Dec. 29, 2000

Up this week
The University of Missouri women's basketball team plays the third of a four-game road stint when it travels to Wisconsin to play their final non-conference game of the season against Wisconsin-Milwaukee Sat., Dec. 30 at 3:00 p.m.

The Tigers jump into Big 12 Conference play Wed., Jan. 3 when they play Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas. The team then returns home to host Texas Sat., Jan. 6 and Texas A&M Wed., Jan. 10 in the Hearnes Center.

Tickets for Tiger women's basketball are still available by calling 1-800-CAT-PAWS or at the Hearnes Center ticket office.

While in Wisconsin
The Tigers depart for Milwaukee, Wis., Fri. Dec. 29 at 7:30 p.m., on a charter flight on Ozark Airlines. They return home on Sat., Dec. 30 following the game.

While in Wisconsin hotel accomodations will be provided by the Holiday Inn City Centre at 611 West Wisconsin Ave., in Milwaukee. (414) 273-2960.

Missouri Coverage
Missouri women's basketball is covered live on KFRU radio. David Lile, Gary Link and Jessica Jenkins offer all the action of Tiger women's hoops on 1400 AM. Because of conflicts with the Missouri men's game, the MU-Wisconsin-Milwaukee game will be aired on KWWC.

Mizzou fans can also log onto the Missouri Tigers' Web site at www.MUTigers.com to get live coverage. Scroll down the left side of the MU Tigers main page and select Audio/Video. On the following page, scroll down and select the women's basketball Internet broadcast option. When the schedule of Mizzou women's basketball games is displayed, just choose the appropriate date and hit Go! (www.broadcast.com/sports/ncaa/Missouri/WomensBasketball/).

Turn on the Radio
The Cindy Stein Show features highlights of recent games, upcoming matches and player profiles. Thursday nights at 7:00 p.m., live from Johnny's Beanery in Columbia, Mo., Head Coach Cindy Stein dishes Tiger women's basketball. Listen on KFRU radio 1400 AM.

Tigers Got Game
Missouri is half-way through a four-game road trip with an 83-63 victory over Illinois State and a 92-74 loss to Illinois to bring the Tigers to 8-2 on the season.

Overall, the Tigers are outscoring their opponents by an average of 20.2 points. MU boasts 835 points on the season with an 83.5 point per game average. Mizzou is shooting 47 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range and 63 percent from the free-throw line.

Rebounding Report
Mizzou is averaging 42.9 rebounds per game while keeping its opponents to just 37.7 boards per contest for a +5.2 rebounding margin.

The Tigers own 157 offensive and 272 defensive rebounds to date. Missouri has yet to have a game with fewer than 10 offensive and 20 defensive boards.

Tiger Talk
The Tigers have dished out 174 assists so far this season to average 17.4 assists per game to almost double their opponents who only average 10 dishes per match. Missouri is also above the competition in assist/turnover ratio. The Tigers are averaging 19.9 turnovers per game, while forcing their opponents to 24.5 for a +4.6 turnover margin and an 0.9 assist/turnover ratio.

Conference Season Highs
Missouri ranks in the top 40 percent in the Big 12 Conferene in seven categories. MU is third in the league averaging 7.1 3-point field goals and 4.5 blocked shots per game. The Tigers are fifth in the conference with a 42.9 rebounding offense, 17.4 assists per game and a +4.6 turnover margin. Missouri also comes in sixth with a +5.2 rebounding margin and 11.8 steals per game. Statistically speaking, the Tigers rank sixth in the Big 12, and come in seventh in team standings.

? The Tigers set a 2000-2001 season high hitting 42 field goals against Eastern Illinois.

? Missouri owns the Big 12 season mark hitting a perfect 14-for-14 from the free throw line against Kentucky.

NCAA Division I
Missouri is popping up all over in NCAA Division I statistics. As of Dec. 19, the Tigers are eighth in the in the nation in scoring offense, are ninth in scoring margin and 11th in field goal percentage and blocked shots with 21. Missouri rankes 22nd in 3-point field goal percentage and 18th in 3-point field goals made with 6.9 per game.

