Missouri women's basketball rides strong first half to victory

Hanneman and Scott scored career highs in the first win of the season.

By John Montesantos

Published Nov. 17, 2009

Missouri came out strong in its regular season opener Sunday, leading Northern Iowa by 25 points at halftime. A second-half surge by the Panthers proved too little too late as the Tigers coasted to a 74-57 victory.

Senior forwards Amanda Hanneman and Marissa Scott both had personal bests in scoring. Hanneman, who scored a career-high 20 points in last week's exhibition against Central Missouri, topped that mark with 26 points, including six 3-pointers. Scott was second in scoring with 11 points and shot five-of-six from the field in just 16 minutes.

Hanneman deflected praise for her performance onto her teammates.

"I give all my credit to my teammates," Hanneman said. "They got me open. For setting screens and giving me the ball when I was open. I give all the credit to them."

Coach Cindy Stein noted the lack in production from inside players senior forward Jessra Johnson and junior forward Shakara Jones but said she wasn't surprised when Hanneman and Scott picked up the slack.

"When she (Hanneman) misses a shot I'm usually very surprised," Stein said. "She doesn't miss a whole lot in practice. I was also really impressed with Marissa's toughness around the basket."

After committing a rare foul on the opening tipoff, things only got worse for the Panthers. The Missouri defense kept them scoreless for the first four minutes until a free throw finally put them on the board. After the Panthers cut it to 7-3, the Tigers went on a 22-4 scoring run in the next seven minutes.

Missouri continued to pour it on and earned a 25-point lead at the break. The deficit was largely due to Northern Iowa's offensive struggles. The Panthers shot a dismal 23 percent in the first half and turned over the ball 12 times.

The second half brought new life for Northern Iowa, as the team ended up outscoring the Tigers.

"I'm pleased with the first half," Stein said. "I think that shows what we're very capable of doing. My only disappointment is in the second half I felt like we really relaxed. We have to do a better job of keeping people down and not letting them back into games."

The Panthers continued to claw back late, but the deficit was just too great, Northern Iowa coach Tanya Warren said.

"I thought we came out and played very scared and allowed Missouri to get out and jump on us," Warren said. "In the second half, we came out a little bit more aggressive. If we have a better start, it's a better game. We dug ourselves too big of a hole in the first half."

As the Panthers inched closer, Hanneman kept them back by scoring 15 of her 26 points in the second half. Coach Warren knew of Hanneman's scoring ability coming in but thought her team failed to contain her.

"We lost her a lot," Warren said. "We gave her too much room and allowed her to get in a rhythm. She's a very good shooter, and she's shooting the basketball very well right now."

The Panthers had no players score in double digits in the loss, which marked the fifth straight for Northern Iowa against the Tigers.

Missouri moves on to face Memphis at home Wednesday before traveling to face Indiana on Sunday.