Tigers’ skid continues

Missouri has never beaten Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas. The most recent time the two teams played there, Jan. 26, 2005, the Tigers lost by 30 points.

To make matters worse on Wednesday, Missouri played the second half without its second-leading scorer, Tiffany Brooks. As a result, the Tigers extend their losing streak in Lubbock with a 63-55 loss.

Missouri (13-5, 1-4) trailed by just three points with just more than a minute left, but a foul by Alyssa Hollins and two by Marchele Campbell put Texas Tech’s Chesley Dabbs at the free-throw line, where she made 5-of-6 to ice the game.

“I made a lot of mistakes,” Hollins said. “I had three fouls that were ridiculous, and I need to be smarter than that.”

Brooks, a senior, played only eight minutes and scored four points, but coach Cindy Stein did not comment why she did not play more.

“It says a lot about our team that we battled back as well as we did,” Stein said. “It was tough tonight without one of our starters, Tiffany Brooks. But in the Big 12, that’s not enough. And you have to work harder.”

In the first half, Missouri trailed 25-7 before 3-pointers by Hollins and Kassie Drew started a Tigers rally. The half ended with the Red Raiders ahead 30-25.

Dabbs, Texas Tech’s leading scorer who ended the game with 20 points, started the second half with a free throw, but Hollins answered with another 3-pointer. Hollins ended the night with 20 points and made six-of-eight 3-pointers, a career high, but fouled out with 46 seconds left.

“It doesn’t mean much,” Hollins said. “It feels good to be getting the ball to the basket again, but this loss hurt. We’ve fought through a lot of games, but when it comes down to it, we haven’t gotten the victory.”