Tigers Face No. 14 Kansas State
2/25/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 25, 2002
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COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri women's basketball team closes the 2002 Big 12 Conference regular season this week against:
*Missouri (14-12, 5-10 Big 12) vs. No. 14/14 Kansas State (22-6, 10-5 Big 12)
*Wednesday - 7 p.m., Bramlage Coliseum, Manhattan, Kan.
*Broadcast - Radio - KFRU, 1400 AM
Possible Return?: Evan Unrau, a sophomore forward, suffered a fractured ring finger on her right (shooting) hand against Colorado on Feb. 13. Unrau, the Tigers' leading rebounder, had surgery on Feb. 15. Unrau had stitches removed Monday and was limited in practice to conditioning work. She is listed as probable for the upcoming Big 12 Conference Tournament. A native of Fort Collins, Colo., Unrau averages 12.8 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. She has recorded six double-doubles this season.
Wednesday's Foe: Since last playing Missouri, Kansas State has suffered three losses in its last four games. The Wildcats, with one of the nation's youngest starting five, are led by sophomore center Nicole Ohlde. Ohlde leads the Wildcats in scoring (18.5 ppg), rebounds (8.1 rpg) and blocked shots (2.2 bpg). Freshman Laurie Koehn, the nation's leader with 99 3-point field goals, averages 17.2 points per game while classmate Kendra Wecker averages 16.4 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. Wecker is also second on the team with 78 assists. Head coach Deb Patterson is in her sixth season with a 93-82 record.
The MU-Kansas State Series: Missouri leads the series, 31-28. The Tigers have won four of the past five meetings and are 9-17 all-time in Manhattan. Head coach Cindy Stein has a 4-3 record against Kansas State.
Last Meeting: COLUMBIA (AP) Nicole Ohlde scored 26 points and Kendra Wecker added 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead No. 11 Kansas State over Missouri 79-61 on Feb. 5. Ohlde made 12-of-18 shots. Wecker's double-double was her ninth of the season. Missouri took a 22-21 lead on Natalie Bright's 3-pointer with 7:34 left in the first half to cap a 9-2 run. Kansas State responded with a 10-0 run and led 32-27 at halftime. Kansas State shot 62.3 percent in the game, including 70.4 percent in the second half, to Missouri's 39.7 percent. Bright led Missouri with 13 points. Kerensa Barr, the team's leading scorer, was held to eight.
The Matchup: Kansas State is one of the nation's top 3-point field goal shooting teams and leads the Big 12 Conference in field goal percentage. Missouri's opponents have made only 91 3-point field goals while KSU's Laurie Koehn has made 99 herself this season. Kansas State has also turned up things on defense, limiting teams to 38.3 percent field goal shooting. Missouri forces opponents into committing an average of 20 turnovers per game. The Tigers also average 38.5 rebounds per game and out-rebounded their opponents by an average of 3.0 per contest.
Missouri's Last Time Out: Despite forwards Wannette Smith and Terianne Wolford each scoring career highs, Missouri suffered a 90-70 loss to No. 3/3 Oklahoma on Feb. 23. Smith had 17 points and snared nine rebounds while Wolford added 15 points in a rare starting role. Oklahoma's Stacey Dales scored a career-high 30 points and had five assists as OU clinched the regular season Big 12 title outright for the second consecutive year. Missouri took a 47-45 lead with 15:26 remaining on a 3-pointer by Wolford, but Oklahoma used a 21-7 run in the next six minutes to take control. Missouri outrebounded Oklahoma 39-28, but committed 25 turnovers to Oklahoma's 12.
Single-Season Marks: Natalie Bright and Kerensa Barr continue making an assault on the single-season Missouri records. Bright ranks third all-time with 42 3-point field goals made and her 128 attempts rank second all-time. Barr's 36 made 3-pointers rank third all-time at Missouri as do her 112 3-point field goal attempts. Barr's free throw percentage mark of 89 percent would be the program's all-time best mark if the season ended before the Kansas State contest. In case you were or were not wondering, Barr needs 34 more made foul shots to crack the program's top 10 list for made free throws in a season.
Postseason Scenario: Missouri will advance to the 2002 Big 12 Conference Tournament March 5-9 at Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium. Missouri could be the tournament's ninth or 10th seed, depending on the outcome of Wednesday's game and the contest between Oklahoma State and Texas A&M. If Texas A&M wins, Missouri would be 10th seed no matter what the Tigers do against Kansas State. If Oklahoma State wins and Missouri wins, MU is ninth. If Oklahoma State wins and Missouri loses, the Tigers are 10th. Confused? Join the club and just wait until the bracket is released on Thursday.
Rebound Queens: By snaring nine rebounds against Colorado (2/13), Evan Unrau now has led the Tigers in rebounds 12 times. Unrau has collected 10 or more rebounds in seven games this season. Kerensa Barr has led the Tigers in rebounds nine times this season.
Get That Out Of Here: Amy Loftus became the first Tiger to block three shots this season as she had three rejections, all in the first half, against Kansas (2/9). The three blocked shots are a career best for Loftus.
Television Coverage: Missouri is 5-2 this season on TV.
60,000 Points: Missouri has now scored 60,430 points during its time as a women's basketball program. Kerensa Barr scored the program's 60,000th point on a free throw this season at Iowa State (1/30).
In the starting lineup: Kerensa Barr has started 61 games and has made a team-high 58 consecutive starts in her career. Natalie Bright leads the Tigers with 67 all-time starts and Evan Unrau has made 53 starts.
A Win Would ...: If Missouri defeats Kansas State, it would ...
*be Missouri's fifth win in the past six meetings between the schools
*push head coach Cindy Stein's record at MU to 68-49
*give Missouri 499 all-time victories
*be Missouri's second win over a ranked foe this season
*give MU at least 15 wins for the third-straight season, something that has not
been done since the 1987-88, 1988-89 and 1989-90 seasons.
Some Really Insignificant Numbers ...: Missouri is 3-2 all-time on Feb. 27, last playing on that date on Feb. 27, 1999, and MU won at Oklahoma, 73-64. The Tigers are 13-10 all-time on the 27th of any month. Missouri is 132-86 all-time in the month of February. Against Kansas State, Missouri is 5-8 when the Wildcats are ranked in the nation's top 25. KSU is 2-1 when ranked 14th when playing Missouri, last defeating the Tigers 66-62 on Dec. 8, 1981. Missouri last defeated at 14th-ranked Kansas State squad on March 12, 1983, 75-65 in the 1983 Big Eight Tournament held in Norman, Okla.
NCAA Stats: Kerensa Barr ranks fourth nationally in free throw percentage, according to the Feb. 18 statistical report released by the NCAA. Barr, who led the nation until two weeks ago, is not doing poorly from the free-throw line this season, now making 89.0 percent of her shots (97/109).
Miss Saturday Night (or Day): In her past five Saturday games, Evan Unrau has averaged 11.4 points (57 points) and 11.2 rebounds (56 rebounds) per contest. Unrau has collected three of her team-high six double-doubles during that stretch.
In Wins, In Losses: In Missouri's 14 wins this season, the Tigers average 75.9 points per game and allow opponents only 55.7 points. MU shoots 42.9 percent from the field when it wins and forces opponents into shooting 38.9 percent and committing an average of 22.6 turnovers per game. When the Tigers lose, opponents average 77.6 points and 17.8 turnovers per game and shoot an impressive 50.7 percent from the field. By comparison, MU, when it loses, averages 57.3 points and 21.4 turnovers per game while shooting 36.6 percent from the field.
