Nov. 30, 2002

Final Stats

ATLANTA-Doomed by a slow start and the interior presence of Georgia Tech's Sonja Mallory, Miami University's women's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season Saturday afternoon, falling to the Yellow Jackets in the championship game of the Atlanta Marriott NW Classic, 78-62.

The RedHawks struggled out of the gates, failing to light the scoreboard until a Melanie Kozlowski 3-point field goal at 13:35 ended a 12-0 game-opening run by the Yellow Jackets. Miami's fought on even terms for the remainder of the half, closing to within six,16-10, by the 11:22 mark, but could not assemble a substantial first-half run. Led by 13 points from the 6-foot-5 Mallory, the Yellow Jackets led 37-25 at the half.

Sparked by 10 combined points from Kozlowski and Kim Lancaster, Miami closed to 45-35 by the 14:55 mark but would get no closer. Georgia Tech used a 6-0 run over the next 1:10 and were down by 22 points at the 6:45 mark. The RedHawks made their last serious run over the next several minutes, out-scoring the Yellow Jackets, 10-0, to close the margin to 61-50 with just over seven minutes to play. Mallory took control from there, pouring in nine of her game-high 33 points over the next five minutes.

Leading Miami on the day were Kozlowski, who poured in 17 points, and Lancaster, who netted 12 points. Miami was out-rebounded 50-39 in the loss. Mallory, the tournament MVP, finished with 33 points, 12 rebounds and two blocked shots. Lancaster and Cusick, who finished with nine points and six assists, were named to the all-tournament team for Miami.

Miami, which dropped to 3-1, enjoys a week off and returns to action Dec. 7 when it hosts Wright State in its home opener.