March 19, 2003
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| TIPOFF: 7:07 p.m. CST. | ||||
| ARENA: Hearnes Center (13,611). Opened in 1972. MU is 271-91 (.749) here alltime, including 171-37 (.822) vs. non-conference opponents and 26-3 (.897) in those games under Cindy Stein. | ||||
| RADIO: KFRU-AM 1400 (David Lile, play-by-play/Jessica Jenkins, color). Also available on the Internet at www.mutigers.com. | ||||
| TV: None. | ||||
| SERIES: MU leads, 4-1 overall, including 3-0 at Hearnes. The last meeting was a 71-48 MU win here on Dec. 29, 1998. | ||||
| COACHES: | ||||
| Missouri: Cindy Stein (Illinois '84), 82-65 at MU (5th season), 147-90 overall (8th season).
Western Illinois: Leslie Crane (Arkansas State '86), 78-62 overall and at Western Illinois (5th season). |
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TIGERS HOST WESTERN ILLINOIS IN THIRD WNIT APPEARANCE
The Missouri women's basketball team makes its fourth straight postseason appearance starting Wednesday night at the Hearnes Center by hosting Western Illinois in the first round of the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT).
? ? ? This year is the Tigers' third WNIT appearance; MU made it to the second round in 2000 before falling to Alabama in the first round of last year tournament. Western is making its WNIT debut and the second postseason appearance in school history.
TIGERS CONTINUE POSTSEASON STREAK
With acceptance of its invitation to the 2003 Women's National Invitation Tournament, the Tigers have now advanced to the postseason in each of the past four years. It's the longest such streak since the Tigers went to five straight NCAA Tournaments from 1981-82 through 1985-86.
? ? ? The streak of success began with a trip to the second round of the WNIT in 1999-2000 - Cindy Stein's second season as head coach at Mizzou - and continued in 2001-02 with the Tigers' first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 1994, as MU advanced to the Sweet Sixteen. Missouri has also advanced to the WNIT each of the past two seasons.
LAST TIME OUT: OKLAHOMA STATE 56, MISSOURI 54
Trisha Skibbe hit a pair of free throws with 18.1 seconds left to lead No. 11 seed Oklahoma State to a 56-54 upset of the sixth-seeded Tigers in Wednesday's first round of the Big 12 Conference Tournament.
? ? ? Evan Unrau led all scorers with 18 points, and she set her season high with a game-high-tying 14 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season. Stretch James posted her third of the year by tallying 16 points and a season-high 12 rebounds.
ABOUT WESTERN ILLINOIS
The Westerwinds, who are led by former Missouri assistant Leslie Crane, won the Mid-Continent Conference regular-season title with their 12-2 league mark. A four-point loss to Valparaiso in the Mid-Con tournament kept Western Illinois from an NCAA Tournament bid.
? ? ? Western has four players averaging double-figure scoring, led by senior F Becky Tyo (12.6 ppg). The Westerwinds also have a 6-7 freshman center, Zane Teilane, who is shooting better than 62 percent from the field on her way to season averages of 11.1 points and 5.9 rebounds a contest.
WESTERN SERIES...
As previously mentioned, Mizzou holds a 4-1 lead over Western Illinois in the all-time series, including a 3-0 mark in Columbia. Western's win - 68-66 in 1994 in Macomb -came in overtime.
? ? ? A side note: Western lists the series as being 5-1 in favor of Missouri, citing a 78-65 Tiger win in Columbia in the 1975-76 season. A check of that season's results binder in the MU Media Relations archives finds no such mention of a game with Western Illinois; no clips of articles about such a game could be found, either.
UNRAU, BARR MAKE COACHES' ALL-BIG 12 SQUADS
Junior forward Evan Unrau (Fort Collins, Colo. / Rocky Mountain HS) and Kerensa Barr both earned All-Big 12 Conference recognition from the league's coaches on March 7.
? ? ? Unrau is only the second Tiger to be named to the All-Big 12 First Team, joining standout Amanda Lassiter in 2001. The award is Unrau's second from the league in as many years, as she was given Honorable Mention in 2002.
? ? ? In addition, Barr earned All-Big 12 Honorable Mention for the second year in a row.
? ? ? Here are other individual honors from the 2002-03 season (special thanks to Steve Miller from the Texas A&M Media Relations office for compilation help):
EVAN UNRAU All-Big 12 First Team, Coaches All-Big 12 Second Team, Austin American-Statesman All-Big 12 Second Team, Dallas Morning News All-Big 12 Second Team, Waco Tribune-Herald Unilever Tiger Classic All-Tournament Team Flint Hills Resources Islander Classic All-Tournament Team Academic All-Big 12 First TeamKERENSA BARR All-Big 12 Honorable Mention, Coaches Big 12 All-Senior Team, Dallas Morning News Big 12 All-Underrated Team, Kansas City Star Finalist, Socrates Award Semifinalist, Women's College Basketball Student-Athlete of the Year Verizon Academic All-District VII Academic All-Big 12 First Team
STRETCH JAMES Big 12 All-Newcomer Team, Kansas City Star
TRACY LOZIER Big 12 Best of the 3-Point Shooters, Dallas Morning News Big 12 All-Improved Team, Kansas City Star Academic All-Big 12 First Team
MEGAN RONEY Academic All-Big 12 First Team
TERIANNE WOLFORD Academic All-Big 12 Second Team
TIGERS AGAINST THE WNIT, NCAA FIELDS...
Missouri has played four teams in this year's WNIT, and has a record of 2-2 against them. In addition, Mizzou is 2-8 against the 64-team NCAA Tournament field.
? ? ? On Missouri's side of the WNIT bracket, the Tigers have lost at Baylor and defeated Northern Iowa, while on the other side of the bracket, Mizzou has defeated Saint Louis and lost at Iowa.
? ? ? Of the NCAA participants, the Tigers have wins over Colorado and Southwest Missouri State, while Illinois, Colorado, Austin Peay, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Texas, and Kansas State (twice) beat Missouri earlier this year.
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. PsychologySECOND TEAM
Terianne Wolford Jr. Textile and Apparel Management