Nov. 15, 2000
Regular Season Starter
The University of Missouri women's basketball team opens the regular season against Eastern Illinois Fri., Nov. 17. The game is part of a special double-header with the Missouri men's team. The Tiger women take the court at 5:30 p.m., and the men follow up with a game against Savannah State at 8:00 p.m.
Tickets for the double-header are $10 and are good for both the women and men's game. Women's basketball season ticket holders are invited to stay for the men's game, but need to relocate to the upper deck seating area during the between game intermission. Parking passes for the women's basketball game will be ineffective and women's basketball season ticket holders are advised to park in the lots to the South of the Hearnes Center.
Up Next
The Tigers resume a heated rivalry from last season as they host the Arkansas Lady Razorbacks on Mon., Nov. 20 at 7:00 p.m.
In 1999-2000 MU fell to Arkansas during the regular season 83-76 and in post-season play when they played to an 89-88 overtime loss in the second round of the Women's National Invitational Tournament.
The Tigers-Lady Backs resume the contest in the Hearnes Center. Tickets are still available by calling 1-800-CAT-PAWS.
Recent Results
Missouri claimed its second pre-season win of the season against the St. Petersburg, Russia, Sports Tours team Nov. 13. The Tigers downed Club Volna 93-71 in an easily won victory.
Shooting 43 percent from the field, Missouri capitalized on a progressing defense to force 25 Club Volna turnovers. The Tigers also captured 13 steals.
MU's Tracy Franklin turned out a dynamic display, scoring a team high 18 points. She shot seven of 15 from the field and netted four of seven from the 3-point arc. Franklin also came up with a pair of defensive and offensive boards.
"Tracy is very capable," MU Head Coach Cindy Stein says. "She is so confident in practice, but she never really comes across as confident in games. But, she continually gets better and I see her emerging."
Freshman Evan Unrau stepped up as the Tiger's second leading scorer with 12 points. The forward was five for seven from the field and led the Tigers with 11 rebounds.
"Unrau came out with some quiet stats," Stein says. "She is already coming out and proving herself, which is great for a freshman. I see us really relying on her as the season develops."
Sophomore Kerensa Barr scored 11 points in her second game of the year. She shot 50 percent from the field (4-for-8) and was second on the team with nine rebounds, including seven offensive boards.
"Overall I think I saw some good things," Stein reflects. "I saw a lot of hustling and hard work. We still need to work on playing a better post defense and taking better care of the ball. We only gave up 15 turnovers, but our goal is to get that number below 10. I am very proud of our freshmen. I think they demonstrated the kind of potential we need to be consistent. We still have a ways to go, but we continue to grow each practice and each game and I think we've made a lot of progress."
An Experiment in Youth
This season the Tigers take the floor bolstered by a unique corps of youthful athletes. Missouri has eight "rookies" on the roster looking to help build Coach Stein's program. MU has four true freshmen in Amy Loftus, Tracy Lozier, Evan Unrau and Terianne Wolford. Aimee Michelson and Wendy Okeson serve as two junior college transfers fresh to the Tiger program and Jennifer Simpson and Christa Millham enter the 2000-2001 season after taking a year off.
In exhibition play, these athletes have proven themselves capable of propelling the team toward their future goals. Wolford is third on the team with 21 points. She averages 10.5 points per game and has nine rebounds. Unrau leads the team with a .667 field goal percentage and is fourth on the team with 9.5 points per game. The forward also leads Missouri with 9.5 rebounds per game, including 10 defensive boards.
Looking at Lassiter
Despite playing only 16 minutes in MU's 82-72 victory over the Australia Basketball Travelers, Amanda Lassiter led the Tigers with 14 points. Against Sports Tours, the senior played 21 minutes and netted nine points.
The two-game series positions the forward in second-place for the Tigers averaging 11.5 points per game with a .435 field goal percentage. She also averages 3.5 rebounds.
Tiger Tidbits
? Senior Tracy Franklin leads the Tigers with 12.5 points per game. The forward played 23 minutes during exhibition play and posted a .556 three-point field goal percentage netting five of nine 3-pointers.
? Sophomore Kerensa Barr is second on the team with 18 total rebounds. In pre-season play she posts nine offensive and defensive boards. She also owns six assists and five steals.
? Senior Marlena Williams netted 12 in the first exhibition game of the season, despite playing only 16 minutes. She was sidelined early on in against Club Volna with an ankle injury.
Scouting Eastern Illinois
Eastern Illinois jumps into the regular season backed by two exhibition wins against Club Volna and the Ohio Premier All-Stars. The Panthers defeated Club Volna 90-82 on Nov. 4 and downed the Ohio All-Stars 75-67 Nov. 12.
The Panthers rounded out the 1999-2000 season with an 8-19 record under first-year Head Coach Linda Wunder. Eastern Illinois was 6-12 and tied for eighth-place in the Ohio Valley Conference.
EIU returns senior guard Renee Schaul who averaged 9.7 points and 4.5 rebounds per game for the Panthers last year.
Scouting Arkansas
Arkansas is scheduled to play the Ohio Athletes in Action team Nov. 14 before the team heads into regular season play against Memphis on Nov. 18.
In exhibition play, the Lady Backs defeated the Australian Institute of Sports 94-76. Senior Celia Anderson came off the bench to score 22 points in 15 minutes for the Backs.
Last season, Arkansas finished with a 17-15 overall record with a 4-10 Southeastern Conference finish. The Lady Backs advanced to the semifinals in the WNIT Wichita State, Missouri and Georgia Tech before falling to Florida 83-62.