PITTSBURGH - The Missouri Tigers dared to dream, and they backed up their hopes with work and sweat and enough effort to make their home state proud.
On Saturday at Mellon Arena, not far from Pittsburgh's steel mills, the MU women's basketball team put in two hours of hard labor to try to upset taller, superior Louisiana Tech. On the verge of being blown out several times, the Tigers remembered the dream. And it gave them extra fuel. They could see St. Louis, and the Final Four, at the end of the rainbow. And that was worth battling for.
"They have a great team," said Tech's dominant center, Takeisha Lewis. "They had a lot of fight within them. They wanted to win a championship. They came back every time, but we ended up on top."
After winning twice and defying expectations in the NCAA Tournament, the Sweet 16 version of the Tigers finally gave way. No. 3 seed Louisiana Tech held them off 78-67, but spunky Mizzou was four points behind (64-60) with less than three minutes remaining.
"I never lost confidence in this team," Missouri coach Cindy Stein said. "I thought all along, until probably the last 10 seconds, that we could do it."
The Lady Techsters had too much height and big-game savvy for Mizzou. The Tigers were in such a hurry to get to the next round and chance to take on UConn, they rushed shots, had concentration lapses at the free throw line and raced into trouble when the situation required caution.
"It came down to a lot of things down the stretch," Stein said. "It came down to inexperience in this tournament ... it was just making smart plays, and we had some kids get very flustered in the last 10 minutes. And that hurts you."
This was Mizzou: plenty of passion but not enough patience. The Tigers fired too many 3-point shots, making only four of 21. The Clarence Gilbert impersonation was an artistic failure.
"I'm not real big on telling my kids that they can't take a shot they feel good about," Stein said. "And they all have the green light."
A yellow light might have been helpful.
When Mizzou progressed through their half-court sets, Louisiana Tech showed little inclination to dig in defensively. When the Tigers worked the clock and moved the ball around, they consistently broke Tech's defense.
"We're always undersized," Stein said. "So it helps our inside game when we can hit those outside shots, and that's what we were trying to do - open it up a little bit more. We did want a little bit more penetration that we got today. But (Tech is) pretty quick, and they're a very good defensive team. And they forced us to rush our shots."
Mizzou needed no outside assistance in heaving undisciplined shots. This is all you need to know: Missouri shot 52.5 percent (21 of 40) when it ignored the 3s and settled for conventional two-point baskets.
The Tigers had a chance to steal a victory but didn't quite know how to get it done. MU lacked the size and horsepower to control Lewis. She had her way inside, bull-rushing for 27 points and 17 rebounds. And Lewis coaxed Mizzou into foul problems.
That's the difference between an up-and-coming program (Missouri) and an established power (Louisiana Tech). When in doubt, Tech can feed the ball to a great player. And Lewis answered the 911 call.
As Stein continues to raise the Mizzou program, she'll eventually gain recruiting access to top-level talent. The 22-win season and the breakthrough to the Sweet 16 will only upgrade Stein's recruiting ticket.
"We got some big wins this year, and earned a lot of respect," sophomore guard Kerensa Barr said. "This was a big deal. Hopefully this will give a big lift to our program."
Taking down Louisiana Tech would have provided a more substantial lift, but the disappointment is temporary. Stein and the Tigers will go home now. But they will not go away.
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