March 9, 2003
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"SECOND SEASON" STARTS TUESDAY IN DALLAS
The No. 6-seed Missouri women's basketball team makes its fourth trip of the season to Texas, and the Tigers are hoping for a reversal of its previous ventures to the Lone Star State as they attempt to bolster their chances for an NCAA Tournament bid at the seventh annual Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament.
? ? ? Mizzou enters "Big D" with a 15-12 overall record and a 9-7 mark in Big 12 play - only the second time since 1989-90 that the Tigers have finished above .500 in conference play. The other occasion came two years ago during MU's magical NCAA Sweet Sixteen run.
LAST TIME OUT: MISSOURI 64, TEXAS A&M 51
All five Missouri starters scored in double figures, one Tiger had a milestone, another had all of hers recognized, and the team closed out the regular season with a 64-51 win over Texas A&M at the Hearnes Center on Wednesday.
? ? ? Evan Unrau finished with a game-high 18 points, including her 1,000th career point on a reverse layup with 1 minute, 33 seconds left in the game to put Mizzou up 10 and the game effectively out of reach.
FIVE NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-BIG 12
Five Missouri women's basketball players are among the 53 student-athletes who have been named to the 2003 Women's Basketball Academic All-Big 12 Team, officials from the conference office announced on March 4.
? ? ? Missouri's five honorees ranked fifth among the league's basketball squads. Oklahoma, Kansas State, Iowa State and Colorado each finished ahead of the Tigers.
? ? ? Nominated by each institution's director of student-athlete support services and media relations offices, the women's basketball academic all-league squad consists of 46 first-team members combined with seven student-athletes on the second team. First-team members are those student-athletes who have maintained a 3.20 or better grade-point average, while the second team are those who have a 3.00 to 3.19 GPA.
? ? ? Missouri's five honorees bring to 22 to the number of basketball student-athletes recognized by the Big 12 in Head Coach Cindy Stein's five-year tenure.
? ? ? Missouri's honorees include:
| FIRST TEAM | ||
|---|---|---|
| Kerensa Barr | Sr. | Finance & Banking/Real Estate |
| Tracy Lozier | Jr. | Communications |
| Megan Roney | So. | Undeclared |
| Evan Unrau | Jr. | Psychology |
| ? | ||
| SECOND TEAM | ||
| Terianne Wolford | Jr. | Textile and Apparel Management |
SO LONG, KERENSA - JUST NOT YET
Senior guard Kerensa Barr, who has made 91 starts at Missouri - including each game of the past three seasons - has played in each of Missouri's 117 games in her four-year career.
? ? ? Barr is four assists from tying and five from breaking Amy Fordham's 9-year-old school record for assists in a career. Barr, the Tigers' lone senior, has 466 for her career.
? ? ? Barr became the 22nd member of Missouri's 1,000-point club after her 15-point performance against Oklahoma State on Jan. 25. She moved past Cindy Kiser (1976-80) into 17th place on Mizzou's all-time scoring list (1,126 points).
? ? ? 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 also 18 away from breaking the career steals mark set by MU Hall of Famer Joni Davis from 1982-85.
? ? ? Barr is also a member of MU's career top-5 lists in 3-point field goals made and attempted.
? ? ? 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 (80.4 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 scored her 1,000th career point on Wednesday against Texas A&M, becoming the 23rd player to do so.
? ? ? With Kerensa Barr accomplishing the same feat earlier this year, the duo are the first 1,000-point teammates since Julie Helm and Kesha Bonds played together in 1999.
? ? ? Unrau had 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 has led the Tigers in scoring 17 times this season. Her totals of 15.3 points and 7.4 rebounds both lead the team.
? ? ? She is ranked among the Big 12 leaders in six different categories: scoring (9th), rebounding (10th), field-goal percentage (14th, 47.8%), free-throw percentage (15th, 73.9%), offensive rebounds (4th, 3.0) and defensive rebounds (15th, 4.44).
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 averaged 14.5 points the last four games, and has scored in double figures 13 times overall this season.
? ? ? Lozier averaged 16 points in the Tigers' split at Oklahoma and vs. Kansas two weeks ago. She started with a team-high-tying 17 points in Mizzou's loss at Oklahoma, canning 5-of-6 3-pointers - and 6-of-9 overall from the field - to post her second five-trey night of the season.
? ? ? Last Saturday vs. Kansas, Lozier a team-high-tying 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting from behind the arc and three free throws. She added a game-high five steals in the win over the Jayhawks. Lozier shot 67 percent from the field (10-15) in the two games, including a sizzling 75 percent (9-12) from 3-point range.
? ? ? Lozier is currently ranked 10th in the country in 3-point field-goal percentage in the most recent NCAA statistics with her 44.4 percent accuracy.
? ? ? For the season, Lozier is tied with Stretch James for third on the squad with a 9.5 points-per-game average. She also is second on the team with 69 assists (2.6 apg) and third with 45 steals (1.7 spg).
? ? ? Lozier is ranked among the Big 12 leaders in conference-only games in 3-pointers made per game (1st, 2.25) and 3-point FG percentage (5th, 45.0%).
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 Feb. 15 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 nine of the last 12 games, and 13 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 10.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, which are third and second, respectively, on the team. That follows her season totals (9.5 ppg / 5.3 rpg), which are 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 67 on the year. She also had seven picks against McNeese State on Dec. 6.
? ? ? Barr's 2.48 steals-per-game average is the fifth-highest total in the Big 12 Conference.
? ? ? For the season, Barr is averaging 11.6 points, 4.1 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, 5.04); free-throw percentage (4th, 84.1%); steals (5th); 3-point FG percentage (9th, 37.3%); 3-point FG per game (12th, 1.41); and assist-to-turnover ratio (9th, 1.3).
SPEED LIMIT: 65
It should be noted that even after the Tigers enter Reunion Arena, they should continue to obey the Interstate speed limit.
? ? ? Missouri is 13-0 this season when holding teams to 65 or fewer points.
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 14 times in games, and it may not be surprising to find out that Missouri is 10-4 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, the Feb. 19 setback vs. Kansas State, and Wednesday's loss at Oklahoma - when the Sooners had 36 attempts to Mizzou's eight - are the Tigers' only losses in such a situation.
? ? ? For the season, the Tigers have shot 74.5 percent as a team from the line, which is the second-best mark in the Big 12.
? ? ? If the Tigers' free-throw accuracy holds for the season, it will break the previous school record of 71.7 percent set by the 1980-81 team.
ALL GOOD THINGS...
Stat junkies worldwide were saddended on Jan. 22 upon hearing that the Missouri women failed, against Nebraska, to hit at least one 3-pointer in a game for the first time in nearly four years - a streak of 115 games. The Tigers had not been held without a trey since a 78-54 loss at Baylor on Jan. 27, 1999.
? ? ? In addition, MU's streak of 58 straight games at the Hearnes Center - spanning more than four years dating back to an 87-76 win over Louisville on Dec. 5, 1998 - also came to an end. Missouri started a new streak against Oklahoma State on Jan. 25 by hitting their first five long-distance tries of the game, and have stretched it to 12 games with their three treys on Wednesday vs. Texas A&M.
? ? ? Despite the broken string, streak-watchers are relieved to see, however, that Missouri's 513-game winning streak when out-scoring the other team remains mercifully intact.