Southern Illinois University
Missouri
Missouri Thumps SIU 81-57
03/20/2001 | 12:00:00 | Women's Basketball
December 9, 2000
Columbia, Mo. -
Seniors Amanda Lassiter and Tracy Franklin, along with freshman Evan Unrau each scored 15 points to lead the University of Missouri to a 81-57 victory over Southern Illinois University Carbondale Saturday at the Hearnes Center
The loss marked SIU's fifth in its last six games as the Salukis' 2-5 start this season now matches their mark at this time a year ago following the opening seven games.
The Missouri defense was too much for the passive Saluki offense to handle in the first half as the Tigers forced the Dawgs into 12 turnovers which outweighed their own five. Tied 5-5 with 16:19 to play, Missouri put together a 14-2 run which spanned over the next 5:33. Junior Holly Teague, who scored the Salukis' first seven points of the opening stanza, hit a jumper to cut the score to 19-7 with 11:52 to play. Senior Amanda Lassiter scored six points during the Tiger spurt to post 13 for the half as Missouri outscored the Dawgs 11-3 in points off turnovers.
Startled by the fast-paced Missouri start, SIU kept its poise, however, and came back to outscore the Tigers 15-12 in the next 8:42. Angela Tolbert hit a pair of free throws (3:10) to narrow the lead to nine at 31-22, but that was all the Dawgs could muster as Missouri rallied to another run, this time 6-2, to end the half with a 37-24 lead.
Missouri came out firing in the second half putting together a 21-9 run which put the Tigers up 58-33 with 10:18 remaining. Still not finished, the Tigers continued to pound away at the Salukis and as a result, built their biggest lead to 79-51 on a basket by Amy Loftus with 1:29 to go. Loftus scored four points consecutively off the bench helping Missouri to its fourth straight win as the game came to a 81-57 close.
Lassiter shot 4-of-12 from the field and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line while Franklin connected on 5-of-19 from the field and 5-of-9 from downtown. Additionally, Unrau was 7-of-8 from the floor while adding 1-of-4 from the foul line.
Molly McDowell led all Saluki scorers with 17 points on 5-of-11 from the field and 6-of-9 from the free throw line. Kristine Abramowski (13) and Holly Teague (10) also posted double figures. Teague's 2-of-9 from three-point land snapped an 0-8 streak from behind the arc. Senior Terica Hathaway was silenced to just one point as Saturday's contest marked the first game this season she failed to score in double figures.
After a week's break, SIU will travel to St. Louis. Mo., for its final non-conference roadgame when the Salukis take on Saint Louis University Saturday, Dec. 16, at 7 p.m.
