Dec. 16, 2003

INDIANAPOLIS - With the Mizzou women's basketball team in the midst of an 11-day layoff over the Fall Semester final-exams period, the Tigers are making news off the court for their performance on it.

No one in the country is blocking shots at a higher rate than the Mizzou women, according to the latest rankings released Tuesday by the NCAA. The Tigers have swatted 51 shots in their first seven games, an average of 7.3 a contest. Big 12 colleague Oklahoma State is second at 7.1 bpg, followed by Jackson State and New Mexico.

The Tigers (5-2) are well ahead of a pace that would break the current school record of 128, set in 1999-2000.

Mizzou is ranked in the top 25 (out of 324 Division I schools) in three other categories: Scoring Offense (80.1 ppg / 13th); Scoring Margin (+22.1 ppg / 14th); and Rebound Margin (+9.4 rpg / 23rd).

Two Tiger seniors are ranked individually among the nation's leaders. Forward Stretch James (Columbus, Ohio / Northland HS / Tyler [Texas] JC) leads the Big 12, and is 14th in the country, in blocked shots (2.9 bpg). Forward Evan Unrau (Fort Collins, Colo. / Rocky Mountain HS) has made half of her 28 3-point field-goal tries, which ranks her 18th in the country.

After a couple of days off for finals, the Tigers return to the practice court Wednesday morning in preparation for Sunday's game at Evansville. Mizzou's next home game is the following Tuesday afternoon, Dec. 30, vs. Iowa. For ticket information, call 1-800-CAT-PAWS (573-884-PAWS in Mid-Missouri). As a reminder, holders of the student All-Sports Pass or the KMIZ-ZOU Spirit Pass gain free admission to all women's basketball games.