Jan. 6, 2004
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| TIPOFF: 7:07 p.m. CST. | ||||
| ARENA: Bramlage Coliseum (13,340). MU is 159-177 (.473) on the road, including 0-19 vs. ranked Big 12 opponents. | ||||
| RADIO: KWWC-FM 90.5 (David Lile, play-by-play/Kerensa Barr, color). Also available on the Internet at www.mutigers.com. | ||||
| TV: FOX Sports Midwest (except ONLY Columbia/Jefferson City and Kansas City in the state of Missouri). Ben Boyle, play-by-play; Patti Phillips, color; Lindsey Pollette, producer. | ||||
| SERIES: Tied, 31-31. Kansas State has won the last four meetings, and is 19-9 in Manhattan. The Tigers are 42-70 in Big 12 Conference play. | ||||
| RANKINGS: Kansas State is 11th in the Associated Press poll, and 12th in the WBCA/ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. Missouri is unranked. | ||||
| COACHES: | ||||
| Missouri: Cindy Stein (Illinois '84), 93-68 at MU (sixth season) and 158-93 overall (ninth season).
Kansas State: Deb Patterson (Rockford '79), 135-91 at KSU and overall (eighth season). |
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MIZZOU WOMEN OPEN BIG 12 SLATE IN LITTLE APPLE
The Missouri women's basketball team (9-2, 0-0 Big 12) hits the road for its Big 12 Conference opener Wednesday night at Kansas State. The Tigers are coming off a successful stretch of three wins in six days to close their non-conference schedule with a 9-2 mark. That ties the second-best record of a Cindy Stein-coached team along with the 2000-01 and 2001-02 squads; the 1999-2000 team finished 10-1 on the way to the WNIT, Mizzou's first postseason appearance in six years.
? ? ? MU is seeking its first win in Manhattan since 2001, when the Tigers held off a 28-point, 40-minute effort from then-freshman Nicole Ohlde and started their run to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen.
MORE ON KANSAS STATE
The Wildcats, who were a preseason top-five pick, have been ranked no lower than 12th in the Associated Press poll all season. They are currently 11th and are riding a seven-game winning streak, including five in a row at Bramlage Coliseum. K-State's only losses have come at Purdue in the season-opener, and vs. Penn State in the Bahamas. Both opponents were ranked seventh at the time, and both are currently in the top 10.
? ? ? KSU is led by the trio of junior forward Kendra Wecker, who is averaging 16.5 points and 8.8 rebounds a game; Ohlde, who is averaging 14.4 points and 6.4 rebounds, and junior guard Laurie Koehn (14.0 ppg), who sat out both games last year due to injury.
Evan Unrau: THE BIG 12'S MOST VERSATILE PLAYER
Senior All-America candidate Evan Unrau (Fort Collins, Colo. / Rocky Mountain HS) is the engine that pulls the Tigers' train, leading the team with her scoring and rebounding averages of 19.7 points and 9.4 rebounds a game. Those numbers rank third and tied for first, respectively, in the Big 12 Conference. In addition, the forward is tied for the Big 12 lead with five double-doubles.
? ? ? On top of her scoring and rebounding prowess, Unrau is ranked among the Big 12's top five players in three other diverse categories: 3-point FG Percentage (fifth, 45.7 pct.); Offensive Rebounds (first, 3.9 orpg); and Defensive Rebounds (fifth, 5.4 drpg). She is also ranked among the league leaders in 3-point FG Made (seventh, 1.9 3fgpg) and blocked shots (14th, 1.0 bpg). Unrau is also just one assist shy of being ranked among the Big 12's leaders in assist-to-turnover ratio; her current mark of 1.68 would rank 10th this week.
? ? ? Unrau was selected to Street & Smith's preseason women's All-America team, and the four-year starter continues to impress this season. Unrau was one of 50 players listed by Street & Smith's, and one of 30 players given Preseason Honorable Mention All-America status by the magazine. Ten others were each named to the "Terrific 10" and High Honorable Mention lists.
? ? ? Last year, Unrau became Mizzou's second First Team All-Big 12 Conference selection in the seven-year history of the conference. She led the Tigers in both scoring (16.0 ppg) and rebounding (7.7 rpg) in leading Mizzou to postseason play for the fourth straight year.
MIZZOU'S ON THE TUBE
Wednesday's game will be broadcast over much of the FOX Sports Net Midwest regional footprint - ironically, it is only most of the state of Missouri that will NOT receive the game due to a conflict with the Mizzou men's game at Iowa State. Tiger fans in Kansas City and Columbia/Jefferson City will be able to view the game.
? ? ? It marks Mizzou's second televised game of the season out of a school-record-tying seven guaranteed appearances this season. In fact, four of the Tigers' next five contests will hit the airwaves, including Saturday's home contest vs. Kansas on the Mizzou Sports Network.
? ? ? Additional broadcast exposures are available on FOX Sports Net should the Tigers reach the quarterfinals and beyond of the Big 12 Conference women's basketball tournament. And for the second straight year, all 63 games of the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Tournament will be aired by ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Pay-Per-View.
LAST TIME OUT: MIZZOU 65, SAINT LOUIS 62
Stretch James hit the game-winning jumper and had a pair blocks in the final minute of play, and the Missouri women hit crucial free throws down the stretch to stave off an upset bid by Saint Louis, 65-62, at the Bauman-Eberhardt Center Sunday afternoon.
THAT WAS CLOSE!
A closer look at Mizzou's three-point win at Saint Louis on Sunday shows just how much of a nail-biter the contest was. Neither team held greater than a three-point lead the entire second half; in fact, the game was a one-possession contest (i.e. a lead of three points or less or one team or the other) for an amazing 37:35 out of the 40 minutes.
? ? ? Mizzou held a 4-0 lead for a total of 17 seconds at the start of the game, and led by five (15-10) for 23 seconds. The Billikens had their own four-point lead (28-24) for a relative lifetime - all of 1:35 late in the first half. The rest of the game put the fans at the Bauman-Eberhardt Center on one-possession pins and needles.
TIGERS SWATTING SHOTS AT A NATION-LEADING RATE
While it can be debated whether it is the product of good defense, or merely as a defense mechanism, this is not for debate: No one in the country is blocking shots at a higher rate than the Mizzou women, according to the latest NCAA statistics released Tuesday.
? ? ? The Tigers have swatted 83 shots in their first 11 games, an average of 7.5 a contest. Tulsa is second at 6.7 bpg, followed by Western Illinois and Jackson State.
? ? ? The Tigers are well ahead of a pace that would break the current school record of 128, set in 1999-2000. In fact, only 10 previous teams have had more blocks in their entire seasons than this year's squad has had in its first 10 games.
? ? ? Mizzou is also ranked in the top 30 (out of 324 Division I schools) in six other categories:
Three Tigers are ranked individually among the nation's leaders. Stretch James leads the Big 12, and is 12th in the country, in blocked shots (2.9 bpg). Evan Unrau's 19.0 points per game is 34th, and sophomore G LaToya Bond (Urbana, Ill. / Urbana HS) is averaging 5.5 assists per game, which is 29th.