Feb. 2, 2000
Tigers and Cowgirls to Battle for Win No. 13
Both the Missouri Tigers (12-6, 2-5) and the Oklahoma State Cowgirls (12-7, 4-3) will be looking for their 13th win of the season on Wednesday night at Gallagher Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla. A 13th victory will match both teams total number of wins from a year ago. Both the Tigers and Cowgirls finished with identical records last season, 13-15.
Missouri's trip to Stillwater is one of two straight road games. For the second time this season, the Tigers have dropped two consecutive games, coming off of losses to No. 24 Kansas and No. 23 Oklahoma. In all, MU has dropped four of its last six contests.
Oklahoma State got off to a 2-0 start in Big 12 Conference play, but has dropped three of its last five. The Cowgirls are coming off of a 75-72 win over Colorado on Saturday. Earlier in the week, OSU fell to Texas in Austin, 74-44.
Missouri owns a 21-16 advantage over Oklahoma State in the all-time series, but have not won in Stillwater in its last four trips.
Last year, the Tigers defeated the Cowgirls 73-62 at the Hearnes Center in Columbia. Led by Kesha Bonds (18 points, 14 rebounds). Missouri outrebounded the Cowgirls 37-20. The Tigers shot a sizzling 54 percent from the floor for the game and were led by Amy Monsees with 19 points and 7 rebounds. Julie Helm added 17 points for Mizzou.
OSU leading scorer Jennifer Crow did her part with 19 points (3-of-4 three-pointers). Megan Gregg added 15 points for the Cowgirls.
Scouting Oklahoma State
Veteran coach Dick Halterman has seen his club improve in 1999-00 much like Missouri. OSU got off to a 10-4 start, including a 2-0 start in conference, before dropping three of its last five.
The Cowgirls are led by 5-9 senior guard Jennifer Crow. Coming off of a career-high 34 points on Saturday against Colorado, Crow is among the league leaders averaging 20.3 ppg. She has led OSU in scoring 12 times this season and has tallied more than 25 points in a game on five different occassions.
Crow also averages 6.4 rebounds and leads the club with 87 assists.
Freshman point guard Chantoya Hawkins is averaging 10.5 ppg. and is second on the team in assists with 54. The 5-5 Hawkins averages 35.2 minutes a contest.
OSU is playing without junior Tari Cummings who has been sidelined with a knee injury since Jan. 1. Cummings was averaging 17.9 ppg. and 9.4 rebounds.
Missouri's Last Time Out
Missouri dropped its second straight game on Saturday night when the No. 23 Oklahoma Sooners got out of Columbia with a 76-71 win. In front of a record crowd of 6,227 at the Hearnes Center, Missouri got down early, but managed to tie the game up, 33-33 at halftime.
The game remained close throughout the second half, but Oklahoma capitalized from the free throw line late to hold off the game Tigers.
Phylesha Whaley paced the Sooners with 25 and 10 rebounds, including 4-of-5 from three-point territory. LaNeisha Caufield hurt Mizzou from the free throw line, connecting on 12-of-14 from the charity stripe.
Julie Helm came off the bench for the Tigers to score 15 points and a season-high 9 rebounds. Amy Monsees enjoyed her third straight big game with 16 points and 7 rebounds while Tracy Franklin added 11 points and 5 boards off of the bench.
Old Ghost Haunting Mizzou in Conference Play
That nasty eight-letter word, TURNOVER, has come back to haunt the Tigers in their last seven games. Missouri, who was priding itself on keeping its turnovers under 15 at the beginning of the year, is averaging 20 turnovers a game in its last 7 games.
Turnovers have not been the only problem the Tigers have been battling. Mizzou is shooting just 39.1 percent from the floor in conference play and just 27.4 percent from beyond the three-point line.
The Tigers, who still find themselves as one of the top free throw shooting clubs in the country, have struggled in conference play, shooting at a 69 percent clip.
One thing that has gone Mizzou's way in the Big 12 has been the battle of the boards. Missouri's pre-conference problem has become an MU strength, averaging close to four more rebounds a contest then its opponents.