? Senior Amanda Lassiter comes in 12th in the NCAA Division I in blocked shots averaging 2.3 blocks per game. She is also 30th in scoring with 20.0 points per game.

? Senior Tracy Franklin ranks fourth in the division shooting 54.3 percent from 3-point range. She ties for third with an NCAA Division I single-game high with nine steals against Southern Illinois.

Missouri Falls to Illinois
The Tiger women's basketball team falls to 8-2 after a devastating 92-74 loss to Illinois. The Illini defeated the Tigers in the first-ever Busch Braggin' Rights series and edged the IU-MU series record to 4-3.

The game was anything but tame, going back-and-forth through out the first half. Illinois tried to keep Missouri from penetrating the inside, but the Tigers managed to break through the Illini defense. Senior Marlena Williams scored 15 points in the first half, falling just one point below her season high in just 12 minutes of play. Forward Amanda Lassiter also hit double digits in the first period with 10 points. The Tigers also forced 13 Illini turnovers in the first to enter intermission with a five-point lead.

Returning in the second, a game that had been heated quickly began to lose steam as Missouri wound down and Illinois took the reigns. A Tiger turnover allowed Illinois to take a one-point lead in the 13th minute. The break gave Illinois the boost it needed to spice up their offense and go on a five-point streak to take a lead that the Tigers would not recover from.

Despite shooting just 37 percent from the field and 45 percent from 3-point range three Tigers hit double digits in the match. Lassiter rounded out the game with 23 points, Williams put in 19 points and pulled down six rebounds and senior Tracy Franklin came up with 10 points.

Scouting Wisconsin-Milwaukee
The Panthers are 4-4 in 2000-2001 with four home wins and four road losses. The Panthers downed Bowling Green on Dec. 28, 68-48 to extend their home winning streak.

Wisconsin-Milwaukee was defeated by MU opponent Illinois State 67-64. The Tigers downed the Redbirds 83-63 earlier in the season.

Wisconsin-Milwaukee is led by sophomore guard Jessica Wilhite who averages 14.4 points per contest. She also pulls down five rebounds per game and is second on the team with 20 assists. Freshman Maria Viall is second on the team with 11.4 points and leads the Panthers with 6.6 rebounds per game.

Last season, Wisconsin-Milwaukee finished 16-12 with a 10-4 record and a second-place finish in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference.

Series Shorts
The Tigers faced the Panthers for the first time last season taking a 90-47 victory over UWM.

MU vs. MWC
Missouri owns an 8-1 series lead over Midwest Collegiate Conference schools. The Tigers own four wins over Evansville, three over Loyola-Chicago, one over Wisconsin-Milwaukee and record a single loss to Butler.

Last Time Against Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Missouri ran their winning streak to nine straight games with a 90-47 win over Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The Tigers led 30-27 at halftime before going on a 30-0 run in the second half.

Missouri got out to a 34-27 lead with 19:02 remaining in the game before Wisconsin-Milwaukee tied the game 34-34 at the 17:49 mark. That is when the Tigers took over. Amanda Lassiter (15 points) scored nine of Missouri's next 11 points as MIzzou went up 45-39. Wisconsin-Milwaukee went scoreless for seven minutes, 23 seconds as Missouri upped its lead to 71-39. The Tigers forced 28 turnovers and recorded 16 steals on the evening.

Five players scored in double figures for Mizzou. Julie Helm led with 19 points, scoring 15 in the first half. Amy Monsees netted 11 points while Kernesa Barr (15 points) and Ekpe Akpaffiong (10 points) had big nights off the bench. Barr added seven assists, four rebounds and three steals on the night.

