Missouri Hosts Kansas State Saturday
1/19/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 19, 2001
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The University of Missouri women's basketball team returns home to host Kansas State, Saturday in the Hearnes Center.
Following the MU-KSU game, the Tigers get a six-day reprieve before traveling to Lincoln, Nebraska to take on the Cornhuskers Sat., Jan. 27.
Tickets for Missouri women's basketball are available by calling 1-800-CAT-PAWS or at the Hearnes Center ticket office.
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.
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 match-up and player profiles. Thursday nights at 7:00 p.m., Head Coach Cindy Stein dishes Tiger women's basketball live from Johnny's Beanery in Columbia, Mo. Listen on KFRU radio 1400 AM.
Special Promotions
The Missouri-Kansas State game is MU Student and Boy Scout/Girl Scout Night. All Missouri students with a student body card get into the game for just $1. Likewise, all kids wearing their Boy or Girl Scout uniforms receive a $1 admission.
Tiger fans could win free tickets to see Destiny's Child on March 23. Spectators will be chosen randomly from the crowd to participate in the prize winning contest at half time.
Missouri vs. Kansas State
Missouri (11-5) returns to action after a 68-67 loss to No. 7 Iowa State. The Tigers almost slipped past the Cyclones in their third game against a ranked opponent this season. MU is 1-2 against Top 25 teams this year, taking its first conference loss to then No. 16 Texas Tech before coming back to triumph over No. 9 Texas. In Big 12 Conference play, Missouri is 2-3 owning two home victories and three road losses.
Kansas State is also 11-5 on the season, but totes a 1-4 conference record. The Wildcats had their only league victory Wednesday night against Texas (72-63). K-State suffered losses to Iowa State (84-58), Colorado (67-62), Nebraska (67-58) and Kansas (78-67).
Much of the Missouri-Kansas State game will depend upon rebounding. The Tigers average 42.9 boards, including 16 offensive rebounds per contest. The Wildcats only averaged 35.1 rebounds per game. Another factor playing heavily will be the 3-point shot. K-State has six players on its roster shooting 45 percent and above from 3-point range. The Wildcats shoot 41 percent as a team and rank third in the Big 12 in 3-point field goal percentage.
The turnover ratio will also play a large role in the contest. During conference play, Missouri has consistently reduced its turnover ratio every game. In their first Big 12 game, MU had 26 turnovers against Texas Tech. Last Wednesday vs. Iowa State, the Tigers posted their lowest number of turnovers this season with just 12. In comparison, Kansas State has averaged 20.8 turnovers per game during conference play.
Scouting the Wildcats
Kansas State has three athletes that average in double figures. Freshman Nicole Ohlde leads the Wildcats with 15.9 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. She is shooting 52 percent from the field and 67 percent from the free throw line. Ohlde is eighth in the Big 12 in overall scoring and fifth in rebounding. In conference games, Ohlde is averaging 13.2 points and 9.0 rebounds per contest.
Kristen Rethman is second on the K-State squad with 12.5 points. She averages 4.3 rebounds and leads the team shooting 87 percent from the foul line. Rethman is second on the team with 51 assists. Kim Woodlee helps the Wildcats with 12.4 points per game. She is shooting 46 percent from 3-point range sinking 50-of-103 attempts. She is second in the conference shooting 87 percent from the free throw line and leads the league with 3.2 3-point field goals per game. Guard Shalondra Booker is the Wildcat floor leader. She has 65 assists this season, 39 steals and five blocks. She averages 6.1 points and 2.7 rebound per game.
Last season, Kansas State finished 13-17 with a 6-10 record in the Big 12 Conference. The Wildcats were knocked out of the conference tournament in the first round by Oklahoma State (67-59). K-State finished eighth in league rankings. Deb Patterson is in her fifth season leading the Wildcats (70-65)
Series Shorts
Missouri leads the MU-KSU series 29-27. The rivalry began in 1976 in Big Eight Conference pairings. Over the last 25 years, the two teams have had a topsy-turvy history. Kansas State won four of the first five outingsa and later went on a six-game win streak to carry the series from 1980-87. The Tigers came back to even the score 14-14 in 1988. Since that time, the series has gone back and forth. Missouri took over the lead 29-27 last year with back-to-back wins, although the Wildcats won three of the last five meetings.
The Tigers do well against the Wildcats on the home court. MU has won 16 of 22 games played in the Hearnes Center.
