University of Missouri
Oklahoma
No. 10 Oklahoma Squeaks by Mizzou, 64-57
2/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 6, 2008
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Missouri women's basketball team trailed No. 10 Oklahoma by just one, 58-57 with 45 seconds left but the Sooners scored the final six points of the game to pick up a 64-57 win Wednesday night at Mizzou Arena.
Sophomore Jessra Johnson hit a jumper with 45 seconds left on the clock to pull the Tigers within one, 58-57, but sophomore Toy Richbow missed the front end of a one-and-one with 25 seconds left to keep the Sooners on top. Nine seconds later Danielle Robinson made two free throws, stole the ensuing inbounds pass and made a layup for a 62-57 Oklahoma advantage.
A 3-pointer from junior Alyssa Hollins rimmed out with seven seconds left to seal the victory for the Sooners.
"I'm very proud of our team," Missouri Head Coach Cindy Stein said. "Obviously we wanted a victory tonight but I thought our kids played extremely hard to win. If you can hang out with a top-10 team and get killed on the boards then your work ethic is pretty good. We don't believe in moral victories but we have to feel good about this."
The Tigers stayed close to Oklahoma throughout the first half, trailing 23-21 after Hollins made two free throws with 1:27 left in the first half. The Sooners scored the final four points of the frame to enter the break ahead 27-21.
With the Sooners ahead 44-37, the Tigers used two free throws by senior Nicole Wilson, a jumper from Johnson and a three from Hollins to tie the game at 44-44 with 8:37 on the clock.
An 11-2 run by Oklahoma gave the Sooners their biggest lead of the game, 55-46, with 4:11 remaining but the Tigers responded with and 11-3 run of their own, capped by Johnson's jumper, to pull Mizzou within one, 58-57, with 45 seconds left.
Oklahoma improves to 16-4 overall and 6-2 in Big 12 Conference action while the Tigers fall to 8-14 and 1-8.
Hollins paced Mizzou with 19 points while freshman Shakara Jones scored 12 and Johnson added 11, nine rebounds and four steals.
Courtney Paris had 25 points and 17 rebounds for the Sooners while Ashley Paris added 19 points and 12 boards.
Mizzou travels to Ames, Iowa, on Saturday, Feb. 9 to face Iowa State at 7:30 p.m. The Tigers will then "Think Pink" on Sunday, Feb. 17 when it hosts Kansas State at Mizzou Arena in a 2:30 p.m. contest. The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive free pink t-shirts while all other fans are encouraged to wear pink. All proceeds from the game go toward the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation.
