Jan. 10, 2005
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MISSOURI (7-6, 1-1 Big 12) at #20 Kansas State (10-3, 1-1)
Tuesday, January 11, 2005 - Manhattan, Kan.
TIPOFF: 7:06 p.m. CST.
ARENA: Bramlage Coliseum (13,340). Opened in 1988. Missouri is 165-183 (.474) all-time on the road, including 0-22 (.000) against Big 12 ranked opponents.
RADIO: KWWC-FM 90.5 (David Lile, play-by-play / Kerensa Barr, color). Also available on the Internet at www.mutigers.com.
TV: Mizzou Sports Network (FSN Midwest statewide [KC and Mid-Missouri blacked out], Metro Sports in Kansas City, and KZOU-UPN 11 in Mid-Missouri). Dan McLaughlin, play-by-play / Beau Baehman, color / Steve Kurtenbach, producer. Also, Kansas State broadcast on FSN Midwest in the state of Kansas and the KC metro area. Ben Boyle, play-by-play / Patti Phillips, color.
SERIES: Kansas State leads, 34-31, including 20-9 in Manhattan. KSU has won the last seven games, and the last three in Manhattan. Cindy Stein is 4-9 against the Wildcats, including 2-4 in Manhattan.
RANKINGS: Kansas State is ranked No. 20 in the both the Jan. 3 Associated Press poll and the Jan. 4 ESPN/USA Today/WBCA Coaches Poll.
COACHES:
Missouri: Cindy Stein (Illinois '84), 108-85 at MU (seventh season) and 173-110 overall (10th season).
Kansas State: Deb Patterson (Rockford College '79), 161-98 at KSU and overall (ninth season).
TIGERS, WILDCATS FACE OFF TUESDAY IN LITTLE APPLE
The University of Missouri women's basketball team (7-6, 1-1 Big 12), coming off a heartbreaking 81-74 loss to Nebraska on Saturday, will try to stay above .500 in league play Tuesday night with a tough battle against Kansas State looming in Manhattan, Kan.
The Wildcats (10-3, 1-1) have won the last seven meetings with the Tigers, including the last three in Manhattan. The current KSU senior class of Kendra Wecker, Laurie Koehn, Megan Mahoney and Chelsea Domenico have never lost to the Tigers.
On Tuesday, they will face one of their own: Missouri sophomore forward Tiffany Brooks (Leavenworth, Kan. / Leavenworth HS / Kansas State), who transferred from KSU at the semester break last year, makes her first trip back to Manhattan as a Tiger.
THE K-STATE SERIES
As mentioned above, the Wildcats have dominated the series recently, winning the last seven games by an average of 17.6 points. Missouri had led the all-time series beginning in 1993 until K-State tied it with a season sweep in 1999. Missouri won the next four games - including the first two of Nicole Ohlde's career - before Kansas State started its current streak to put the all-time series at 34-31 in favor of the Wildcats. In the "Useless Info" department, this is the fifth straight year that the game in Manhattan is being played on a weeknight.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
With the exception of a 78-59 roadblock at Iowa State - traditionally a tough place to get a win - Kansas State has rolled in the last month. Winners of six out of their last seven games, Kansas State is outscoring its opponents by an average of 19.6 points per game.
Senior All-America candidate Kendra Wecker leads the Big 12 in scoring at 20.7 points per game. She is also third in rebounding at 9.2 rpg, and leads the league in 3-point percentage at 57.1 percent. Laurie Koehn continues to rule the roost outside, pouring in an average of 2.62 treys per game to lead the Big 12. She averages 12.2 points a game, and Megan Mahoney is adding 11.2 ppg.
LAST TIME OUT: NEBRASKA 81, MIZZOU 74
Sophomore F Tiffany Brooks became the first player - male or female - to score 30 points in Mizzou Arena, yet she and her teammates couldn't find the basket down the stretch Saturday night in an 81-74 loss to Nebraska.
BROOKS MAKING A SPLASH FOR TIGERS
Now eligible after sitting out the last year (two semesters) under NCAA transfer rules, sophomore G Tiffany Brooks (Leavenworth, Kan. / Leavenworth HS / Kansas State) is certainly making good use of her time. Saturday's 30-point outburst against Nebraska is only the latest addition to the scoring punch she's provided.
She started her first game eligible against Stanford and had six points and three rebounds. Brooks canned the winning jumper in Mizzou's win at Miami (Ohio) on New Year's Eve, but that was just the final piece of an impressive performance. She had a team- and career-high 16 points, and added two rebounds, two assists and two steals against the RedHawks. She also created defensive stops for the Tigers in holding Miami to just 30-percent shooting for the day. Last Sunday, she had 11 points against Saint Louis before hitting for 14 points and a career-high seven rebounds vs. the Cowgirls.
Brooks had toppled her previous career high of 16 points by halftime of Saturday night's contest when she had 17 at the break. Her 30 points are the most by a Tiger in regulation since Evan Unrau also had 30 vs. Southeastern Louisiana in 2001. Note - Unrau had 29 in regulation of last year's double-overtime game with Kansas State in which she finished with 40. Brooks also had a season-high three assists on Saturday, and made 86 percent of her free throws (18-of-21) last week. She is now Missouri's leading scorer, averaging 15.4 points per game following her 22.0 ppg average this past week.
N'GARSANET TAKES OVER INSIDE
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 1 of Mizzou's last 11 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. She just missed another double-double last Friday, hitting for 10 points and nine rebounds at Miami (Ohio).
N'Garsanet leads the Tigers in both scoring (13.9 ppg) and rebounding (6.6 rpg). She tied her career high with five blocks vs. Oklahoma State, and leads the team and is third in the Big 12 with 2.08 blocks a game.
THESE TIGERS YOUNGER, BUT MORE EXPERIENCED
Much has been made of the loss of five experienced seniors from last year's team that led the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament. Yet a quick look at the stats shows that this year's team, while much younger, is deeper than last. That has allowed the coaching staff to be more flexible with its lineup depending on the game situation.
Through 13 games last year, only four players averaged 20 minutes a game or more; this year, that number is up to a solid eight. That is despite the Tigers having five freshmen and sophomores in the rotation.