Last Year Against Kansas State
Game #16
Missouri improved to 12-4 on the season and 2-3 in the Big 12 Conference with a 63-52 victory over Kansas State. The Tigers snapped a season-long two-game losing streak on a night that just happened to be Coach Cindy Stein's birthday.
Missouri's defensive pressure was the difference in the game. The Tigers came in forcing 24.9 turnovers a game, and ended up forcing 30 Kansas State turnovers. Despite forcing 17 turnovers in the first half, Missouri found itself deadlocked with K-State at halftime, 28-28.
The second half began close with Missouri leading 36-35 at the 14:49 mark before the roof caved in on the Wildcats. The Tigers went on a 7-0 run to take a 43-35 lead. Missouri forced five Kansas State turnovers in a period of two minutes, 41 seconds and took a 51-39 lead at the 10:01 mark. The Wildcats would never get closer than nine points of Mizzou.
Game #20
Natalie Bright scored a career-high 24 points and Missouri eclipsed their victory total from a year ago with a 72-68 win over Kansas State. The victory gave Mizzou its 14th win of the season and marked the Tigers second straight road win. The last time Missouri won two straight conference road games was in 1993.
Missouri got off to a very slow start, trailing 11-2 just five minutes into the game. The Tigers roared back and led by as many as six points in the first half and took a one-point lead into halftime, 35-34.
Missouri took charge for most of the second half, thanks to the hot hand of Bright. The sophomore scored 19 of her 24 points in the second half. Bright finished seven-of-eight from the floor, but did the remainder of the damage late in the game by netting 7-of-12 free throws.
Bright led five Missouri players in double-figures including senior Julie Helm, who tallied 10 points on the afternoon. Helm's fourth bucket of the day gave her 1,800 points for her career.
Missouri Falls to No. 7 Iowa State
Missouri continues to prove that it is a force to be reckoned with in the Big 12 Conference. Although No. 7 Iowa State slipped past the Tigers 68-67, Missouri played a solid game against one of the nations' best.
"Our team is growing every game," MU head coach Cindy Stein said. "The poise we demonstrated and our ability to come back, I think we are one of the finest teams in the conference. We can play with anyone in the country because of our effort."
The Tigers started the game with four points by senior Marlena Williams and kept the score within six points the entire half. With 6:16 left to go in the period, freshman Terianne Wolford and senior Amanda Lassiter drained 3-pointers to tie the score 28-28. MU continued to battle the Cylones to end the half with a 38-38 dead lock.
Missouri throttled the basket with 40 attempts in the first. Perseverance and offensive rebounds proved to be the key to the Tigers' game. Missouri pulled down 10 offensive boards in the first period and came up with six steals to curb the Cyclones. Both Lassiter and Williams reached double digits, scoring 16 and 12 points, respectively.
The battle continued in the second half. Mizzou kept pounding the basket with attempts and putting pressure on the Cyclone offense. MU took a 3-point lead in the game with 11:46, but were unable to hold on. ISU brought the score back their way on a jumper by center Angie Welle and went on a 12-point rally. The Tigers were unwilling to bow down however, as senior Tracy Franklin and junior Natalie Bright re-sparked MU's efforts with another pair of back-to-back 3s and a ten-point run with 3:35 to go. Missouri continued the drive taking Iowa State to a two-point game. A defensive rebound by freshman Evan Unrau gave Bright another 3-pointer to make bring the score within one with 41 seconds left on the clock. The ball went back for two points for ISU. With just seconds to go, the Tigers attempted a missed 3-pointer, giving Unrau an offensive rebound and 2-point bucket to end the game 68-67.
MU only shot 37 percent in the game, but also kept Iowa State to its lowest field goal percentage of the season with 41. The Cylones, who lead the Big 12 with a .433 3-point field goal percentage, shot just 28.6 percent from the 3-point arc. Iowa State has been averaging a 25-point scoring margin over its opponents in Hilton Coliseum, its one-point win over the Tigers is the closest game it has encountered at home this season.
All three of Missouri's seniors recorded double figures. Lassiter led the team with 21 points, Williams, who fouled out with seven minutes remaining, scored 12 points and Franklin came out of her four-game slump to post 11 points for the Tigers. Bright came off the bench to boost the Tigers with eight points and Unrau helped shooting 3-for-4 from the field to score six. Sophomore Kerensa Barr had a career-high nine assists.
