COLUMBIA, Mo. -- After watching call after call go against her team, head coach Tracy Roller nearly lost her cool; instead she lost her jacket.
With eight minutes remaining in the game and the women's basketball team trailing by nine points, the ever-aggressive Roller threw off her jacket in what turned out to be a vain attempt to spark her team to rally as the Cardinals lost in the second round of the WNIT, 88-77.
Despite having to be given fluids through an IV earlier in the day due to illness, junior Johna Goff did everything in her power to prevent a second-round exit from the WNIT for the second straight year, as her 32 points led all scorers.
"I was feeling good at the start of the game. The shots were just going in," Goff said. "I would rather have zero points and win the game than score 32."
Despite Goff's 20-point offensive explosion in the first half, the Cardinals could not capitalize on their three-point halftime lead. Missouri used a 15-2 run to start the second half to distance themselves from a road-weary Cardinals team that looked more scared of the challenge than determined to win.
"That run was really the difference," Roller said. "But the main thing was that we didn't give up."
Playing in her last game as a Cardinal, senior Tamara Bowie struggled through one of the most painful games of her career. The 6-foot forward's first points did not come until 13 minutes left in the game, and those came from the free-throw line, further showing her inability to crack the Missouri defense. Bowie's nine points were the second time this season that she had failed to score in double figures.
"We made her work for her touches," Missouri head coach Cindy Stein said. "We alternated some fresh bodies on her and forced her out of her range. She tried to penetrate on us, but we focused on keeping her away from the basket."
Nonetheless, none responded to Rollers' antics more than Bowie as a sudden emotional spark led her team to narrowing the lead to four points.
But no rally from the Cardinals could dampen the deafening jeers from the crowd and the play of Missouri as the Cardinals repeatedly failed to get a defensive stop when they needed it. The taller, more physical Tiger players continually bullied the Cardinal post players away from the basket to cool off the hot shooting of the Cardinals by controlling the tempo.
"Our game is the run, and when they started running the shot clock down, it really hurt our chances on offense," freshman point guard Dana Collins said.
Missouri turned to its First Team All-Big XII player, junior Evan Unrau whenever the Cardinals threatened. The 6-foot-1-inch forward made the Cardinal defenders look like Hobbits from Lord of the Rings as the smaller defenders could only watch as Unrau's 21 points led five Tigers into double figures.
"We just had no answer for Evan," Roller said. "We had high hopes of beating a great team. We looked tired from the beginning, but we never gave up and showed a lot of heart. We kept getting close, but we just never could get over the hump."
Missouri will go on to play at Colorado State on Thursday in the third-round of the WNIT.
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