Tiger freshman returns home to face Colorado

The MU forward will have a rooting section of family and friends from her hometown of Fort Collins, Colo., at the Coors Event Center.

Tracking the Tigers Who: Missouri vs. Colorado What: College women's basketball When: Today, 2 p.m. Where: Coors Event Center, Boulder, Colo. Radio: KFRU/AM 1400

“This is something I’ve been waiting for a long time,” said Unrau, this week’s Big 12 Freshman of the Week, who had her second straight double-double against Texas A&M Wednesday (16 points, 20 rebounds).

“I didn’t expect for all this to happen so quick,” Unrau said of her success. “You can only hope for that kind of stuff. But I’ve never really been about the numbers.”

Unrau’s hard work also comes with a price in the form of bruises on her arms and a gash on her chin from Wednesday’s battle against the Aggies.

“Those bruises have been there for as long as I can remember,” Unrau said. “I’ve had bruises like this from the way I play. It’s just the way it is.”

Unrau and Missouri (11-3, 2-1 Big 12) face a Buffaloes team with an identical record. The game will be played at the arena where Unrau attended high school basketball camps.

“Evan likes to bang the boards a lot,” said senior center Marlena Williams, the Tigers’ No. 2 scorer at 11.6 points per game. “That’s the first thing I noticed about her. I didn’t even notice she’s a freshman. If she’s scared of you, she won’t let you know she’s scared of you because of the way she hits those boards.”

Combined Unrau, Williams and senior forward Amanda Lassiter are carrying this year’s Missouri team averaging 41.4 points and 19.1 rebounds per game. Coach Cindy Stein would like to see a more balanced offensive attack from her team, but is pleasantly surprised at the output from her star freshman.

“For three years I’ve said that (starting guard) Tracy Franklin needs to score. We also need more production from our other guards,” Stein said. “But we’ve been winning with the way we’ve been playing.”

Unrau has played key roles in those two conference wins. Against then-No. 12 Texas on Jan. 6 she a breakout game scoring 18 points and pulling down 13 rebounds. Unrau is now averaging 9.9 points (third on the team) and team-high eight rebounds.

The matchup against Colorado will reunite Unrau with one of her high school foes, Buffalo starter Jenny Roulier (8.9 points per game and a team-high 47.1 3-point shooting percentage).

Unrau’s Rocky Mountain High School team was twice eliminated by Roulier’s Cherry Creek (Englewood, Colo.), thanks in part from big games from the Buffalo junior guard in state tournament games. Roulier also came up big against Missouri last season in the Big 12 Tournament, scoring a team-high 23 points with four steals and four assists in the first round, ending the Tigers’ hopes of earning a NCAA Tournament berth.

“She was unbelievable in high school,” Unrau said. “For two straight years she ruined my high school’s season.”

Colorado is led by Roulier’s backcourt teammate Mandy Nightingale with team-highs of 14.9 points and four assists per game. The junior point guard also scored 21 points and had five assists in the tournament game against the Tigers.

The main frontcourt presence for Colorado comes from 6-foot-4 junior center Britt Hartshorn with 11.1 points and 7.2 rebounds. But Unrau has so far been able to handle her own against the post players of the Big 12.

“I’ve received e-mails from coaches, administrators and family telling me about what they’ve heard about me,” Unrau said. “They’ve been following my progress all year on the radio and through the Internet. All this is exciting but it’s a bit overwhelming. I didn’t expect to do what I’ve done, but I hope it continues.”

Comments? E-mail News or Sports

Back to top     News    Sports    Search    Classifieds