Dec. 28, 2004
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MISSOURI (4-5) at Miami University (6-4)
Friday, December 31, 2004 - Oxford, Ohio
TIPOFF: 2:00 p.m. EST (1:00 p.m. CST).
ARENA: Millett Hall (9,200). Opened in 1968. Miami's all-time record there is 233-102 (.696). Missouri is 164-183 (.473) all-time on the road, including 95-58 (.621) against unranked non-conference opponents.
RADIO: KFRU-AM 1400, KLIK-AM 1240 (David Lile, play-by-play/Kerensa Barr, color) and available to affiliates of the Tiger Radio Network. Also available on the Internet at www.mutigers.com.
TV: None.
SERIES: Missouri leads, 1-0, by virtue of its 92-68 win in Columbia on Jan. 2.
RANKINGS: Neither team is receiving votes.
COACHES:
Missouri: Cindy Stein (Illinois '84), 105-84 at MU (seventh season) and 170-109 overall (10th season).
Miami: Maria Fantanarosa (Miami '90), 109-74 at MU (seventh season) and 116-94 overall (eighth season).
TIGER WOMEN CLOSE OUT 2004 IN BUCKEYE STATE
The University of Missouri women's basketball team (4-5) hopes that Father Time includes a win in the last few sands of the 2004 hourglass, as the Tigers play their final non-conference road game of the season New Year's Eve against Miami University (6-4). It's only fitting that the Tigers and RedHawks are matching up in the final game of 2004, as the two teams also played the first game of the year back on Jan. 2.
The Tigers are coming off of a hard-fought 71-55 loss to No. 2-ranked Stanford in front of a season-high crowd of 7,585 at Mizzou Arena on Dec. 18. The 13-day layoff between that game and the showdown with the RedHawks is the longest in 16 years (Dec. 17-30, 1988), when the Tigers beat Illinois State at home before losing to Northwestern State (La.) in San Diego.
SCOUTING THE REDHAWKS
The defending Mid-American Conference champions, Miami is once again picked to win the league's East Division. The RedHawks return home from two separate road trips, yet the latter - at Seton Hall and Manhattan - has Miami on a two-game losing streak.
Despite the losses, Miami is still rated among the nation's top 40 programs according to the WBCA/Summerville RPI, and has that ranking's 15th-toughest schedule. By comparison, Mizzou is currently at No. 80 with the 34th-toughest slate.
The RedHawks are led in scoring by junior G Cindi Merrill (16.3 ppg), and are getting a team-best 6.6 rebounds a contest from freshman F/C Laura Markwood. Sophomore G Amanda Jackson is also scoring in double figures for Head Coach Maria Fantanarosa (13.2 ppg).
THE MIAMI SERIES
It's a short series history between the two teams, and the first-ever meeting came in the first game of 2004. Missouri captured a 92-68 win at the Hearnes Center on Jan. 2. Mizzou is 5-1 all-time against members of the Mid-American Conference; the lone loss came on Dec. 4 vs. Eastern Michigan in the championship of the State Farm Tiger Classic. In addition to Miami, the Tigers have also beaten Ball State and Toledo once, and Northern Illinois twice. Four of the six meetings against MAC schools have come in the last two seasons.
MORE MIAMI CONNECTIONS
Head Coach Cindy Stein was an assistant at Miami in the 1987-88 season, when the Redskins - Miami's former nickname - finished second in the MAC. One of Stein's players on that 1988 team was current RedHawk coach Maria Fantanarosa. Finally, we'd be remiss without adding that the writer's wife, the former Carla Millard, was a former star student assistant and intern in the Miami sports information office in the mid-1990's. She returns to haunt Millett Hall as Mizzou's good-luck charm on Friday; the Tigers are 2-0 in road games with "The Mrs." in attendance after wins last season at Bradley (77-58) in the season-opener and Kansas (76-49).
LAST TIME OUT: #2/2 STANFORD 71, MIZZOU 55
Senior C Megan Roney scored a season-high 13 points, and sophomore G Tiffany Brooks scored six points in her debut game as a Tiger, yet No. 2 Stanford had too much to throw at Mizzou in a 71-55 win on Dec. 18 at Mizzou Arena.
BROOKS FINALLY DONS BLACK AND GOLD
A year of being relegated to solely work on the practice court paid off for sophomore G Tiffany Brooks (Leavenworth, Kan. / Leavenworth HS / Kansas State), who became eligible at the conclusion of the fall semester and just in time for the Stanford game. She started the game - her first-ever collegiate start - and scored her first basket for Mizzou just 2:35 into the game. She finished with six points and three rebounds in her Mizzou debut.
RONEY HITS FOR SEASON-HIGH VS. STANFORD
Only one Tiger reached double-figure scoring against the tenacious Stanford defense - which entered as the third-best defensive unit in the country - and it was a surprise that it was senior C Megan Roney (Independence, Mo. / Truman HS) that did so. Roney entered the game averaging just 3.4 points per game, yet erupted for a season-high 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including a career-high three 3-pointers. Roney was just two points off of her career-high of 15, set in last year's Big 12 Tournament first round vs. Oklahoma State.
N'GARSANET GETS SECOND DOUBLE-DOUBLE
Junior Christelle N'Garsanet (Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire / Illinois Central College) has taken over as MU's presence in the paint. After averaging just 11 minutes of playing time per game last year, N'Garsanet has started all but one game this season. She has scored in double figures in seven of Mizzou's nine games, and has a pair of double-doubles: a 16-point, career-high 14-rebound effort at SMS on Dec. 8, and a breakout performance against Mississippi Valley State the previous Friday night in the first round of the State Farm Tiger Classic, when the 6-foot-3 center exploded for career highs of 29 points and 13 rebounds against the Delta Devilettes, propelling her to all-tournament honors.
N'Garsanet leads the Tigers in both scoring (13.4 ppg) and rebounding (6.0 rpg). She is ranked among the nation's top 50 shot-blockers with her 2.0 bpg average.