"We take this loss as a momentum booster. We came in and played No. 7 in the country, in their house and lost by just one point. This shows you what kind of a team we are," Lassiter says.
Bringing Down the Boards
Freshman Evan Unrau recorded a career best 20 rebounds, including 11 offensive boards against Texas A&M. That marked the first time a Mizzou player has had 20 rebounds in a single game since the 1998 season when Kesha Bonds had 23 boards against Colorado. Unrau leads the Tigers with 50 offensive and 121 total rebounds on the season. She also tops the charts averaging 7.6 rebounds per game.
Seeing Double
Evan Unrau has posted four double-doubles in her inaugural year on the Mizzou squad. She scored a career-high 18 points and pulled down 13 rebounds against No. 12 Texas shooting 80 percent from the field (8-of-10) and 100 percent from the foul line.
The forward also recorded double-double games this year with 16 points and 20 rebounds against Texas A&M, 15 points and 10 rebounds against Southern Illinois and with 14 points and 13 rebounds against Illinois State.
Senior Amanda Lassiter has also posted four double-double games in 2000-2001. She led the day in MU's 68-52 victory over Texas with 22 points and 10 rebounds. She also recorded doubles against Arkansas (22-11), Kentucky (19-10) and San Diego State (31-11). *points-rebounds
Unrau Update
Evan Unrau has scored in double figures in six games, including her previous career high of 16 points against Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The forward was 6-for-7 from the field and 4-for-4 from the foul line against the Panthers. She pulled down a season high 11 defensive boards against Arkansas and had nine offensive boards against Illinois State.
Unrau leads the Tigers shooting 61 percent from the field netting 58-of-95 attempts. She also owns five perfect games from the free throw line.
Looking at Lassiter
Senior Amanda Lassiter leads the Tigers with 20.4 points and is second on the team with 7.2 rebounds per game. Lassiter has scored in double digits in all 16 games this season including setting a career high with 31 points against San Diego State. She also owns 10 games scoring 20 or more points including four of five conference games. She recorded 21 points against Texas Tech, 22 points against Texas, 28 points against Colorado and 21 points against No. 7 Iowa State.
The forward is second on the team with 115 rebounds, including a team high 92 defensive boards. She also tops the team with 52 steals and is second with 48 assists.
Blocking Report
Lassiter has 42 blocks this season to lead the team and top the Big 12.
Lassiter set the single season blocked shot record as a junior last year with 69. She is currently ranked sixth in all-time blocks (111).
Watching Williams
Center/forward Marlena Williams is taking the Big 12 Conference by storm. In three league games this year she has posted season highs in points and rebounds. She had a career-high 24 points against Colorado hitting 10-of-19 from the field and 1-for-1 from 3-point range. She also had five assists in the game. Against Texas A&M, Williams came just one point (17) and one rebound (7) shy of tying her previous season marks. Against Texas, she had season highs with eight rebounds and five steals. After a year plagued with foul trouble, she also posted a season best playing 34 minutes without a single foul.
Williams has averaged over 10 points in the last 6-of-7 games, including her first +20 point game against the Buffaloes. The center shot 75 percent against Wisconsin-Milwaukee hitting 6-for-8 shots from the field. She is also 3-5 on the season from 3-point range, hitting her first 3-pointer against Texas Tech.
Bright Spot
Natalie Bright is proving her versatility in her new role on the Tigers' squad this year. The junior started 28-of-30 games she played in last season to average 7.3 points and come in second on the team with 86 assists.
This year, Bright has come off the bench as one of the key contributors. Against Iowa State the junior rejuvenated the teams efforts hitting two key 3-pointers. She scored eight points in the game and had two steals. Against Texas, she once again revamped the Tigers with five points and three rebounds in 14 minutes of play.
Bright hit double figures against Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Texas Tech. She had a perfect game against the Panthers hitting 4-for-4 from the field, 1-for-1 from 3-point range and 4-for-4 from the free throw line. In the conference opener against the Lady Raiders, Bright downed 3-for-4 from the field, was 2-for-3 from 3-point range and 5-for-5 from the foul line.
She is shooting 46 percent from the field overall and hits 52 percent from 3-point range. Bright is also a contributor from the free throw line with shooting 72 percent (24-33).
Barr Brief
Starting point guard Kerensa Barr is making a name for herself on the Mizzou hardwood as the floor leader. The sophomore leads the Tigers with 83 assists on the season. She averages 5.2 assists per game and hit her season high with nine against No. 7 Iowa State.
