TIGERS "PACK THE ZOU", WELCOME HALL-OF-FAMERS BACK FOR MATCHUP WITH NO. 2-RANKED STANFORD
      The University of Missouri women's basketball team (4-4) hosts its most meaningful game in the short history of Mizzou Arena on Saturday, as a trio of special events are taking place as the Tigers host No. 2 nationally ranked Stanford (7-0).
      First off, the Tigers welcome home the only two women to have their numbers retired from fiture use at the University of Missouri, Joni Davis and Renee Kelly. They are separated by just seven points as MU's top two all-time scorers, at 2,126 and 2,119 points, respectively. Kelly owns the per-game career scoring average at 17.4 points per game, while Davis is right behind at 17.1. Both were unable to be in attendance when their jerseys were brought down from the Hearnes Center rafters in the final women's game played there last year, so Mizzou is proud to welcome them back to Columbia to officially re-raise their jerseys to the lofty rafters at Mizzou Arena in a halftime ceremony.
      Secondly, this game marks the Tigers' annual sell-out game. For five years, fans flocked to "Head to the Hearnes"; now, they're invited to "Pack the Zou" and fill Mizzou Arena. $1 tickets are available, and numerous businesses and indivuduals have bought blocks of tickets for donation and distribution to local charities, youth groups and other organizations.
      Finally, the game can't happen without an opponent, and Stanford more than fits the bill of quality competition. The Cardinal come in as the highest-ranked opponent to visit Columbia since No. 1 Southern Cal escaped with a two-point win in 1983. Missouri has two magical wins in its history against top-five opponents, but neither came at home: The first came in MU's stunning upset run to win the 1994 Big Eight Conference Tournament as the No. 7 seed, when the Tigers beat No. 3-ranked Colorado by a 79-71 count in Salina, Kan. The other came during Mizzou's memorable run to the 2001 NCAA Sweet 16, when the Tigers upset No. 4-ranked Georgia at Stegeman Coliseum, 78-65.

SCOUTING THE CARDINAL
      Stanford has been ranked in the top 10 since the beginning of the season, starting out at No. 7 before rising to their current No. 2 slot. The Cardinal have won their games by an average of over 27 points a contest; their closest margin was a three-point win over Texas Tech on Nov. 28 in Santa Clara, Calif.
      Four Cardinal average double-figure scoring, led by freshman G Candice Wiggins at 17.1 ppg; she also has a team-leading 22 steals on the year.

THE STANFORD SERIES
      As Tiger fans know, Stanford ended Mizzou's season last year with a 68-44 win in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Tempe, Ariz. That gave the Cardinal a 2-1 lead in the all-time series, which until Saturday has never seen a game on either school's campus. Mizzou took a 72-32 win at the 1984 Masonic Classic in Coral Gables, Fla., while Stanford took a 75-60 win in a 1988 tournament at Northwestern University.

MORE STANFORD CONNECTIONS
      When the Tigers and Cardinal met last March in Tempe, it also reunited a trio of former Buckeyes. Mizzou Director of Basketball Operations Edith Thompson was a two-year starter at Ohio State in 1981-82; she was coached in Columbus by Tara VanDerveer, who left Ohio State in 1985 to take the head-coaching reins at Stanford. One of Thompson's teammates at OSU, Amy Tucker, is VanDerveer's top lieutenant as Stanford associate head coach.
      In addition, Stanford strength and conditioning coach and former OSU and San Diego State head coach Beth Burns, and Cardinal director of basketball operations Tammy Stephens, were both graduate assistants under VanDerveer at Ohio State during Thompson's tenure.