PITTSBURGH (AP) – Leon Barmore wasn't ready for retirement – and
neither were his Lady Techsters, who are back in the NCAA final
eight despite an offseason upheaval.
|  | | Takeisha Lewis had 27 points and 17 rebounds to lead Louisiana Tech to the win. |
Takeisha Lewis, taking over as Missouri's front line got into
foul trouble, had 20 of her 27 points in the second half as
Louisiana Tech relied on its tournament poise to beat the Tigers
78-67 Saturday and reach the East Regional final.
Brooke Lassiter had 25 points, including five in a quick flurry
with just under two minutes remaining after Missouri – a
10th-seeded team playing in NCAA women's round of 16 for the first
time since 1982 – had closed within four points.
"I'll tell you one thing, this bunch has a lot of heart," said
Barmore, one of the most successful coaches ever, with 521
victories. "We've got no seniors, and look where we came from.
We've gotten everything out of this team we could possibly get."
The Techsters are in a regional final for the fourth consecutive
season, even though Barmore retired for 17 days before being coaxed
back last year and Tech lost six key players and two assistants
coaches from a regional final team.
"The whole year has been a battle, but we're just hungry for
this championship," Lassiter said.
Tech will play defending national champion Connecticut in
Monday's regional final. UConn beat North Carolina State 72-58
Saturday.
Lewis got the Techsters in front in the second half, but it was
the 5-foot-9 Lassiter who kept them there.
With Louisiana Tech leading 64-60 and trying to run down the
clock, Lassiter slowly brought the ball over the time line, drove
to the baseline and back out, then hit a fallaway as the clock shot
ran out.
Then, quickly getting off the floor, she jumped up and made a
steal off the inbounds pass, hit a layup and finished off the
three-point play by making the free throw to increase Tech's lead
to 69-60 with 1:38 remaining.
"What did that mean? Just the ballgame," Barmore said. "That
was a great shot she made, the fallaway. It was the play of the
game."
Missouri coach Cindy Stein agreed, saying she was certain
"until there were 10 seconds left in the game" that the Tigers
ultimately would come back.
The Tigers' Kerensa Barr also got a sinking feeling when she saw
Lassiter's shot from along the left baseline fall in.
"We were on a run, and she kind of turned it over and got it
back and it went in," Barr said. "They really got it going, and
that play really started it."
By then, Missouri (22-10) had lost 6-foot-1 Evan Unrau and
leading scorer Amanda Lassiter, who scored 19 points, to fouls, and
6-2 Marlena Williams was playing with four fouls.
The 6-2 Lewis, whose previous career high was 21 points last
season, also had 17 rebounds as Tech outrebounded Missouri 49-28.
"Last year at this time, if she didn't start off well, you lost
her for the game," Barmore said. "We stayed with her this year,
and it paid off."
Lewis was nearly unstoppable during a 10-minute streak of the
second half, scoring eight points during a 16-2 run that put Tech
on top 48-38.
Later, Lewis had six points during a 10-4 run that gave the Lady
Techsters their biggest lead at 64-53.
"The plan was to take it to them and get it inside," said
Lewis, who was bothered by a sore throat and sinus problem that
developed hours before the game. "When they got in foul trouble,
it just made it that much easier. The game started very slow for
me, but I just relaxed and let it come to me."
Ayana Walker added 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Techsters
(31-4), who have won 19 consecutive games – second best in the
country to Xavier's 21 – en route to Monday's regional final.
Barr had 11 points and Tracy Franklin had 10 for Missouri, which
was coming off the biggest upset of the tournament so far, a 78-65
victory over second-seeded Georgia in Athens.
Missouri, trying to become the first Big 12 team to reach the
women's national semifinals, didn't get off to a good start by
making only one of its first 10 shots.
But the Tigers still stayed close with the help of 11 first-half
Tech turnovers, despite going 0-for-11 on 3-pointers before
halftime. They finished 4-of-21, with Amanda Lassiter hitting two
in a row to start the second half as Missouri briefly took the
lead.
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ALSO SEE
Women's College Basketball Scoreboard
Missouri Clubhouse
Louisiana Tech Clubhouse
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