Barr is fifth on the team averaging 6.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. She is second on the team with 35 offensive rebounds and 25 steals.
Franklin Forecast
Guard Tracy Franklin recorded a career high as a senior scoring 18 points against Eastern Illinois. She also hit season marks against Southern Illinois pulling down 11 rebounds and grabbing nine steals. In conference play, Franklin has slowly emerged from a four-game slump. She scored eight points against Colorado and hit her seventh double-digit game of the year against Iowa State with 11 points.
Franklin is third on the team averaging 9.9 points per game. She tops the charts with a .449 3-point field goal percentage. Franklin leads the Tigers with a .923 free throw percentage. She has hit 12-for-13 on the season. Her nine steals against SIU set a Big 12 season single-game record.
Tigers Got Game
Missouri (11-5) opened Big 12 Conference play with a 2-3 record. In league play, the Tigers are 2-0 on the home court defeating then No. 9 Texas (68-52) and Texas A&M (69-61). Missouri has suffered all three of its conference losses on the road, falling to Texas Tech (82-64) in Lubbock, Colorado (90-98) in Bolder and Iowa State (68-67) in Ames.
Mizzou averages 80.1 points per game with a +13.9 scoring margin.
Rebounding Report
Mizzou is averaging 42.9 rebounds per game, including a season high 59 boards against Texas A&M. Freshman Evan Unrau recorded 20 rebounds in the game, including 11 offensive boards.
The Tigers are keeping their opponents to just 38.1 rebounds per contest for a +4.9 rebounding margin. Missouri owns a season mark against the Longhorns with 33 defensive rebounds.
Assist Average
The Tigers have dished out 279 assists so far this season to average 17.4 assists per game to almost double their opponents who only average 11.9 assists per outing. In their first five games this season, the Tigers out assisted their opponents 94-42. Missouri recorded 26 assists against Eastern Illinois (11/17) and 24 against Wisconsin-Milwaukee (12/30).
Block Breakdown
Missouri is also topping the charts with 73 blocks on the year to average 4.6 blocks per game. MU's opponents have only knocked down 46 blocks this season. The Tigers have recorded 11 games in 2000-2001 with five or more blocks, including six against Pepperdine, Lipscomb, Illinois State, Colorado and Iowa State.
Although Texas A&M (76) and Colorado (70) lead the Big 12 in blocks this season, in their match-ups, the Tigers bested both the Aggies and Buffaloes. MU were 5-to-3 against TA&M and 6-to-4 against the Buffaloes.
Off the Bench
Missouri is relying heavily on the production of its bench this season. The MU bench corps has scored 343 of its 1,281 season points to average 21.4 points per game. In comparison, only 18.3 points per game were scored by the opponent's substitutions.
Conference Season Highs
Missouri is currently ranked seventh in the Big 12 Conference with a 2-3 league record. No. 7 Iowa State and No. 9 Texas Tech lead the pack with 5-0 conference marks. Mizzou ties Texas. In Big 12 statistics, Missouri ranks in the Top 40 percent in nine categories.
? The Tigers set a 2000-2001 season high hitting 42 field goals against Eastern Illinois. That mark ranks second in conference season records.
? Missouri went 14-for-14 from the free throw line against Kentucky to lead the Big 12 in single-game free throw percentage.
Tigers in the NCAA
Missouri is among the nation's leaders in several categories. In the most recent NCAA statistics released Jan. 16, Mizzou was ranked 12th in the nation with an 80.9 scoring average. Senior Amanda Lassiter is ranked eighth in the country averaging 2.6 blocked shots per game. She is 18th in overall scoring.
Victory Margin
The Tigers 96-43 win over Lipscomb tops the season as MU's largest margin of victory. Mizzou has topped seven teams by more than 20 points, including a 47-point triumph over Eastern Illinois and a 35-point win over Kentucky.
Missouri is repeating history opening the 2000-2001 season with seven 20+ wins. In 1999-2000, the Tigers also recorded seven victories scoring 20 or more points over their opponents.
Tigers vs. Ranked Opponents
Missouri's 13-point triumph over then No. 12 Texas was the largest winning margin over a ranked team since the 1995-96 season when the Tigers defeated No. 20 Kansas 86-66. In the last six seasons, Missouri has claimed seven victories over ranked opponents, all in the Hearnes Center.
