Dec. 18, 2001

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri women's basketball team, which is off to a 7-1 start this season, will play Arkansas-Pine Bluff Thursday. Missouri meets Illinois Saturday in the annual Busch Braggin' Rights game at the Savvis Center in St. Louis.

*Thursday - MU vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 7 p.m., Hearnes Center *Saturday - Busch Braggin' Rights Game - MU vs Illinois, 5 p.m., Savvis Center, St. Louis

Saturday's game marks the 100th contest of head coach Cindy Stein's career at Missouri.

The Tigers last played on Dec. 9, defeating Northern Iowa, 79-61.

The Foe: Arkansas-Pine Bluff is 1-4 this season. The Lady Lions are coached by Kenneth Conley who is in his 10th season. Kenya Lockhart, a preseason second-team all-Southwestern Athletic Conference pick, averages 10.6 points and 7.8 rebounds per contest.

Illinois is 5-3 and plays Eastern Illinois Wednesday before meeting the Tigers. The Illini have three players scoring in double figures. Iveta Marcauskaite leads the team at 15.5 points per game and is snaring 7.3 rebounds per game. Shavonna Hunter averages 12.5 points per game and has made a team-high eight 3-point field goals. Cindy Dallas averages 12.3 points and a team-best 8.9 rebound per contest. Theresa Grentz, the winningest coach in Illinois history, is in her seventh season as head coach.

The Series: The Tigers have not played Arkansas-Pine Bluff before. Illinois leads the series with Missouri by a 4-3 margin. Missouri won the first three meetings but the Fighting Illini have won the past four contests, including last season's 92-74 Busch Braggin' Rights contest. Here's a look at the previous results:
MU 68, Illinois 66 - 12/3/90 - Champaign
MU 76, Illinois 60 12/10/91 - Columbia
MU 80, Illinois 54, 1/3/92 - Champaign
Illinois 96, MU 84, 12/21/93 - Columbia
Illinois 72, MU 54, 12/6/95 - Champaign
Illinois 82, MU 66, 11/30/96 - Columbia
Illinois 92, MU 74, 12/20/00 - St. Louis

MU-Illinois Last Season: Illinois defeated the Tigers, 92-74, in the first-ever Busch Braggin' Rights game. The game was anything but tame, going back-and-forth throughout the first half. Marlena Williams scored 15 points in the first half, falling just one point below her season-high in just 12 minutes of play. Amanda Lassiter also hit double digits in the first half with 10 points. The Tigers also forced 13 Illini turnovers in the first to enter intermission with a five-point lead, 38-33. However, a Tiger turnover allowed Illinois to take a one-point lead with 13 minutes to play. Illinois went on a five-point streak to take a lead from which the Tigers would not recover. Lassiter finished with 23 points while Williams put in 19 points and pulled down six rebounds. Tracy Franklin added 10 points.

MU's Last Time Out: Missouri opened the non-conference game against Northern Iowa with a 9-0 run and did not look back as the Tigers recorded a 79-61 victory over the Panthers at the Hearnes Center on Dec. 9. Missouri, which improved to 7-1 this season, was led by Evan Unrau's 16 points and 10 rebounds. Unrau, who posted her third double-double of the season and seventh of her career, was one of four Tigers to score in double figures. Kerensa Barr added 15 points to record her 11th consecutive game scoring in double figures. Melanie Fisher had 13 points and 11 rebounds to post her second double-double of the season while Natalie Bright scored 12 points. The Tigers, buoyed by the efforts of Unrau and Fisher, had a 47-31 edge in rebounds. Missouri made 27-of-33 shots from the free-throw line in the win.

Strong Start: The win over Northern Iowa pushed the Tigers' record to 7-1, the third-straight season MU has started a season 7-1. In head coach Cindy Stein's first season, Missouri had a 5-2 start to the 1998-99 season. Here's a look at how Stein's Missouri teams have started the year, at the 10-game mark and overall finishes.

Year	8 games	10 gamesOverall
01-02	7-1	?-?	?-?
00-01	7-1	8-2	22-10
99-00	7-1	9-1	18-12
98-99	5-3	7-3	13-15

Stein Connection: Missouri head coach Cindy Stein was a starting guard for Illinois for the 1981-82 and 1982-83 seasons. She led the Illini in assists both seasons and ranks sixth all-time in career assists at the school. Stein also was an assistant coach at Illinois for two seasons before starting her career as a head coach at Emporia State.

