1999-2000 Women's Basketball Preseason Notes
10/26/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Oct. 26, 1999
New Millinneum, New Look Tigers
It has been a busy off-season in Columbia, Mo. regarding the women?s basketball
program. Following a season where first-year coach Cindy Stein showed
the state of Missouri reasons to be optomistic about MU?s women?s hoops program,
the entire Missouri athletic department is out to make that optomism a reality.
Coach Stein and her staff set out to bring in a top notch recruiting class for
the 1999-00 season. Mission accomplished. Eight talented newcomers have joined
forces with four returning starters and three other regulars from a year ago to put
together a deep and athletic club.
How talented are the newcomers? Without naming names, Stein has added two Kodak junior-college All-Americans, a top eight rated perimeter JUCO shooter, the Missouri High School Player-of-the-Year, two All-State selections from the state of Tennessee and an All-Stater from Kansas. Stein also notched a transfer from New Mexico State University, also a former All-State player from Missouri. Coach Stein was a regular on the Missouri Tiger Caravans this past summer as she went town-to-town throughout the state of Missouri pumping up her new-look team. As Stein energetically did her part to excite the entire state, the athletic department did it?s part as well.
For the first time, Missouri Women?s Basketball will sell season tickets, some-thing that should increase attendance dramatically. Many more curious eyes gath-ered in the Hearnes Center to check out the Tigers last year than in years past.
Those numbers will most certainly grow in 1999-00.
Missouri will also be playing it?s home games on a brand new floor draped with a black apron and black lanes, with the Missouri block ?M? in the middle of the floor. The Tigers new logos can be seen on both sides of the floor. The seed has been planted. Now fans and media alike are anxious to see Coach Stein?s run-and-gun, all-out blood and guts style of play take form in 1999- 00. Last year, Stein admitted that she just did not have the athleticism to fully incorporate her style right away. She has the horses this season, and one can bet the Big 12 Conference is already taking notice.
At the Helm
One thing that hasn?t changed heading into the new season is that senior
guard Julie Helm is still the Tigers go-to player. The three-time All-Conference
pick enters the 1999-00 season in sixth place on Missouri?s all-time scoring list
with 1,563 points. That is an average of 17.7 ppg. for her career. Helm has been
among the conference?s top 10 scorers the last three seasons.
You can?t blame the Tigers? veteran leader for being extremelly pumped up for the coming season. Helm spent the summer training with her brother in-law at home in Washington, Ind. and is in the best shape of her life. With the added talent around her, there should be much less pressure on her and defenses will have more than Julie Helm to worry about.
Tigers Land Top JUCO Recruits
Missouri automatically became a better team when Cindy
Stein announced the signings of Kodak All-Americans
Marlena Williams and Amanda Lassiter in a one-week
span. Williams, a 6-0 forward from Peoria, Ill., led her Illi-nois
Central College team to two straight Division II national
titles. Williams, whose brother Frank plays for the Univer-sity
of Illinois, averaged 15 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.
She is a tremendous athlete who can play both on the perim-eter
and down on the blocks, and is known to be a tenacious
rebounder.
Of note, Illinois Centeral College also produced a fine, talented guard by the name of Cindy Stein.
The Tigers signed Lassiter and teammate Denise ?Gooch? Cardenas from Central Arizona J.C., the Division I JUCO runner-ups from a year ago. The 6-1 Lassiter is con-sidered the No. 1 small forward coming out junior college by many recruiting services. She is a tremendous athlete who like Williams will play both on the perimeter and down low. Lassiter averaged 16 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals at Central Arizona.
Lassiter?s teammate, Cardenas, may have not been a JUCO All-American, but could prove to be as valuable as Williams and Lassiter. Cardenas is considered one of the top shooting guards coming out of the junior college ranks and is known for her deadly shooting beyond the three-point arc. The 5-10 Yuma, Ariz. native averaged 14 ppg. and shot well over 40 percent from beyond the arc.
Ol? Missouri?s Best
Add another feather into Cindy Stein?s hat for keeping
the state of Missouri?s High School Player-of-the-Year at
home. Kerensa Barr, a 6-0 guard from West Plains, Mo.,
may be the most decorated high school player in Missouri
since Kristin Folkl, a former two-sport athlete at Stanford
and now of the WNBA?s Minnesota Lynx.
Barr, who will play point guard at Mizzou, averaged close to 30 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals a contest. As a junior, Barr led her team to the Missouri State title.
Two of Tennessee?s Finest
You won?t be hearing ?Rocky Top? in Missouri. Two of
the state of Tennessee?s top high school players signed with
Missouri and should make immediate impacts.
Jennifer Simpson, a versatile 6-1 left-hander from Knoxville, will provide Missouri another talented perimeter sharp-shooter. Simpson averaged 20.7 ppg. for Bearden High and shot over 50 percent from the floor. She was also a 40 percent shooter from beyond the three-point arc.
Her versatility is proven by her 7.8 rebounds per con-test. Simpson was named the MVP of the Tennessee East vs. West All-Star Game and represented her state agains the All-Stars from Georgia.
Joining Simpson is Melissa Statham, a 6-2 post-player who will provide the Tigers with much needed size in the middle. Statham is Coach Stein?s kind of player. She is very versatile for her size, in that she can score both inside and out, and she also runs the floor very well. Statham averaged 17 points and 10 rebounds for Mt. Juliet High School, lo-cated just outside Nashville.
Tiger Veterans Bridge the Gap
It isn?t like Cindy Stein just said ?out with the old and
in with the new.? As talented as Mizzou?s newcomers are
being built up to be, the Tigers still have plenty of veterans
returning from last year?s squad that finished 13-15. Mis-souri
placed 10th in the conference and upset Baylor in the
first round of the Big 12 Tournament. The Tigers also knocked
off Nebraska, Oklahoma in Norman and almost got away with
a win in Lubbock against Texas Tech. This all came from a
team that was picked dead last in the preseason by nearly
every media member covering Big 12 women?s basketball.
