Feb. 25, 2003
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| TIPOFF: 7:00 p.m. CST. | ||||
| ARENA: Lloyd Noble Center (11,100). MU is 153-167 (.478) alltime on the road, including 9-10 (.474) at Oklahoma and 12-43 (.218) in Big 12 Conference road play. | ||||
| RADIO: KWWC-FM 98.5 (David Lile, play-by-play/Jessica Jenkins, color). Also available on the Internet at www.mutigers.com. | ||||
| TV: None. | ||||
| COACHES: | ||||
| Missouri: Cindy Stein (Illinois '84), 80-63 at MU (5th season), 144-88 overall (8th season).
Oklahoma: Sherri Coale (Oklahoma Christian '87), 129-83 at OU and overall (7th season). |
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MIZZOU SETS UP FOR CRUCIAL TEST IN SOONER STATE
The Missouri women's basketball team makes its final road trip of the regular season an important one on Wednesday, when the Tigers face off against Oklahoma in a battle of teams tied for fifth in the Big 12 standings. It will mark Oklahoma's Senior Night festivities in Norman.
? ? ? With Wednesday's game the only meeting between the schools this year, it will be a crucial contest in the race for fifth, and possibly the final bye in the Big 12 Tournament.
? ? ? Missouri is coming off a 21-point loss at Colorado on Saturday, while the Sooners beat Iowa State by 13 points at the Noble Center.
ABOUT OKLAHOMA...
The Sooners' roster has quite a different make-up from its 2001-02 squad that finished 32-4 and advanced to the NCAA Championship Game. To start off, four starters from that team graduated, leaving only Caton Hill back for the season. Hill was then lost to a knee injury in November, along with three other Oklahoma players over the course of the non-conference schedule. OU has played with a 10-person roster for the balance of the season.
? ? ? That's not to say that Head Coach Sherri Coale has been forced to deal with a dearth of talent; she boasts one of the conference's top newcomers in Venezuelan import Maria Villaroel, who leads the Sooners with her 14.7 points-per-game average. Villaroel is also the most accurate shooter in the Big 12 at 58.0 percent.
? ? ? St. Louis native Dionnah Jackson has done an impressive job of running the Sooner show, averaging 11.6 points and just under five assists per contest. Four Oklahoma players are averaging double figures in scoring, including freshman Chelsi Welch and senior Theresa Schuknecht.
OU SERIES...
Oklahoma has taken the last three games in the series, yet still trails Missouri by a 27-18 margin. In Norman, the Sooners' advantage is a scant 10-9, and Missouri has taken two out of the last three in the Sooner State.
LAST TIME OUT: COLORADO 69, MIZZOU 48
Tera Bjorklund led all scorers with 22 points to lead Colorado to a 69-48 win over Missouri on Saturday at the Coors Events Center. With the win, the Buffs (19-5, 9-4 Big 12) remain in fourth place in the league standings, while the Tigers (13-11, 7-6) fall into a fifth-place tie with Oklahoma after the Sooners' win over Iowa State.
? ? ? Junior guard Tracy Lozier, who led Mizzou in scoring with 16 points, was the only Tiger in double figures.
MAKING A CASE FOR MIZZOU
Folks may take a look at the Tigers' 13-11 overall record, their 7-6 mark in Big 12 play or their current RPI in the 70's, and write Mizzou off from NCAA Tournament consideration. Given where they stand at the moment - using the "If the Season Ended Today" clich? - those folks might be right.
? ? ? Yet take a closer look at the Tigers' Big 12 results, and you'll notice that of Mizzou's six losses, its last five have come against national top-10 heavyweights Texas, Texas Tech, twice to Kansas State, and also to Colorado, which has been ranked or receiving votes in both polls all season long. The sixth loss, at Baylor, came on the road in the first Big 12 game of the season on Jan. 8.
? ? ? MU has won seven of its last 11, and is tied with Oklahoma for fifth place in the Big 12. Mizzou also controls its destiny against OU in the race for the Big 12 Tournament No. 5 seed.
