Tigers Open Season At UMKC
11/14/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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Nov. 14, 2001
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri women's basketball team opens the 2001-2002 regular season against the UMKC Kangaroos Friday at 7 p.m. at the Swinney Recreation Center.
Broadcast: The game will be aired by KFRU (1400 AM) with David Lile calling the play-by-play and Jessica Jenkins providing color commentary.
The game will also be televised by Mizzou Sports Properties. Chris Gervino will be the play-by-play announcer and Gary Link will handle color commentary.
Metro Sports (Kansas City), Pax 44 (Joplin), KLBE (Springfield), St. Joseph Cablevision and Charter Communications (St. Louis) and Mediacom (Columbia) will televise the contest.
The Foe: Head coach Dana Eikenberg is in her second season as the head coach of the Kangaroos.
Freshman center Kim Hansen scored a total of 29 points in UMKC's two exhibition games to lead the team in scoring. She also snared 12 rebounds as did classmate Randi Meissner.
Becky Mason, who scored a game-high 19 points in the Kangaroos' 73-70 exhibition win over NWBL Kansas City, missed the 76-55 loss to the Houston Jaguars due to an injury. Katie Houlehan also missed the Jaguars' game with an injury. Their status is unknown for Friday.
The Series: Missouri leads the series with UMKC, 8-1.
Here's a list of the series' results:
*Dec. 3, 1986 - MU 91, UMKC 72
*Dec. 11, 1990 - MU 66, @UMKC 65 (OT)
*Nov. 25, 1991 - UMKC 60, MU 58
*Jan. 13, 1993 - MU 62, UMKC 49
*Jan. 13, 1994 - MU 84, UMKC 54
*Dec. 18, 1994 - MU 77, @UMKC 58
*Jan. 11, 1996 - MU 85, UMKC 62
*Nov. 26, 1996 - MU 64, @UMKC 58
*Nov. 25, 1997 - MU 74, UMKC 56
Missouri is 3-0 at UMKC. Head coach Cindy Stein has not coached against the Kangaroos.
Overall, Missouri has posted a 21-2 mark against Mid-Continent schools.
Season-Opening Games: Missouri is 20-7 when opening the season. The Tigers are 6-2 when playing the first game of the season on the road. MU won its last road opener by a 92-49 decision at Bradley on Nov. 20, 1999.
Under head coach Cindy Stein, Missouri is 3-0 when opening the season.
The Tigers have won their last five games to open a season and 12 of their last 13 contests.
Here's a list of Missouri's opening season games:
1974-75 MU 47, Columbia College 16
1975-76 Grand View 95, MU 80
1976-77 William Penn 76, MU 66
1977-78 MU 84, William Penn 78
1978-79 MU 82, Minnesota 57
1979-80 Minnesota 88, MU 82 (OT)
1980-81 Minnesota 89, MU 82
1981-82 MU 73, Southwest Missouri 61
1982-83 MU 95 Southwest Missouri 56
1983-84 MU 110, Northern Iowa 47
1984-85 MU 119, Cleveland State 70
1985-86 MU 86, Arizona 62
1986-87 James Madison 74, MU 73
1987-88 Iowa 85, MU 71
1988-89 MU 88, Arkansas State 75
1989-90 MU 99, Evansville 61
1990-91 MU 70, Brigham Young 63
1991-92 MU 68, Southeast Missouri 57
1992-93 MU 68, Eastern Illinois 45
1993-94 MU 67, Northern Illinois 52
1994-95 MU 76, Evansville 67
1995-96 Creighton 78, MU 69
1996-97 MU 98, Missouri-Rolla 53
1997-98 MU 74, Missouri-Rolla 49
1998-99 MU 73, Bradley 57
1999-00 MU 92, Bradley 49
2000-01 MU 106, Eastern Illinois 59
MU is 20-7 overall for .741 winning percentage, MU has won five straight and 12 of its last 13 openers.
MU's Last Time Out: On Nov. 9, Missouri suffered a 77-72 loss to the Houston Jaguars to close its exhibition season. Kerensa Barr had a game-high 24 points to lead MU. The loss was the first in eight exhibition games for Missouri under head coach Cindy Stein. Natalie Bright added 16 points, making four 3-point field goals. Melanie Fisher scored 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field.
Exhibition Season: Missouri defeated Lincoln, 87-41, on Nov. 2 before suffering the 77-72 loss to the Houston Jaguars.
Barr led the team in scoring for the exhibition contests as she averaged 21.5 points per game. She also had a team-high nine assists. Bright averaged 15 points per game and had eight assists to go with a team-high six steals. Evan Unrau averaged 14 points per game and snared a team-best 16 rebounds.
Missouri Head Coach Cindy Stein is in her fourth season at the helm of the Tigers' program. She has a mark of 53-37 with Missouri and is 118-62 in six seasons as a head coach. Stein is assisted this season by: associate head coach Betsy Yonkman, assistant coach Tanya Warren and assistant coach Edith Thompson. Former Missouri standouts Amanda Lassiter, Marlena "Pep" Williams and Tracy Franklin are serving as student assistants.
Tickets are available for the upcoming season. Call 884-PAWS (7297) in Columbia or 1-800-CAT-PAWS (228-7297). Season tickets are only $50 for adults and $25 for youth/seniors. Family plans are available for $125 (two adults and two children). Single game general admission tickets are currently on sale. Adult general admission tickets are $5 with youth/senior general admission tickets costing $3.
Rankings: Missouri was picked by both the Big 12 Conference coaches and the media covering the league to finish 10th in the 2001-2002 league standings.
The Tigers have been picked 43rd nationally by Basketball News, a publication which chose the schools it feels will make the 2002 NCAA Tournament.
Radio Coverage: Missouri women's basketball is covered live on either KFRU (1400 AM) or KWWC (90.5 FM). David Lile, Gary Link and Jessica Jenkins offer all the action of Tiger women's hoops.
Mizzou fans can also log onto the Missouri web site, www.mutigers.com, for coverage.
Television Coverage: The Tigers will be on TV to open the regular season as the UMKC and Southwest Missouri State games will both be shown on the Mizzou Sports Network.
Missouri appeared on TV 11 times last season and posted a 7-4 mark.
Tough Opponents: Missouri's schedule could rank with the nation's toughest as seven opponents are ranked in the Associated Press poll and nine are ranked in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll. One could also throw Duke, a possible opponent as the Tigers will play in the Duke Classic On Nov. 24-25, in the mix as the Blue Devils are ranked in the top five in both polls and are the favorites to win the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
Youth is Served: Missouri's active roster of 11 consists of one senior (Natalie Bright), two juniors (Kerensa Barr and Wannette Smith), five sophomores (Tracy Lozier, Evan Unrau, Terianne Wolford, Amy Loftus and Melanie Fisher) and three freshmen (Lauren Podratz, Angie Carter and Megan Roney).
Last Year: The Tigers posted a 22-10 record and advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen.
Who's Next?: Missouri will play Southwest Missouri State on Monday, Nov. 19. The game will be played at MU's Hearnes Center.
Signing Period: The fall early signing period begins Wednesday (Nov. 14) and continues until Nov. 21.
Radio Show: Tiger Talk with Cindy Stein starts at 7 p.m. on Dec. 10. The show will originate from Harpo's and be aired by KFRU.