Strength of Schedule
The 2000-2001 Missouri schedule is ranked in the top third of NCAA Division I schools. Overall, the Tigers will take on four teams ranked in the top 25 and two schools currently receiving votes in the USA Today/ESPN Poll. The Tigers face No. 6 Iowa State, No. 11 Texas Tech, No. 17 Oklahoma and No. 22 Texas in Big 12 Conference action. MU also plays Illinois (14) and Kansas (13).

Million Fan March
The Big 12 Conference and its member institutions will jointly embark on a fun and unique women's basketball promotional program for the 2000-01 season--The Million Fan March...to Madness.

The goal is for the Big 12 Conference to become the first to reach 1,000,000 in women's basketball attendance.

Last year the Big 12 led the nation in women's basketball attendance while setting all-time national highs in women's basketball total attendance and average attendance. The turnstiles clicked 802,419 times for an average of 4,720 fans per Big 12 contest, including the Big 12 Tournament.

In order to reach one million fans in 2000-01, the 12 schools and the conference tournament would have to increase their home attendance from last year roughly by 25 percent. Each institution would need to average about 1,500 fans per game or 16,000 over the course of the season.

2000-01 Big 12 Cumulative Attendance
Team Attendance (Games) Baylor 11,437 (5) Colorado 17,782 (7) Iowa State 66,117 (6) Kansas 8,942 (6 Kansas State 4,946 (5) Missouri 5,872 (5) Nebraska 17,298 (5) Oklahoma 6,367 (3) Oklahoma State 865 (3) Texas 43,145 (8) Texas A&M 7,051 (4) Texas Tech 71,694 (6)

Tiger Television
Catching all the action of Tiger women's basketball is now easier than ever, along with live radio coverage of every game on KFRU radio 1400 AM, six Mizzou games will be televised. Fox Sports Net and the Mizzou Sports Properties have each picked up three matches. This six game package offers the program the highest single season coverage to date.

Fox Sports Net will televise two Tiger home games, the Missouri-Kansas State game Sat., Jan. 20 and the Missouri-Kansas game Sat., Feb. 10. The network will also feature the Missouri-Baylor game in Waco, Texas, Sat., Feb. 17. All three games are scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m.

Along with the networks 23 regular-season Big 12 game package, Fox Sports Net will also broadcast the Big 12 Tournament semifinals and championship games March 8-10.

Mizzou Sports Properties offers a similar package televising two home games and one from the road. MSP will shoot the Eastern Illinois game Fri., Nov. 17 at 5:30 p.m., the Saint Louis game Thurs., Dec. 7 at 7:00 p.m. in the Hearnes Center. It will also cover the Iowa State game Wed., Jan. 17 at 7:00 p.m. from Ames, Iowa.

The Stein Scoop
MU Head Coach Cindy Stein recorded her 100th career victory this season against Lipscomb Dec. 1, 2000. Stein entered 2000-2001 with a 96-52 record as a sixth-year head coach. The Tigers 8-2 record boosts her to 104-54.

Mizzou's success this season is due to a continually evolving program under Stein. The breakneck momentum characterizing the Missouri program for the past two seasons has proven to be effective as well as exciting. Under the tutelage of Stein and her exhilarating court style, the Tigers continue to break new ground on the Missouri hardwood. Last season, the Tigers re-wrote the record books finishing the year with an 18-12 record--Mizzou's winningest season since 1992-93. The Tigers also climbed two spots up the Big 12 championship ladder to finish seventh with a 7-9 conference record despite being predicted to finish ninth by Big 12 coaches in the preseason polls during the 1999-2000 campaign.

The Tigers up-tempo offense and full court defense also guided the team to its first-ever Women's National Invitational Tournament. Mizzou hadn't seen non-conference postseason play since 1994. The Tigers won their first game defeating Evansville 84-81 but dropped out of the tournament after falling to Arkansas in a grueling 89-88 overtime loss in Fayetteville, Ark.

Stein also led Missouri to two in-season tournament titles sweeping the Pacific Bell/San Diego State Classic and the Unilever Missouri Lady Tiger Classic.

