday for a 6 p.m. tipoff at Oklahoma State. Please note that this is a time change from original print and web materials. Mizzou's next home game is Tuesday, Feb. 17 vs. current No. 7-ranked Texas Tech. 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.