University of Missouri
Pittsburgh
Tiger Women Take Pittsburgh Thanksgiving Classic
11/27/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 27, 2005
PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Senior guard LaToya Bond (Urbana, Ill. / Urbana HS) earned Most Valuable Player honors in leading the Mizzou women to their first tournament title on the road in six years, a 69-60 decision over the host Panthers in the final of Sunday's Pittsburgh Thanksgiving Classic.
Bond had 14 points, five rebounds, three steals, and game highs of five assists and four blocks to lead five Tigers in double-figure scoring. Senior center Christelle N'Garsanet (Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire / Illinois Central College) led Mizzou (4-2) with 18 points and a game-high 10 rebounds for her fifth career double-double; junior forward Tiffany Brooks (Leavenworth, Kan. / Leavenworth HS / Kansas State) added 11 points, six rebounds, two assists and two blocks; junior forward EeTisha Riddle (O'Fallon, Ill. / O'Fallon HS) had 10 points and six rebounds, and junior guard Blair Hardiek (Effingham, Ill. / Effingham HS) tied her career high with 10 points.
N'Garsanet and Riddle joined Bond on the all-tournament team.
"Just as the buzzer was sounding, Coach Daniel said that LaToya's the most underrated player in the Big 12, and she's playing like an MVP for us. She had key buckets, key defensive plays, and the team played really strong," Head Coach Cindy Stein said. "I was impressed with how the team reacted in this game, too. You never know how a team's going to react on the road, and this team has reacted positively. We had great defensive plays throughout. Christelle N'Garsanet, EeTisha Riddle, Blair Hardiek, our bench, everyone was into the whole game."
Both teams made their first three shots of the game, and a 3-pointer by Maddy Brown gave Pitt a 7-6 lead just 1 minute, 44 seconds into the game. Both teams also cooled from there, however, missing their next seven shots combined.
Pitt (4-1) regained its shooting touch and extended its lead to 19-9 on a Mallorie Winn 3-pointer with 12:54 to play in the half. The Panther lead remained 10 at 26-16 with 7:02 left at the under-eight media timeout before the Tigers made a short run. Three straight baskets from N'Garsanet brought Mizzou within five at 30-25 with 4:16 to play. Brooks completed a 16-9 run with a 19-footer from near the top of the key to trim the deficit to three (35-32), and Pitt took a 37-32 lead into the locker room.
Mizzou hit its first three shots of the second half, capped by a Brooks jumper, to give the Tigers a 38-37 lead with 18:17 left to play. Missouri continued to push the tempo, and got an N'Garsanet basket on the fast break to go with a coast-to-coast steal and layup from Bond to push the lead to 42-39 with 15:47 to go.
Midway through the half, the Tigers ratcheted up their defense, forcing a shot-clock violation and getting a Bond steal that led to a fast break layup for Hardiek. Earlier in that sequence, N'Garsanet drew Marcedes Walker's fourth foul to force Pitt's post presence to the bench. With the Tigers clinging to a seven-point lead, Walker fouled out on a fight for a rebound with 3:42 left. Pitt would get no closer than four the rest of the way, as Mizzou made six of their 10 free throws down the stretch.
The Tigers return home next weekend (Dec. 2-3) for the State Farm Tiger Classic. Both of Missouri's games, beginning with Friday night's first-round matchup against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, will tip at 7 p.m. Tickets are available by visiting the Mizzou Arena Box Office, calling 1-800-CAT-PAWS (884-PAWS in mid-Missouri) or going online to www.mutigers.com.
NOTES: Mizzou's previous tournament win on the road came in the San Diego State Tournament in 1999, when the Tigers defeated Portland State and San Diego State ... Sunday's win is the second in less than a week in which five Tigers scored in double figures. All five starters did so in Tuesday's win over Northwestern in Columbia ... the Tigers were Pittsburgh's first opponent to score 50 points this season ... in addition to the Tiger trio, Towson's Kacy O'Brien and Pitt's Xenia Stewart and Marcedes Walker made the all-tournament team.