Lassiter Does it all for Mizzou
Junior forward Amanda Lassiter has been everything the Tigers could have hoped for when she transfered to Mizzou from Central Arizona Junior College. She has been tabbed the Big 12 Rookie-of-the-Week twice this season.
Lassiter, who received very little notice when the pre-season votes were tallied for the Big 12 Newcomer-of-the-Year, has done it all for the Tigers in her first 18 games. She is Missouri's leader in scoring (13.3 ppg.), assists (64), blocks (49) and steals (54). She is also averaging 5.4 rebounds per contest.
She has already broken a Big 12 record for steals in a game (11) and has set a new Missouri record for blocks in a game (7).
Lassiter entered this week ranked fourth in the country in blocked shots with an average of 2.9 per game.
Lassiter's numbers have been even more impressive in Big 12 Conference play. She leads the club in scoring at 14.3 ppg. and is posting 6.4 rebounds per contest. Lassiter has also led Mizzou on the defensive end with 23 steals and 16 blocked shots.
Fans Are Taking Notice at MU
The University of Missouri began selling season tickets for women's basketball for the first time this season. Over 500 season tickets have been sold. But it has been more than the season ticket holders that are taking notice of the turnaround at the University of Missouri in women's basektball.
The Tigers drew over 1,000 fans seven times at the Hearnes Center last season. So far in 1999-00, the Tigers have played eight home games and have drawn an average of 1,636 fans.
Missouri used "Pokemon Night" on Dec. 30 to draw 2,242 fans against Wisconsin-Milwaukee. That was followed by an attendance of 2,463 for the conference opener against Iowa State.
This past Saturday against Oklahoma, Missouri broke the single-game attendance mark at the Hearnes Center when 6,227 fans braved four inches of snow to support the Tigers. Despite over 4,000 no-shows, Missouri officials will accomodate those fans who could not make it.
On Feb. 8 when Mizzou hosts Texas Tech, those fans that were not able to use their tickets will be able to use their ticket to the Oklahoma game for the Texas Tech game. And in appreciation for those who did fight the elements, those fans will be able to redeem their ticket stubs for a $1 ticket to the Texas Tech contest.
Tigers Turn the Tables in the Turnover Department
She calls it `Organized Chaos.' Cindy Stein's style of basketball is in full effect in 1999-00. Many basketball followers might compare it to the Arkansas men's "40 Minutes of Hell." In 18 games, Missouri has forced an average of 24.6 turnovers per game. The Tigers have 243 steals as a team so far, an average of 13.5 per game. Missouri averaged just over 8 steals per contest last year and totaled 243.
Yes, the Tigers have already eclipsed last year's total number of steals.
Dare We Say Spurtability?
So this SID is a Clark Kellogg fan.
Missouri has been a team that has been able to literally bury it's opponents with one big spurt.
Just ask the San Diego State Aztecs as to how devastating Mizzou's full court press can be. The Tigers took a 2-1 lead just 47 seconds into the game. In just five minutes, 11 seconds and 10 turnovers later, Missouri's lead was 25-1. The Aztecs were forced to call three of their five timeouts during that span.
Centenary also provides a sample of the Tigers disruptive press. The Ladies led Missouri 6-4. The next thing they knew, the Tigers had gone on a 34-0 run to take a 38-6 lead.
Illinois State also fell victim to the Tigers relentless press. Missouri jumped out to a 34-1 lead against the Redbirds and held ISU without a field goal for the first 13 minutes, 37 seconds of the contest. The Tigers led 3-1 and went on a 31-0 run forcing 13 turnovers in the process. At one point, ISU had 14 turnovers and had attempted just 12 shots.
And then there was Wisconsin-Milwaukee, who trailed the Tigers just 30-27 at halftime, and tied the game 34-34 before getting hit with a 37-5 run, and more impressive, a 30-0 run. Missouri found themselves up 71-39.
MISSOURI'S LONGEST SPURTS * 34-0 vs. Centenary * 31-0 vs. Illinois State * 30-0 vs. Wisconsin-Milwaukee * 23-1 at San Diego State