Feb. 25, 2004
LINCOLN, Neb. - Freshman center EeTisha Riddle (O'Fallon, Ill. / O'Fallon HS) hit a pair of buckets in the final 87 seconds to lead the Missouri women to a 78-76 win at Nebraska Wednesday night. In becoming just the second opposing team this season at the Devaney Center to pull out a win, the Tigers improve to 14-11 and 5-9 in the Big 12 Conference.
Riddle finished with six points, while senior guard MyEsha Perkins (Detroit, Mich. / Oak Park HS / Trinity Valley [Texas] JC) tied her career high with 18 points to lead four Tigers in double figures. senior forward Stretch James (Columbus, Ohio / Northland HS / Tyler [Texas] JC) added 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists, senior All-America candidate Evan Unrau (Fort Collins, Colo. / Rocky Mountain HS) had 12 points - all in the second half - and sophomore guard LaToya Bond (Urbana, Ill. / Urbana HS) added 11.
"It was just one of those games that was tough to play in, tough to coach in, but I was extremely proud of our team because we deserved this," Head Coach Cindy Stein said. "We made it our motto to say that we're not going away, and we proved it tonight. EeTisha came in a was confident to hit that shot, and I'm just so proud of the way we executed toward the end. Evan was getting double-teamed, Stretch was getting double-teamed, and someone had to step up."
The Tigers were called for three fouls in the first minute and 44 seconds while the Huskers staked out a 4-2 lead. Yet Perkins hit back-to-back jumpers to give Mizzou a 6-4 lead at the first media timeout. MU held Nebraska (16-9, 6-8) to 1-of-6 shooting, yet made just three of its first nine shots.
Nebraska went on a 14-2 run, however, to post an 18-8 lead with 10:37 left in the first. Mizzou was still cold, shooting just 22 percent (4-of-18) in the early going, and Unrau sat on the bench in foul trouble for the last 13:38 of the first half after picking up a pair of fouls just 23 seconds apart. After pouring in a career-high 40 on Sunday vs. Kansas State, Unrau went 0-for-6 from the field in the six first-half minutes she played Wednesday night.
The Tigers made their next two buckets, in addition to a pair of free throws from James to pull within four (18-14) with 9:02 left. The Huskers slowly expanded the lead before scoring six points in the final 47.8 seconds to take a 42-32 lead into the locker room. NU took advantage of a 15-for-15 performance at the free-throw line in the opening 20 minutes, while the Tigers were just 6-for-6.
Nebraska hit six of its first nine shots to start the final period, while the Tigers made half of their six, as the Huskers increased their lead to 15 (55-40) with 15:49 to play. Unrau got her first point of the game on a free throw with 16:25 left, and got her first basket on a 3-point play with 13:47 to go to keep the deficit at 15. She'd add three more free throws as part of a 7-0 run, yet Nebraska still had a 13-point lead (65-52) with 10:38 to play, and kept that lead through the next media timeout with 6:54 left (70-57).
Coming out of that timeout, sophomore center Megan Roney (Independence, Mo. / Truman HS), hit a left-handed baby hook, and Perkins nailed her second 3-pointer of the evening to tie her career high with 18 points. Roney then hit one of two free throws, and senior guard Tracy Lozier (Leawood, Kan. / Blue Valley North HS) hit her first 3-pointer in five games to cap a 9-2 run (72-66) with 4:07 left.
Unrau then hit a 3-pointer to bring the game to within three and hit 1-of-2 free throws the next time down to pull within two. Following a Nebraska basket, Bond hit a layup before Riddle nailed an 18-footer to tie the score at 74 with 1:17 to play. Unrau then hit a left-handed 10-footer in the lane with 39 seconds left for the lead before Alexa Johnson hit a pair of free throws with 26.8 seconds left to tie the score. With both Unrau and James double-teamed on the Tigers' final possession, Bond found Riddle open underneath for a back-door layup with 10 seconds left for the winning basket. In all, MU had a 15-4 run in the final 3:58, and held Nebraska without a field goal for the final 8:37.
The Tigers will honor their five seniors prior to Saturday's home finale at 2:00 p.m. against Iowa State. Mizzou fans are encouraged to come early for the festivities in a game that will be televised regionally by FOX Sports Net. 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.