The winner of Saturday's game will earn their school 1.5 points in the Border Showdown.The winner of Saturday's game will earn their school 1.5 points in the Border Showdown.
Women's Basketball

Tigers Hope to Give Stein Birthday Present vs. Jayhawks

Jan. 20, 2005

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MISSOURI (7-9, 1-4 Big 12) at Kansas (7-8, 0-4)
Saturday, January 22, 2005 - Lawrence, Kan.

TIPOFF: 7:00 p.m. CST.
ARENA: Allen Fieldhouse (16,300). Opened in 1955. Missouri is 165-185 (.471) all-time on the road, including 17-25 (.405) against unranked Big 12 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: Mizzou Sports Network (FSN Midwest statewide [KC and Mid-Missouri blacked out], Metro Sports in Kansas City, and KZOU Ch. 28 in Mid-Missouri). Beau Baehman, play-by-play; Gary Link, color; Steve Kurtenbach, producer.
SERIES: Kansas leads, 33-31, including 14-10 in Lawrence. MU has won eight of the last nine games, including the last four in Lawrence. Cindy Stein is 8-4 against the Jayhawks, including 4-2 in Lawrence.
RANKINGS: Both teams are unranked.
COACHES:
      Missouri: Cindy Stein (Illinois '84), 108-88 at MU (seventh season) and 173-113 overall (10th season).
      Kansas: Bonnie Henrickson (St. Cloud State '86), 7-8 at KU (first season) and 165-70 overall (eighth season).

TIGERS HOPE TO GIVE STEIN BIRTHDAY PRESENT SATURDAY VS. JAYHAWKS
      When Mizzou and Kansas get together in any sport, you can throw out the records. Both women's basketball teams would like to do so in advance of Saturday's Border Showdown at Allen Fieldhouse. Missouri enters the game 7-9 and 1-4 in the Big 12, while Kansas is 7-8 and 0-4. Both teams are riding four-game losing streaks, all in league play.
      The Tigers will hope to present Missouri Head Coach Cindy Stein with a nice birthday present with a win against KU. Mizzou is 2-1 under Stein when playing on Jan. 22; the Tigers beat Kansas State in 2000, 63-52, and Nebraska by a 65-53 margin in 2003. The lone loss came at Texas in 2002, when the Longhorns took a 73-51 decision.

BORDER SHOWDOWN RESUMES SATURDAY
      Saturday night's game will be the first contest of the winter sports season in the Missouri/Kansas Border Showdown, presented by the Midwest Ford Dealers. Kansas currently holds a 7.0-5.5 lead in the third-annual season-long series, in which the various rival sports programs earn points for head-to-head wins. Missouri won the inaugural Border Cup with a dominating 32.0-8.5 win in 2002-03, while Kansas won last year's series, 21.5-18.5. Saturday's winner will earn 1.5 points for their school.

SCOUTING THE JAYHAWKS
      Kansas is still looking for its first Big 12 Conference win under first-year coach Bonnie Henrickson, who comes to Lawrence after seven successful seasons as the head coach at Virginia Tech. KU is coming off of a 62-60 loss at Texas A&M for its fourth straight loss. Senior guard Aquanita Burras had a game- and career-high 24 points on 9-0f-11 shooting.
      In Big 12 play, the Jayhawks have four players averaging 9.3 points or more a game - Erica Hallman (11.0 ppg), Kaylee Brown (9.5), Burras and Crystal Kemp (both 9.3). Those four, along with Freshman Taylor McIntosh, comprise KU's starting five; they have made 71 of Kansas' 75 total starts this year, and all 20 in Big 12 play. In its four league games, KU is averaging just 48.2 ppg to rank 11th.
      The Tigers and Jayhawks have two common opponents, losing to both Kansas State and Iowa State. Kansas played both teams at home and lost by scores of 63-45 and 70-37, respectively, while Mizzou played both on the road and dropped those game by counts of 88-47 and 65-59.

THE KANSAS SERIES
      The series with Kansas is the oldest among schools that Missouri continues to compete against, but is the second-most-played with 64 previous meetings. [Kansas State and Missouri had met 65 times entering this year.] The two schools differ on the all-time series record. Kansas has it at 34-31 in favor of the Jayhawks, while Missouri does not recognize a 1973 meeting before the Tiger program was recognized as a varsity sport at MU.
      As stated above, Missouri has won eight of the last nine in the series, including four straight in Lawrence. Last year's 76-49 win was the fourth-largest margin of victory in the series, and the second-largest Mizzou win in Lawrence ever, topped only by a 29-point win in 1995.

LAST TIME OUT: COLORADO 56, MIZZOU 51
      Despite a late rally, the Missouri women's basketball team fell to Colorado, 56-51, in Big 12 Conference action Tuesday night at Mizzou Arena. It is the fourth straight loss for the Tigers.

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 16 games last year, only five players - with four being seniors - averaged 19 minutes a game or more; this year, that number is up to a solid eight, with just one senior. The current rotation includes five freshmen and sophomores.