March 17, 2004
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TIGERS EARN EIGHTH NCAA BID, FIRST SINCE 2001
The Tiger women are dancin' again. With two players still buoyed by the memories of a magical Sweet Sixteen run in 2001, the University of Missouri women's basketball team, under the direction of sixth-year Head Coach Cindy Stein, is the No. 11 seed in the Midwest Region at the 2004 NCAA National Championship Tournament.
? ? ? The 17-12 Tigers received an at-large bid and travel to Tempe, Ariz., for first-round play beginning Saturday. Mizzou will play No. 6 seed Stanford (24-6) in the night's second game, while No. 3 Oklahoma (23-8) will open play in Tempe against No. 14 Marist (20-10) at 7 p.m. (MST). The winners of Saturday's games will play on Monday.
? ? ? This year's NCAA bid marks the eighth in the program's history; Mizzou's last appearance was at a first/second-round site in Athens, Ga., where a 10th-seeded Tiger squad scored a pair of upsets - first over No. 7 seed Wisconsin, and then again over host and No. 2 seed Georgia - to advance to just the second Sweet Sixteen in the team's history. Missouri is 4-7 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
RECORDS VS. THE NCAA FIELD
Missouri has an all-time record of 134-149 (.473) against the other 63 teams in this year's field, including 4-9 this year. Yet take out the Big 12 schools, and Mizzou's record against this year's field rises a much more respectable 47-38 (.553).
RECORDS VS. THE TEMPE TRIO
The Tigers have faced their first-round opponent, Stanford, twice previously: Both came in the 1980's, and both were on neutral floors. MU earned a 72-32 win over the Cardinal at the 1984 Masonic Classic in Coral Gables, Fla., while Stanford took a 75-60 decision at the 1988 Northwestern Tournament in Evanston, Ill.
? ? ? Missouri and Oklahoma's roots, of course, run deep, as both were charter members of the Big Eight Conference in women's basketball. A potential second-round matchup with the Sooners would be the first postseason meeting between the schools outside of a conference tournament. MU leads the all-time series, 28-19, and took a 77-65 win in Columbia on Jan. 28.
? ? ? Missouri has never faced Marist, and has only faced one MAAC school previously; MU is 2-0 against Loyola (Md.).
MORE MINUTIAE
In addition to the MAAC, Missouri is 6-5 against the Pac 10 and 219-213 all-time against Big 12 Conference schools ... the Tigers own a 4-7 record all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including 1-2 in the Midwest Region ... Saturday's game will be the first for Missouri in the state of Arizona, making it the 28th state on the Tigers' travel list ... MU is 12-11 against teams from the state of California, 64-38 vs. Oklahoma schools, and would play its first team from the Empire State with a game against the Red Foxes.
HOW'D MIZZOU GET HERE?
The Tigers made the tournament the same way all playoff teams do: strong pitching, timely hitting, and solid defense. [Hang on - I must be confused with all of the Major League teams in town for Spring Training... while we're at it, go Cubs!]
? ? ? Seriously, the Tigers tied for seventh at the conclusion of a brutal Big 12 Conference schedule. All six teams in front of Missouri made the NCAA Tournament field, with all six earning top-six regional seeds or higher. In addition, Mizzou's strength of schedule was ranked among the 20 toughest in the country, and five non-conference opponents - Iowa (East No. 9 seed), Southwest Missouri State (East No. 12), UW-Green Bay (East No. 14), Austin Peay (West No. 13), and Southern [La.] (West No. 16) - all made this year's field of 64. Four of them - all but Iowa - won their respective conference tournaments.
A PREVIEW OF NEXT YEAR?
While a contract hasn't yet been signed, it's an interesting coincidence that Stanford and Missouri are tentatively scheduled to play each other this coming December in Columbia. The Cardinal would be among the first opponents to play in Mizzou's new $75 million arena, scheduled for opening in October.
UN-BELIEVEABLE: THE BIG 12'S MOST VERSATILE PLAYER
Senior All-America candidate and two-time First Team All-Big 12 honoree 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 17.7 points and 9.0 rebounds a game. Unrau leads the Big 12 in rebounding, and is third in scoring (second among active players with the departure of Oklahoma State's Trisha Skibbe, who left that team before the end of the regular season). In addition, the forward leads the league with 14 double-doubles, including a league-high nine against Mizzou's 18 Big 12 opponents.
? ? ? Unrau put on the best display of her talents two weeks ago (Feb. 22) in a thrilling double-overtime performance vs. No. 8 Kansas State, scorching the Wildcats for a career-high and near school-record 40 points. She added 15 rebounds, four assists and two steals, and had just ONE turnover in playing all but the final 1.2 seconds of the 50-minute game. Last Friday, she was named one of 10 women's semifinalists for the Creamland Dairies Collegiate Basketball Award of Excellence, and last Wednesday was named as one of 48 finalists for the Kodak/WBCA All-America Team.
? ? ? On top of her scoring and rebounding prowess, Unrau is ranked among the Big 12's top players in A BIG 12-LEADING NINE of the 12 categories the league office tracks weekly, making her arguably the Big 12 Conference's MVP (Most Versatile Player). That is TWO MORE than Kansas State's Nicole Ohlde, Colorado's Randie Wirt, Texas' Tiffany Jackson and Baylor's Steffanie Blackmon, who are ranked in seven. Unrau is ranked in scoring (third), rebounding (FIRST), assists (15th), free-throw percentage (10th), 3-point FG percentage (13th), 3-pointers made (11th), assist-to-turnover ratio (13th), offensive rebounds (FIRST) and defensive rebounds (sixth).
? ? ? Unrau is also shooting 87.6% (78-of-89) from the free-throw line in the last 13 games.
UNRAU NAMED TO LIST OF KODAK/WBCA ALL-AMERICA FINALISTS
Evan Unrau has been named as one of 48 finalists for the Kodak/WBCA Division I All-America Team, officials from the Women's Basketball Coaches Association and Eastman Kodak announced last Wednesday (March 10). Unrau is Missouri's first WBCA All-Region honoree since Erika Martin in 1996, and just the eighth in the history of the program. It's Unrau's second national honor in the last week, as she was named as one of 10 women's semifinalists for the Creamland Dairies Collegiate Basketball Award of Excellence on March 5.
? ? ? The WBCA honorees were announced in each of eight regions; Unrau is one of six players recognized in Region 5. The others, all fellow members of the Big 12, are Kansas State center Nicole Ohlde and forward Kendra Wecker, Texas forward Heather Schrieber and center Stacy Stephens, and Colorado center Tera Bjorklund.
? ? ? The Kodak/WBCA All-America Basketball Team will be announced during a press conference at the New Orleans Hyatt on Saturday, April 3, as part of the NCAA Women's Final Four festivities. For more information, contact Tilea Coleman at 770-279-8027, ext. 112.
TRIO NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-BIG 12
Three Missouri women's basketball players - Evan Unrau (Sr., Psychology), Tracy Lozier (Sr., Communications) and Megan Roney (Jr., Business Administration) are among the 41 student-athletes who have been named to the 2003 Women's Basketball Academic All-Big 12 Team, officials from the conference office announced March 3.
? ? ? Only Kansas State and Iowa State, with four honorees apiece, had more players make the first team than Missouri. 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 32 first-team members and nine 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 three honorees bring to 25 to the number of basketball student-athletes recognized by the Big 12 in Head Coach Cindy Stein's six-year tenure.