In her first season at Mizzou, Stein guided the team to a 13-15 record. Although she was not able to incorporate her trademark style of play, she set a new standard of what was to be expected of the Missouri women's basketball program.

Riley Review
Missouri Associate Head Coach Lee Ann Riley was named the 2000 National Junior College Coach of the Year. Her appointment at Missouri ended a six-year stint with Tyler Junior College (Texas) where she led the team to the NJCAA national title last year and rounded out her coaching record with a 131-58 career mark.

Riley led the Apaches to a combined 60-7 record during the 1998-2000 season. Under Riley's tutelage Tyler was ranked in the top 25 during the past three seasons--stepping in as the No. 7 spot in 1998-99 and No. 21 in 1997-98.

Tyler was a Region XIV finalist in four of Riley's six years and won the regional title as well as the national championship last season. Riley's 1999-2000 Apaches won the Region XIV championship tournament and suffered only one conference loss on the way to the college's first national appearance since 1992. In addition to her NJCAA title, she was also named the National Coach of the Year by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association and the Region XIV Coach of the Year in 2000.

Overall, Riley coached four All-Americans, 12 all-region and 19 all-conference athletes. She also supported three Region XIV Freshman of the Year recipients, 22 academic all-conference picks and three academic All-Americans while at Tyler.

2000-2001 Experiment
This season the Tigers take the floor bolsted by a unique corp of youthful athletes. Missouri has seven "rookies" on the roster looking to help build Coach Stein's program. MU has four true freshmen in starter Evan Unrau, Tracy Lozier and Terianne Wolford, who have seen minutes in all MU games so far this season and 6-foot-4 center Amy Loftus. Starter Aimee Michelson and guard Wendy Okeson serve as two junior college transfers fresh to the Tiger program and junior Christa Millham helps the squad from the bench after last year off as an NCAA Divison I transfer.

Big 12 Teleconferences
Big 12 women's basketball teleconferences are right around the corner. The briefings will feature seven minutes with each head coach. The first teleconference is scheduled for Jan. 9 at 10:00 a.m. Coach Stein is scheduled to begin at 10:21 a.m.

Big 12 Preseason Polls
Coaches 1. Iowa State 2. Oklahoma 3. Texas Tech 4. Texas 5. Kansas 6. Colorado 7. Nebraska 8. Missouri 9. Kansas State 10. Baylor 11. Oklahoma State 12. Texas A&M

Media 1. Iowa State 2. Texas Tech 3. Oklahoma 4. Texas 5. Kansas 6. Nebraska 7. Colorado 8. Missouri 9. Kansas State 10. Baylor 11. Oklahoma State 12. Texas A&M

#3 Aimee Michelson
Toppling two firsts in her NCAA Division I career, junior college transfer Aimee Michelson started her first game against Pepperdine Nov. 26, and quickly proved why she deserved the right to highlight on the Tigers' starting line-up. Michelson led the team with 14 points in the game and set a Mizzou record for highest three-point field goal percentage. Michelson hit three-for-three to post a perfect 100 percent game. The previous record was set in 1988 by Lisa Ellis who shot 100 percent when she netted two-for-two against Iowa.

Michelson has played in all ten games this season and averages 7.7 points and 2.2 rebounds per match. She is shooting 40 percent from three-point range overall and 71 percent from the free throw line.

#5 Tracy Lozier
Freshman Tracy Lozier opened the 2000-2001 season in double digits, scoring 11 points against Eastern Illinois. The guard has made nine appearances, coming in as Mizzou's first substitution in five games. She averages 3.2 points per game. She also tops the charts with a .467 three-point field goal percentage, including a perfect game against Kentucky when she shot two-for-two from three-point range. Lozier averages nine minutes per game and has six assists and seven steals on the season. The freshman is tied for third in the Big 12 Conference in three-point field goal percentage.

