Women’s basketball stuns Oklahoma

By Ross Taylor
March 11, 2008

When the MU women’s basketball team faced the Oklahoma Sooners at Mizzou Arena in early February, the Sooners came away with a close win and the Tigers came away with only a boost in confidence.

Fast forward to Tuesday afternoon in Kansas City, where the No. 12-seeded Tigers parlayed that confidence into a 70-64 overtime victory over the No. 5-seeded Sooners in the first round of the Big 12 tournament at Municipal Auditorium.

MU’s win snapped Oklahoma’s streak of 24 consecutive wins over Big 12 North opponents and may have given coach Cindy Stein a signature win to help deflect criticism regarding the team’s last-place finish in the regular season.

“I think a 12 beating a five tells you how strong our conference is,” Stein said. “Our conference is so good that they made us a Top 25 team tonight. We weren’t there all season but we were there tonight and that’s all that matters. You don’t live for tomorrow in the tournament unless to take care of today.”

The Tigers and Sooners battled back and forth all game, with neither team able to build more than a six-point lead in regulation. Missouri (10-20, 3-14 Big 12) was able to keep the game close early, despite its top two scorers – junior guard Alyssa Hollins and sophomore forward Jessra Johnson – combining to shoot 6-for-32 from the field in the game’s first 32 minutes.

However, a Johnson 3-pointer with 7:09 remaining in the second half kick-started the duo and paved the way for a wild finish. Down three with 21 seconds remaining, sophomore guard Amanda Hanneman hit a three to tie the game, 53-53.

“I just stepped back and took the shot without thinking about it,” said Hanneman, one of four Tigers to finish in double figures in scoring.

Shortly after the 3-pointer, Hanneman was credited with stealing the ball from Oklahoma senior center Courtney Paris to force overtime. Paris, a Naismith Award finalist, finished the game with 30 points and 20 rebounds, good for her 90th consecutive double-double.

After the game, Hollins spoke about the team’s mindset entering overtime.

“It was a feeling in our huddle that we weren’t going to lose the game,” Hollins said.

Despite the early shooting woes from Hollins and Johnson, the two came up huge late in the game, especially at the free-throw line. MU entered the game dead last in the Big 12 in free-throw percentage, but went 10-for-14 from the line in overtime, largely in part to increased offensive presence by Hollins.

“At this level, you have to have a short memory,” Hollins said. “It’s like a whole new game those last five minutes.”

Hollins finished the day 5-for-21 from the field but 7-for-9 from the free-throw line, totaling 19 points. Johnson finished 4-of-21 from the field and 6-for-8 from the line, contributing 16 points and 14 rebounds.

“I played like there was no tomorrow and came out victorious,” Johnson said. “I’d do it all over again tomorrow if I had to.”

Johnson may indeed have to “do it all over again tomorrow,” as the Tigers advance to face No. 4-seeded Texas A&M at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday. In the teams’ only meeting this season, Texas A&M defeated Missouri, 62-43.

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Women’s basketball stuns Oklahoma

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