Amy Monsees, a 6-0 senior forward, was a big key to some of the success that Missouri enjoyed last season. Monsees thrived in Stein?s up-tempo style by averaging 12.8 ppg. and 4.7 rebounds. Monsees also dished out 62 assists and broadened her shooting range out to three-point terri-tory. Fellow senior Ekpe Akpaffiong has been though the wars of the Big 12. The undersized post player averaged 7.9 ppg. and 5.2 rebounds while tying the for the team-lead in assists with 67. Akpaffiong?s role should change some this season with the added size of some of the newcomers.
Junior Tracy Franklin was the most versatile player on the Missouri team last season and showed flashes of break-ing out into one the Tigers top players. The 5-10 guard/for-ward recorded 11 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists against Nebraska last year, and Stein is hoping for more of those numbers this year.
Franklin played with the Big 12 select team this past August and shot the ball very well, particularly from three-point range.
The Light is still Shining Bright
As a freshman last year, guard Natalie Bright went
through the normal peaks and valleys. She shot the ball well
all year, but suffered through turnovers and consistently got
beat defensively.
With all of the new talent coming in, it would have been easy for Coach Stein to forget about Bright, but the 5-8 sopho-more guard won?t let that happen. Bright worked hard this summer to improve her game and has been extremelly im-pressive in preseason workouts.
Bright shot over 40 percent from the floor last year and nailed 19 three-pointers.
The Julie Helm File
- Three-time All-Conference Selection
- Missouri 6th all-time leading scorer
- Quickest MU player ever to 1,000 points
- 1,563 career points (17.7 ppg.)
- G-ball Magazine All-Inspiration Team
- Big 12, Nation?s Bank Community Champion
Helm on Missouri?s All-Time Lists
SCORING
1. Joni Davis 2,126 2. Renee Kelly 2,119 3. Sharon Farrah 1,820 4. Nancy Rutter 1,641 5. Lorraine Ferret 1,624 6. Julie Helm 1,563
FIELD GOALS MADE
1. Joni Davis 910 2. Renee Kelly 819 3. Sharon Farrah 770 4. Lorraine Ferret 667 5. Nancy Rutter 580 6. Julie Maxey 573 7. Sandie Prophete 566 8. Erika Martin 560 9. Julie Helm 548
THREE-POINT FIELD GOALS
1. Stacy Williams 116 2. Julie Helm 93
THREE-POINT FG PCT.
1. Stacy Williams .436 2. Erika Martin .397 3. Julie Helm .369 4. Sandie Prophete .364 5. Marcia Brooks .349
FREE THROWS MADE
1. Nancy Rutter 481 Renee Kelly 481 3. Erika Martin 390 4. Ericka Fields 386 5. Julie Helm 374
FREE THROW PERCENTAGE
1. Julie Helm .816 2. Sharon Bax .779 3. Annette Schwander .776 4. Lisa Plummer .774 5. Andrea Siemer .772
FREE THROWS ATTEMPTED
1. Renee Kelly 792 2. Nancy Rutter 645 3. Ericka Fields 570 4. Erika Martin 542 5. Kesha Bonds 486 6. Julie Helm 458
OVERALL STATISTICS
| Year | G-GS | FG-A | PCT | 3FG-A | PCT | FT-A | PCT | REB-AVG. | PF-D | PTS-AVG. | A | TO | BS | ST | MIN |
| 95-96* | 3-0 | 5-10 | .500 | 0-1 | .000 | 3-6 | .500 | 4-1.3 | 4-0 | 13-4.3 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 35 |
| 96-97 | 30-29 | 176-393 | .448 | 32-78 | .410 | 131-163 | .804 | 130-4.3 | 69-1 | 515-17.2 | 74 | 100 | 3 | 33 | 944 |
| 97-98 | 27-27 | 189-422 | .448 | 26-75 | .347 | 133-159 | .836 | 132-4.9 | 68-2 | 537-19.9 | 49 | 85 | 4 | 32 | 927 |
| 98-99 | 28-27 | 178-405 | .440 | 35-98 | .357 | 107-130 | .823 | 130-4.6 | 63-1 | 498-17.8 | 60 | 107 | 1 | 26 | 955 |
| Totals | 88-83 | 548-1230 | .445 | 93-252 | .369 | 374-458 | .816 | 396-4.5 | 204-4 | 1563-17.7 | 188 | 299 | 8 | 93 | 2861 |
CONFERENCE STATISTICS
| Year | G-GS | FG-A | PCT | 3FG-A | PCT | FT-A | PCT | REB-AVG. | PF-D | PTS- AVG. | A | TO | BS | ST | MIN |
| 96-97 | 16-15 | 110-238 | .462 | 23-49 | .469 | 72-87 | .828 | 70-4.4 | 34-0 | 315-19.7 | 40 | 58 | 1 | 18 | 565 |
| 97-98 | 16-16 | 109-266 | .410 | 17-52 | .327 | 68-86 | .791 | 71-4.4 | 39-1 | 303-18.9 | 32 | 51 | 1 | 16 | 566 |
| 98-99 | 16-15 | 93-227 | .409 | 24-60 | .400 | 50-58 | .862 | 69-4.3 | 37-1 | 260-16.3 | 39 | 59 | 1 | 12 | 541 |
| Totals | 48-46 | 312-731 | .426 | 64-161 | .397 | 190-231 | .822 | 210-4.3 | 110-2 | 878-18.2 | 111 | 168 | 3 | 46 | 1672 |