#13 Evan Unrau
MU's only starting freshman on the squad, Evan Unrau hit the first double-double of her collegiate career scoring 15 points and pulling down 10 rebounds against Saint Louis. The forward has been hitting the boards hard averaging 7.0 rebounds per game. Unrau led the Tiger defensive effort against Arkansas pulling down 11 defensive and one offensive rebound. In her first NCAA Division I game, she posted a perfect game netting four-of-four from the field and three-of-three from the free throw line.

Unrau averages 8.6 points per game--fourth on the team. She leads the team with shooting 64 percent from the field. She also owns three perfect games from the free throw line against Eastern Illinois, Kentucky and San Diego State. She has hit 22-of-42 attempts for a .524 average from the charity stripe.

In the Big 12 Conference, Unrau comes in second in field goal percentage and is 11th with 45 defensive rebounds. She is also 14th in the conference in overall rebounding with 70.

#14 Christa Millham
After taking the 1999-2000 season off as a transfer, Christa Millham has played in five games as a junior. The guard opened the year against Eastern Illinois and has appeared in four other games since then. Against Lipscomb, Millham scored a career high seven points hitting perfect numbers from the floor going 2-2 from the field and 1-1 from three-point range. She also pulled down a career high four rebounds.

#15 Kerensa Barr
Starting point guard Kerensa Barr opened the season with back-to-back double digit games scoring 10 points against Eastern Illinois and 11 points against Arkansas. The sophomore leads the team with 50 assists and averages 5.0 dishes per game. She is also third for the Tigers with 18 steals. Barr is also a contributor to Mizzou's impressive 3-point percentage, she recorded a perfect 3-point game against Arkansas downing two-for-two. Barr averages 7.3 points per game.

In the Unilever Lady Tiger Classic she shot 55 percent from the field, including a perfect game against Lipscomb. She also pulled down eight rebounds and dished out six assists to help the Tigers to the championship podium. She was honored as an all-tournament team selection.

In Big 12 competition, Barr ranks fifth in assists per game and with a 1.85 assist to turnover ratio 1.85.

#22 Tracy Franklin
Senior Tracy Franklin jumped into the season ready to smash the record books, in her first game against Eastern Illinois she scored a career-high 18 points shooting 64 percent from the field, 60 percent from 3-point range and 100 percent from the foul line. Against Saint Louis, the forward set another career best pulling down 11 rebounds and against Saint Louis, the senior topped the charts with nine steals.

Franklin continues to be a major contributor for the Tigers as a starting guard. She has posted six double digit games this season, against Eastern Illinois, scoring 16 points against Arkansas and San Diego State, 15 points against Southern Illinois, 13 points against Kentucky and 10 points against Illinois to average 11.7 points per game--second highest on the team. Franklin leads Missouri with a perfect free throw percentage netting nine-for-nine this season. She also boasts 51 percent from the field (44-87) and a team-high 53 percent from 3-point range (20-38).

In the Unilever Lady Tiger Classic, Franklin scored a combined 24 points in two games, including a perfect record from 3-point range hitting 2-2 against Lipscomb and San Diego State. She was also honored as an all-tournament team selection.

Franklin ranks second in the Big 12 in 3-point percentage and fifth averaging 2.00 3-pointers per game. She also comes in 13th with 2.3 steals per game and 22nd in overall scoring. Franklin set the conference season single-game record in steals.

#23 Wendy Okeson
Junior college transfer Wendy Okeson has appeared in eight games this season as a Tiger. In MU's 86-51 victory over Kentucky, the guard posted a season high seven points shooting two-for-four from the field and hitting three from the penalty line. Against Lipscomb, Okeson repeated her career scoring record posting seven points and pulled down a career-high three rebounds. The guard shot a perfect game against Saint Louis netting three-for-three from the floor.

#24 Amanda Lassiter
Senior Amanda Lassiter was named Big 12 Conference Player of the Week for the week of Dec. 4-10. The forward was also named Most Valuable Player of the 23rd annual Unilever Lady Tiger Classic after she scored a career-high 31 points against San Diego State in the championship game. A native of San Francisco, Calif., Lassiter also posted a career-high five 3-point field goals and logged her third double-double of the season with 11 rebounds. Lassiter also recorded five assists, two blocks and four steals in the game. Against Lipscomb, Lassiter contributed 13 points, three assists, three blocks and four steals to help the Tigers topple the Bisons 96-43.