Tigers Get Votes: Missouri received three votes this week's USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Coaches poll and eight votes in the Associated Press poll.

Nearing 500: Missouri has won 491 games in its 28 seasons and could become the 50th NCAA Division I program to surpass the 500 win total. Maine has also won 491 games while Notre Dame is in the race as the Fighting Irish have won 490 games. Also a contender is Illinois State, which has won 489 contests.

Missouri Vs. ...: The Tigers are 2-1 all-time against Southwestern Athletic Conference. MU defeated Texas Southern 93-55 in the 1998 Unilever Lady Tiger Tournament and has split a home-and-home series with Jackson State. Jackson won the first contest, 60-52, on Dec. 31, 1993, before the Tigers rebounded with an 82-60 home win on Dec. 28, 1994. Missouri is 13-12 all-time against Big 10 Conference schools, winning the last matchup against one of those members, a 71-68 victory over Wisconsin in the 2001 NCAA Tournament.

Among NCAA Leaders: Missouri ranks fifth among NCAA Division I schools in free throw percentage in the statistical report released by the NCAA through Dec. 10 games. Missouri has made 142-of-181 free throws for a 78.45 percent mark. MU ranks tied for 19th in winning percentage (87.5 percent) as the Tigers have opened the season with a 7-1 record. In the individual rankings, Kerensa Barr ranks 20th in free throw percentage. She has made 49-of-53 foul shots (92.5 percent). Here's a listing of the Tigers' rankings:
*Free throw percentage, 5th, 78.45 percent (142-of-181)
*Rebound margin, 14th, +9.88
*Won/loss percentage, 19th, 87.5 percent
*Scoring margin, 27th, +15.75
*Scoring defense, 36th, 57.75 ppg

Top Performances: Evan Unrau's 5-of-5 effort from beyond the 3-point field goal line against Southeastern Louisiana ranks as the top mark in the Big 12. Kerensa Barr's 17 made free throws (and her 18 attempts) are the most this season in one game in the Big 12. Barr's 10-of-10 effort from the free-throw line against Southwest Missouri State is one of three such performances in the Big 12 this season. Missouri's 32 made free throws (and 41 foul shots attempted) against Davidson are the most this season in the Big 12.

Big 12 Stat Leaders: Missouri leads the Big 12 Conference in free throw percentage as the Tigers have made 142-of-181 foul shots for a league-best 78.5 percentage mark. MU ranks second in scoring defense, allowing opponents 57.8 points per game.

Tournament Success: Missouri won this year's Unilever Lady Tiger Tournament. The win gives MU its 17th win in 24 championship game appearances of the Missouri tournament.

Television Coverage: The Tigers are 3-0 on TV this season after the win over Saint Louis on Dec. 7. MU is not again on TV until the Missouri/Kansas tilt on Jan. 12 at Kansas. That game will be shown on Fox Sports Net. Missouri had 12 games televised last season and posted a 8-4 record.

100 and counting: MU scored 100 or more points for the third time under head coach Cindy Stein in the Tigers' 101-63 win over Davidson on Nov. 25. MU has scored 100 or more points 32 times in its history. Missouri is 3-0 under Stein when topping the century mark and 31-1 all-time.

Record Setter: Kerensa Barr set the Missouri all-time record for free throws made in a game as she sank 17 against Davidson. Barr's mark broke the previous record of 16 by Erika Martin against Kansas on Feb. 4, 1996. Barr finished the game by making her last 15 attempts.

First Win Over ...: MU's 61-57 win over Southwest Missouri marked the first time in the program's regular season history the Tigers have defeated a team which advanced to the Final Four the year before. MU did play defending national champion Texas Tech in the first round of the 1994 NCAA Tournament but suffered a 75-61 loss.

Let's Score 30: Missouri had a 40-31 halftime lead over Northern Iowa, marking the seventh time in eight games that the Tigers scored 30 or more points in the first half.

Defense II: The Tigers have limited four of its foes to 57 or fewer points this season. Missouri has forced its opponents to shoot less that 40 percent (178-of-455, 39.1 percent) from the field and commit 181 turnovers.

State Champs: With the 64-53 win over Saint Louis, Missouri improved to 4-0 this season against the state's NCAA Division I schools (UMKC, Southwest Missouri State, Southeast Missouri State and Saint Louis).

Thieves: Missouri has recorded 74 steals so far this season and the tandem of Kerensa Barr (19) and Tracy Lozier (13) have almost pulled off half of them, actually 43.2 percent.