BARR CLIMBING CAREER CHARTS
Senior guard Kerensa Barr, who is expected to make the 89th start of her career on Wednesday, became the 22nd member of Missouri's 1,000-point club after her 15-point performance against Oklahoma State on Jan. 25. She leapt past both Debbie Walker (1980-83) and Suzanne Alt (1974-77) with her fourth point on Saturday at Colorado, moving her into 18th on Mizzou's all-time scoring list (1,092 points). She has played in each of Missouri's 114 games over her four-year career.
? ? ? With her eight assists against Illinois on Dec. 21, Barr moved past Dee Dee Polk as Missouri's No. 2 all-time assist leader. She added five assists against No. 20 Texas on Jan. 11, making her the 10th player in Big 12 history to record 400 career assists. She is 21 away from breaking Amy Fordham's school record. With four games guaranteed to remain on the Tigers' schedule, Barr needs to average roughly 5.2 assists per game to surpass Fordham's mark.
? ? ? Barr is already a member of MU's career top-5 lists in 3-point field goals made and attempted, as well as steals after passing Sandie Prophete (1986-89) with her 200th career pick Jan. 8 at Baylor. She just passed Carla Yancey (1988-91) for second on the list on Feb. 15 at Kansas.
? ? ? Barr is just the fifth player in Big 12 history to record 400 assists and 200 steals in a career.
? ? ? Finally, Barr is currently percentage points ahead of Julie Helm as Mizzou's most accurate free-throw shooter in school history (79.94 percent). If she sinks 80 percent or more of her remaining free throws, Barr will finish as the record-holder.
UNRAU ... AND HOW!
That would likely be the reaction from Spanky, the chubby-cheeked member of the Little Rascals gang regarding the play of junior forward Evan Unrau. The honorable mention All-Big 12 member from 2001-02 has been racking up double-doubles left and right, yet it was her back-to-back season-high scoring totals - 23 points at Nebraska on Feb. 8, followed by 26 on Feb. 12 vs. Iowa State - that took center stage recently. Both performances became the highest single-game scoring outputs of any Tiger this season.
? ? ? Unrau posted her seventh double-double of the season - and third straight - after her 20-point, 10-rebound effort against Oklahoma State on Jan. 28. It followed performances of 11 points and 12 rebounds against Nebraska and 21 points and 11 rebounds at Iowa State.
? ? ? Unrau's seven double-doubles are the fifth-highest total in the league, and her four double-doubles in conference play is just two off the league lead.
? ? ? Unrau has led the Tigers in scoring 15 times this season. Her totals of 15.5 points and 7.8 rebounds both lead the team.
? ? ? She is ranked among the Big 12 leaders in five different categories: scoring (10th), rebounding (8th), field-goal percentage (14th, .481), offensive rebounds (4th, 3.12) and defensive rebounds (13th, 4.62).
ADD UNRAU - 1,000 POINTS?
With a solid stretch run, Unrau will join Barr as the most recent members of the 1,000-point club by the end of the season.
? ? ? Unrau is just 39 points from the plateau, which would make her the 23rd member of the group at Mizzou. With at least four games remaining, the honorable mention All-Big 12 member from a year ago needs to average 9.8 points per game to reach the mark before the end of her junior year.
JAMES STRETCHES OUT
Junior forward Stretch James, who earned JUCO All-America honors at Tyler (Texas) JC before arriving in Columbia this fall, has adjusted well to the rigors of the Big 12, and it appears that she shines brightest under the TV lights.
? ? ? She recorded her second double-double of the season last Saturday at Kansas, hitting for 15 points and a Missouri career-high 13 rebounds. That came on the heels of her 14-11 double-double on Feb. 2 in the Tigers' upset of Colorado. Both games came in nationally televised tilts on FOX Sports Net.
? ? ? James has scored in double figures in eight of the last 11 games, and 12 overall this season. She recently had a streak of five straight such games.