The forward continues to make waves for Missouri in other areas as well, she leads the team with 24 blocks this season to climb another space up the Tiger record books as the sixth leading blocker in school history (93). Lassiter also leads Mizzou in the scoring column with 20.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. The forward also leads the team with 35 steals.

She has three double-doubles this season when she scored 22 points and 11 rebounds in MU's 79-67 win over Arkansas, when she scored 19 points and 10 rebounds to down Kentucky 86-51 and when she posted a career-high 31 points and 11 rebounds against San Diego State to win the Unilever Lady Tiger Classic. Lassiter was also selected to the Pepperdine Classic all-tournament team.

Lassiter was sidelined with a knee injury against Southern Illinois. Despite playing only 19 minutes, she tied Evan Unrau and Tracy Franklin to lead the team with 15 points. She also pulled down seven rebounds, had three blocks and four steals.

Lassiter leads the Big 12 Conference in blocks with 2.4 per game. She is third in the league in overall scoring and fifth in steals with 3.5 per game. She ranks fourth in defensive rebounds with 5.9 per contest, is eighth in overall rebounding and ninth averaging 1.8 3-pointers per game.

#31 Wannette Smith
Sophomore Wannette Smith is another example of the continued improvement on the growing Tiger squad. In her first game back this season, Smith toppled her career record grabbing eight rebounds and scoring nine points against Eastern Illinois. She hit four-of-six from the field and recorded one steal. The forward scored her second highest career mark with seven points against Lipscomb this season. Smith has plays a key role off the bench, she averages 11 minutes, 3.3 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. She is also third on the team with five blocked shots.

#32 Natalie Bright
Looking at the numbers, Natalie Bright is shooting for an above average season. The junior has shot 100 percent from three-point range in three games. She is hitting 44 percent from the field, 50 percent from the three-point arc and 71 percent from the free throw line. Overall, Bright averages 4.4 points and 2.5 rebounds per game off the bench. She also owns 27 assists, three blocks and three steals this season.

#44 Terianne Wolford
Freshman Terianne Wolford opened her collegiate career shooting 67 percent from the field and penalty line against Eastern Illinois. The forward scored seven points in her first game out, also downing a 3-pointer.

Wolford led the Tigers against Lipscomb scoring the first double-digit of her collegiate career netting 14 points. She hit 6-for-10 shots from the field and was one-for-two from 3-point range. The freshman also pulled down a career-high six boards against the Bisons.

Wolford has played minutes in all ten Missouri games averaging 3.7 points and 1.8 rebounds per game. She also owns six assists and three steals. Overall, the freshman is hitting 48 percent from the field, 33 percent from 3-point range and 56 percent from the free throw line.

#51 Amy Loftus
Six-foot-four center Amy Loftus is working her way into the Tiger line-up. She has played in four games so far as a freshman scoring a career-high five points and seven rebounds against Lipscomb. She is shooting 75 percent from the foul line downing six-of-eight shots. Loftus averages 3.0 points and 2.3 rebounds per game.

#55 Marlena Williams
Center/forward Marlena Williams hit three season highs against Illinois with 19 points, four assists and six rebounds, including five defensive boards.

The senior also owns seven double-figure games this season, she scored 12 points against Eastern Illinois and Kentucky, put in 11 points against Arkansas and Southern Illinois, hit 13 points against Saint Louis and netted a season-high 16 points against San Diego State. Overall she ranks third on the team with 11.4 points per game. She is shooting 46 percent from the field and 67 percent from the foul line. She averages 3.0 rebounds per game also pulling down four boards against Eastern Illinois. Williams has 10 assists, six blocks and seven steals on the season. She ranks 24th in the Big 12 in overall scoring.