Offensive Rebounds: The Tigers are hitting the offensive boards well as a team, snaring 126 or 34.6 percent of their total on the offensive end. Evan Unrau has grabbed 26 of her team-high 63 rebounds (41.2 percent) on the offensive end of the floor.

Free Throws: To put it mildly, Missouri has been successful at the foul line this season. The Tigers have been getting to the free-throw line early and often this season in their wins. Missouri has made 23 or more free throws four times this season. They are:
*23 - vs. UMKC
*24 - vs. SMS
*32 - vs. Davidson
*27 - vs. Northern Iowa

In addition, Missouri has shot 80 percent or better four times this season. They are:
*82.1 percent (23-of-28) vs. UMKC
*87.5 percent (7-of-8) vs. South Carolina
*84.6 percent (11-of-13) vs. SE Missouri
*81.8 percent (27-of-33) vs. Northern Iowa

Free Throws II: Yes, making a note of her feat probably did break the streak as Kerensa Barr's streak of consecutive made free throws ended at 23 in the Saint Louis game. She does carry a streak of eight makes into the Arkansas-Pine Bluff contest.

Put me in Coach: Ten of Missouri's student-athletes average 8.4 minutes per game.

Scoring Power: The Tigers' starting five average 77.6 percent of the team's scoring per game. MU has used four different starting lineups this season. They are (in alphabetical order):
*Barr, Bright, Fisher, Smith, Unrau
*Barr, Bright, Fisher, Lozier, Unrau
*Barr, Bright, Fisher, Unrau, Wolford
*Barr, Bright, Fisher, Lozier, Smith

Missouri Head Coach: Cindy Stein is in her fourth season at the helm of the Tigers. She has a mark of 60-38 with Missouri and is 125-63 in seven 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.

Career leaders: Kerensa Barr and Natalie Bright continue to make an impact on the Tigers' all-time career charts. As a result of her outstanding performance this season from the free-throw line, Barr ranks fourth in free throw percentage (145-of-187, 77.5 percent). She has made 49-of-53 free throws (92.5 percent). Barr has made 37 3-point field goals in her career to rank seventh all-time at Missouri while Bright has made 64 to rank sixth. Bright ranks fifth with 193 3-point field goal attempt. Barr ranks seventh with 109 attempts. Barr ranks ninth in 3-point field goal percentage at 34.3 percent while Bright is now 10th at 33.7 percent. Barr has not quite cracked the program's all-time Top 10 list in career assists as she has 240 assists. Sarah Campbell (1983-85) is in 10th place with 247 assists.

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.

Ratings II: Missouri is ranked 38th in this week's Sagarin RPI rankings with a mark of 83.02. Sagarin ranks Missouri's strength of schedule at 180th. In this week's WBCA/Summerville RPI Rankings, MU is now 40th (.59502). It ranks Missouri's strength of schedule ranking at 191st. CollegeRPI.com ranks the Tigers 37th (.6081) with a strength of schedule at 118th.

Radio Coverage: Missouri women's basketball is covered live on KFRU (1400 AM), KWWC (90.5 FM), KLIK (1240 AM) or on the Tiger Network. David Lile, Jessica Jenkins and Gary Link offer all the action. A majority of the Tigers' games can be found on KFRU but various games will be on KWWC and KLIK. Mizzou fans can also log onto the Missouri web site, www.mutigers.com, for coverage.

Tough Schedule: While the RPI and WBCA/Summerville rankings have one idea about the Tigers' strength of schedule, here are some facts. Eight opponents - #3 Oklahoma, #5 Iowa State, #8 Baylor, #12 Texas Tech, #14 Colorado, #19 Texas, #23 South Carolina and (RV) Kansas State - are ranked in the Associated Press poll and eight - #4 Oklahoma, #5 Iowa State, #10 Baylor, #12 Colorado, #14 Texas Tech, #19 Texas, #22 South Carolina and (RV) Kansas State - are in the USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Coaches poll. Tigers are currently 1-0 against schools (MU 61, SMS 57) which are receiving votes or are ranked at the time of the game.

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.

Radio Show: Tiger Talk with Cindy Stein is on at 7 p.m. on Mondays. The show will originate from Harpo's and be aired by KFRU. The show will not take place on Dec. 24.

Signings: MU head coach Cindy Stein announced on Nov. 14 the signing of Latoya Bond and Cherice Mack to National Letters of Intent.