? ? ? In two games against Kansas State - which was ranked fifth in the country in both meetings this season - James totalled seven blocks against the Wildcats.
? ? ? James tallied a Missouri career-high 18 points and added a season-best three assists in the game against Nebraska on Jan. 22; she added 15 points in the win over Oklahoma State the following Saturday, and had a team-high 16 at No. 8 Texas Tech on Jan. 28. Her double-figure streak started with a 10-point outing in the win at Iowa State on Jan. 19.
? ? ? In Big 12 Conference play, James is averaging 10.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, which are both third on the team. That follows her season totals (9.3 ppg / 5.0 rpg), which are also both third on the squad.
GLANCES STOLEN
Senior guard Kerensa Barr had seven steals for the second time in three games on Dec. 11 at Northern Iowa; she now has a team-high 60 on the year. She also had seven picks against McNeese State on Dec. 6.
? ? ? Barr's 2.50 steals-per-game average is the third-highest total in the Big 12 Conference.
? ? ? For the season, Barr is averaging 11.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game. Those totals rank her second, fourth, and first, respectively, on the team this year.
? ? ? Barr is ranked among the Big 12's leaders in seven different individual categories: scoring (19th), assists (5th, 5.00); free-throw percentage (9th, 82.3%); steals (3rd, 2.50); 3-point FG percentage (10th, 37.1%); 3-point FG per game (12th, 1.38); and assist-to-turnover ratio (12th, 1.3).
TIGERS HIGH ON LOZIER
Early in the season, some questioned the decision to start junior guard Tracy Lozier because of her perceived lack of offensive firepower. In addition to her defensive prowess, leadership, and steady, consistent play, Lozier found her shot in a big way on Dec. 11 at Northern Iowa, and has continued her offensive prowess since.
? ? ? Lozier was averaging under 5 points per game coming into the UNI game, yet she poured in a career-high 19 points in the Tigers' win, hitting six of her seven field-goal attempts and all five of her 3-point tries.
? ? ? Lozier has shown that that performance was no fluke, as she has scored in double figures in three of the last five games, and nine times overall.
? ? ? For the season, Lozier is fourth on the squad with an 8.9 points-per-game average. She also is second on the team with 64 assists (2.7 apg) and second with 37 steals (1.5 spg).
? ? ? Lozier is ranked among the Big 12 leaders in conference-only games in 3-point FG percentage (8th, 41.3%); 3-pointers made per game (2nd, 2.00) and assists per game (15th, 2.77).
FISHER GOES DOUBLE-DIPPING
Junior F/C Melanie Fisher put together back-to-back excellent offensive games against Nebraska and Oklahoma State, making 10-of-11 shots in the two games on her way to scoring 10 and a career-high-tying 14 points, respectively.
? ? ? Those two games were her first in double figures since her previous season high of 13 vs. Bradley on Nov. 26.
? ? ? Against Nebraska, Fisher was 4-of-4 from the field and made both of her free throws to get the 10 points; she added six rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal. Against the Cowgirls, Fisher was 6-of-7 with six rebounds.
? ? ? For the season, Fisher is averaging 5.3 points (fifth on team) and 5.5 rebounds, which is second only to Evan Unrau. In addition, Fisher has led the team in steals six times this season. Her 36 are fourth on the team.
THROW THIS NOTE AWAY
Coaches preach the value of making free throws, and this season, the Missouri coaching staff has set a goal for the team to make 80 percent of its free throws every day in practice and games.
? ? ? So far this season, the Tigers have accomplished that goal 11 times in games, and it may not be surprising to find out that Missouri is 8-3 when it makes 80 percent of its charity tosses. MU's losses at Baylor and against Texas in the first week of the Big 12 season, last Wednesday's setback vs. Kansas State, are the Tigers' only losses in such a situation.
? ? ? For the season, the Tigers have shot 73.6 percent as a team from the line, which is the second-best mark in the Big 12.