March 2, 2004
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| TIPOFF: 7:00 p.m. CST | ||||
| ARENA: Reed Arena (12,500). Opened in 1998. MU is 163-180 (.475) alltime on the road, including 16-25 against unranked 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: None. | ||||
| SERIES: Mizzou leads, 5-3, yet is 0-3 in College Station. The Tigers won a 64-51 decision last year in Columbia, yet the Aggies prevailed in 2002 in College Station, 85-61. | ||||
| RANKINGS: Both teams are unranked. | ||||
| COACHES: | ||||
| Missouri: Cindy Stein (Illinois '84), 99-77 at MU (sixth season) and 164-102 overall (ninth season).
Texas A&M: Gary Blair (Texas Tech '74), 9-17 at TAMU (first season) and 417-180 overall (19th season). |
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MU WOMEN LOOKING TO SNAP LONE-STAR STREAK VS. AGGIES
The MU women's basketball team (15-11, 6-9 Big 12) will look to snap an odd streak, and continue it through next week as the Tigers head to College Station, Texas, to face a dangerous Texas A&M squad in both teams' regular-season finale.
? ? ? The Tigers are coming off a pair of key wins against the two teams in front of them in the league standings - Nebraska and Iowa State - and must still wait for their results before finding out what seed they will take into next week's Big 12 Tournament in Dallas.
? ? ? The Aggies (9-17, 2-13), meanwhile, are perhaps the one team that can sympathize better than any other about the close calls that the Tigers have had this season. Texas A&M has five conference losses by three or fewer points, including four at home. The Aggies have beaten Oklahoma State at home, and Kansas in Lawrence.
MORE ON TEXAS A&M
The Aggies are led by senior guard Toccara Williams, who leads the nation in steals (4.16 spg) and the Big 12 in assists (7.20 apg). She also is leading the team with a 15.7 points-per-game average, and is just the third player in NCAA history to total more than 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 700 assists and 400 steals. TAMU is last in the league in field-goal and free-throw shooting, yet leads the Big 12 in steals and turnover margin.
UN-BELIEVABLE: 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 17.9 points and 8.9 rebounds a game. Unrau leads the Big 12 in rebounding, and is third in scoring (second among active players with the departure of OSU's Trisha Skibbe). In addition, the forward leads the league with 12 double-doubles, including seven in Big 12 play. For the latest on Unrau, please refer to page 2.
? ? ? Unrau put on the best display of her talents on Sunday 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.
? ? ? On top of her scoring and rebounding prowess, Unrau is ranked among the Big 12's top players in A LEAGUE-LEADING EIGHT of the 12 categories the league office tracks weekly, making her arguably the Big 12 Conference's MVP (Most Versatile Player). That is one more than KSU's Nicole Ohlde, CU's Randie Wirt, UT's Tiffany Jackson and BU's Steffanie Blackmon, who are ranked in seven. Here are Unrau's league ranks:
* Scoring 3rd 17.9 ppg * Rebounding 1st 8.9 rpg * Free-Throw Pct. 13th 78.7% * 3-Point FG Pct. 10th 39.4% * 3-Point FG Made/Gm. 8th 1.58 3fgpg * Assist/TO Ratio 13th 1.18 * Off. Rebounds 1st 3.69 orpg * Def. Rebounds 7th 5.19 drpg
? ? ? Unrau is also shooting 87.1 percent (61-of-70) from the free-throw line in the last 10 games.
LAST TIME OUT: MIZZOU 63, IOWA STATE 58
The Missouri women's basketball team turned 22 Iowa State turnovers into 20 points, and hit 17-of-19 free throws in the second half, en route to a 63-58 victory on senior day at the Hearnes Center Saturday afternoon. The occasion also marked the final women's regular-season contest ever to be played in the arena.
CLOSE HOME LOSSES HAVE TIGERS SAYING, 'WHAT IF?'
It's always too late to play "What If...", but it bears noting that "if" the Tigers would have won their five home Big 12 games against Kansas, Nebraska, #11 Colorado, #9 Texas Tech and #8 Kansas State - games Mizzou lost by an average of 3.6 points, and games in which the Tigers did not have their normal starting lineup - then the Tigers would currently be alone in third in the Big 12 with an 11-4 record. More importantly, the resultant winning percentage would have propelled Mizzou all the way to a current No. 8 in the WBCA RPI.
STRONG SKED. HELPING TIGERS
Mizzou is listed at No. 34 as of Thursday in the RPI coordinated by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, and despite the Tigers' recent struggles at home, are by no means out of the running for postseason play. Much of that is due to MU's strong schedule, which is ranked No. 8 in the country by the WBCA.
? ? ? MU's only non-conference losses were to SMS, who leads the Missouri Valley and is just outside both polls this week, and UW-Green Bay, who leads the Horizon League. Two other Tiger opponents - Austin Peay (Ohio Valley) and Miami [Ohio] (Mid-American) - also lead their respective conferences. Miami has lost just once (in overtime) since losing to the Tigers.
FROM ROAD WORRIERS TO ROAD WARRIORS
While Mizzou's struggles on the road have been documented, it should be noted that when the Tigers win away from Hearnes, they're winning big - particularly in the last two years. Here is the listing of MU's largest margins of victory on the road in the eight years of the Big 12 (this season's wins in bold):
* 31 at Iowa State 1/19/03 * 27 at Kansas 1/24/04 * 25 at Oklahoma St. 2/14/04 * 25 at Oklahoma 2/15/97 * 21 at Nebraska 2/8/03 * 19 at Iowa State 2/7/04
RANK-AND-FILE THIS
The Tigers have lost seven games at the Hearnes Center this season. Six have come in Big 12 play, and six to teams that have been ranked at some point this season (Southwest Missouri State, Nebraska, Colorado, Baylor, Texas Tech, Kansas State). Five of the seven losses were by a TOTAL of 18 points (3.6 ppg). That included a span in which the Tigers faced five consecutive ranked teams at home.
? ? ? Although five straight games at home against ranked teams is a challenge, it likely won't match the difficulty faced by the 2001-02 squad. That team, which went 14-15, including 9-6 at Hearnes, had six games in an eight-game home stretch against ranked teams - all Big 12 opposition. MU's only win in that span came in its last home win over a ranked team until Jan. 28: Jan. 9, 2002, against then-No. 10 Texas Tech.