Mizzou in the Rankings
For the second week this season, the Tigers have received votes in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll. After defeating No. 12 Texas, Missouri received 18 votes from AP writers. After the Tiger's 90-98 loss to Colorado, MU recorded four votes from AP writes.
The Tigers also climbed 9 more spots in the NCAA Ratings Percentage Index, which ranks teams according to strength of schedule versus that of their opponents. Missouri was 63rd two weeks ago, but came in 44th last week after their win over Texas. Despite losing to Colorado, Missouri came in 35th in this week's RPI rating.
Hitting the Three
The Tigers have shot 40 percent or above from 3-point range in 12 of their 16 games. Missouri hit a season high 57 percent from the 3-point arc against San Diego State when the Tigers downed 8-of-14 attempts. Natalie Bright leads the Tigers from the 3-point arc shooting 52 percent (14-of-27). Tracy Franklin also posts an impressive 41 percent hitting 24-of-59 attempts. Center Marlena Williams broke out of her inside game to sink three 3s against conference opponents. She is shooting 60 percent from the 3-point arc with 3-for-5.
Topping Ten
Four Tiger athletes routinely hit double-figures, including Amanda Lassiter who is 16-for-16 and has yet to hit below 13-points in a game. Marlena Williams owns 13 double-digit games, including her career high of 24 points. Tracy Franklin has seven double figure games and freshman Evan Unrau posts six. Franklin and Unrau hit career-highs with 18 points against Eastern Illinois and No. 12 Texas, respectively.
Making the Grade
The Tiger women's basketball team is proving they can get it done on and off the court. Junior Christa Millham, an elementary education major, was one of 25 Missouri athletes to post a perfect 4.0 grade point average for the 2000 fall semester. Joining Millham in the spotlight, seven other athletes were named to the Student-Athlete Dean's List: Kerensa Barr, Tracy Franklin, Amy Loftus, Tracy Lozier, Wendy Okeson, Evan Unrau and Terianne Wolford.
Tiger Cheering Section
The Missouri women's basketball program is on the rise and fans are taking notice. The Tigers began selling season tickets for the first time last year and recorded over 500 season purchases in 1999-2000. Midway through this season, Missouri has upped its season ticket numbers to over 800 holders. The Tigers averaged 1,417 fans during the non-conference schedule to rank 49th in the nation in women's basketball attendance. Missouri hit its season high in its Big 12 home opener against Texas when 2,422 fans populated the Hearnes Center for Toy Day. Missouri had its second largest crowd of the year when 1,503 fans cheered on the Tigers in their win over Texas A&M.
Head to the Hearnes
The Tigers are looking to break new ground this season by packing the Hearnes Center during the MU-Kansas game on Sat., Feb. 10 at 3:00 p.m. Tickets for the game are just $1 and can be purchased from the Mizzou Ticket Office. Three thousand tickets for the event have already been sold. Come out and help the Tigers pack the house.
Strength of Schedule
The 2000-2001 Missouri schedule is ranked in the top third of NCAA Division I schools by the WBCA/Summerville Women's Basketball pre-season poll.
Overall, the Tigers will take on four teams ranked in the Top 25 and three schools currently receiving votes in the USA Today/ESPN Polls. The Tigers face No. 7 Iowa State, No. 9 Texas Tech, No. 15 Oklahoma and No. 17 Texas in Big 12 Conference action. MU also plays Baylor (17), Kansas (11) and Colorado (3).
In the Associated Press poll, Iowa State (7th), Texas Tech (9th), Oklahoma (13), Texas (17th) and Baylor (25th) represent the Big 12 Conference.
Also adding to Mizzou's schedule, the Tigers face nine teams that made post-season play in 1999-2000. Arkansas who advanced to the semifinals of the WNIT, Texas, Pepperdine, Nebraska and Kansas each traveled to the NCAA first round and Illinois was an NCAA second round participant. Iowa State and Oklahoma highlighted in the Sweet Sixteen and Texas Tech advanced to the Elite Eight.
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.
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, Saturday against Kansas State 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.
Mizzou Sports Properties offers a similar package televising two home games and one from the road. MSP shot the Eastern Illinois game Nov. 17 and the Saint Louis game Dec. 7 in the Hearnes Center and Wednesday's Iowa State game in Ames, Iowa.
Missouri on the Tube
The Tigers have had three games televised this season to post a 2-1 television record. Missouri defeated Eastern Illinois (106-59) and Saint Louis (73-63) and fell to Iowa State (68-67).
