Feb. 15, 2005
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MISSOURI (9-13, 3-8 Big 12) at #7 Baylor (19-3, 9-2)
Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2005 - Waco, Texas
TIPOFF: 7:00 p.m. CST.
ARENA: Ferrell Center (10,284). Opened in 1988. Missouri is 166-187 (.470) all-time on the road, including 0-25 against ranked Big 12 opponents.
RADIO: KWWC-FM 90.5 (David Lile, play-by-play/Kerensa Barr, color). Also available through Yahoo! audio at www.mutigers.com.
TV: None.
SERIES: Baylor leads, 8-3, including 4-1 in Waco. Baylor has won the last four overall, and the last four in Waco. Cindy Stein is 2-5 against the Lady Bears, including 0-3 in Waco.
RANKINGS: Baylor is ranked No. 7 in the Feb. 14 AP poll, and No. 8 in the Feb. 8 coaches' poll.
COACHES:
Missouri: Cindy Stein (Illinois '84), 110-92 at MU (seventh season) and 175-117 overall (10th season).
Baylor: Kim Mulkey-Robertson (Louisiana Tech '84), 117-38 at BU and overall (fifth season).
MIZZOU WOMEN TAKE TWO-GAME STREAK INTO WACO
The Missouri women's basketball team (9-13, 3-8 Big 12), owners of a new two-game winning streak, head south to Waco, Texas, for a 7 p.m. contest on Wednesday at No. 7-ranked Baylor (19-3, 9-2). The Tigers have their first two-game conference winning streak since a three-game streak to end the 2004 regular season.
THE SCHEDULE'S NOT KIND DOWN THE STRETCH...
With its last three games against the current eighth-, 12th-, and ninth-place teams out of the way, the Tiger women will definitely have a shot at affecting the Big 12 Conference race and improving their own seeding for the league's tournament next month. All five of Mizzou's remaining games, beginning with Wednesday's jaunt at first-place Baylor, come against the top seven teams in the league. Three of those games - against BU, and second-place Iowa State and Kansas State - come against top-25 teams, with the ISU and KSU games coming at Mizzou Arena.
LAST TIME OUT: MIZZOU 63, TEXAS A&M 46
Christelle N'Garsanet had a dominating night at Mizzou Arena on Saturday, scoring a game-high 23 points to lead Missouri to a 63-46 win over Texas A&M. For a complete game recap and box score, please refer to page 16 of these notes.
TIP-INS FROM LAST WEEK
The Tigers ended an eight-game losing streak - their longest since 1991 - and started a two-game winning streak with wins at Colorado and vs. Texas A&M last week ... the week started with a 58-55 win at Colorado on Wednesday. The win, which was secured with a 3-pointer at the buzzer from junior G LaToya Bond, was Missouri's first in Boulder in 15 years ... the 63-46 win over the Aggies on Saturday was Mizzou's first at home since Jan. 5, when the Tigers beat Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Conference opener for their first-ever Big 12-opening win.
The Tigers had four players average better than nine points and seven rebounds for the week: Bond (14.5 ppg / 7.0 rpg); junior C Christelle N'Garsanet (12.0 / 7.5); sophomore F EeTisha Riddle (10.0 / 9.0); and sophomore F Carlynn Savant (9.0 / 9.0).
THE BAYLOR SERIES
Mizzou heads to Waco, Texas, for just the fifth time ever on Wednesday. The Tigers have not beaten the Lady Bears since a 2000 win in Columbia. MU's last visit to the Ferrell Center was a close one, with Baylor registering a 71-65 win in 2003.
Last year, Evan Unrau scored 14 points, and two other Tigers were in double figures, but the Mizzou women dropped an 83-59 decision to the No. 18/20-ranked Lady Bears. For a complete game recap and box score of last year's matchup in Columbia, please refer to page 3 of these notes.
SCOUTING THE LADY BEARS
Baylor features one of the best frontcourts in the country in senior post Steffanie Blackmon and junior power forward Sophia Young, who are both women are on the midseason Wooden Award watch list. Young is third in the league in scoring at 17.9 points per game, and second in rebounding (9.5 rpg). Blackmon is seventh in both scoring (15.4 ppg) and rebounding (8.3 rpg). Sophomore small forward Emily Niemann is third on the squad, averaging 9.9 points per game.
The Lady Bears, under fifth-year Head Coach Kim Mulkey-Robertson, are the second-most potent scoring offense in the Big 12, averaging 74.5 points per game. Baylor is 11-0 this season at the Ferrell Center, and haven't lost at home since a three-point loss to Texas Tech on Feb. 8, 2004 - a string of 14 straight games.
BOND ... LaToya Bond
Junior G LaToya Bond (Urbana, Ill. / Urbana HS) was just 1-of-6 from 3-point range last week, but the one she did hit ended 15 years of frustration in Boulder, Colo., as her buzzer-beating trey gave the Tigers a 58-55 win - their first at Colorado since Feb. 7, 1990. She finished with a game-high-tying 15 points, and added six rebounds and three assists. She played her most complete game of the season on Saturday vs. Texas A&M, directing the Tiger offense to a 63-46 win vs. Texas A&M. Mizzou hit on 54.2 percent of its shots - its most accurate game in Big 12 play this season, and second-highest percentage overall. Bond finished with 14 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists for MU.
For the week, Bond averaged 14.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 5.0 assists, and her season averages to date are 12.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists a game. She is ranked third in the Big 12 in steals (2.32 spg).
RIDDLE ME THIS!
Sophomore F EeTisha Riddle (O'Fallon, Ill. / O'Fallon HS) had a breakout week last week, earning her first career double-double with a 12-point, career-high 10-rebound effort in Boulder. Her 12 points was just one shy of her single-game bests of 13 points set at KU last month, and her 10 rebounds was one better than the nine she had in the win at Miami (Ohio) on New Year's Eve. She also tied career higs with her three blocks and three steals in Boulder.
On Saturday vs. Texas A&M, Riddle added eight points and eight rebounds. She is MU's fifth-leading scorer, averaging 6.0 points per game. She is also second in rebounding (4.8 rpg) on the squad.
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 this season. After averaging just 11 minutes of playing time per game last year, N'Garsanet has started all but one game this season.
After going without a bucket (0-for-10) for just the second time this season in the win at Colorado, N'Garsanet made up for it with 10 rebounds. She bounced back Saturday vs. Texas A&M by going 10-for-11 from the field for a game-high 23 points. N'Garsanet's 90.9-percent accuracy from the field is the highest by a Tiger in the last six years.
She has scored in double figures in 15 of Mizzou's 22 games after recovering from a foot injury last month.
N'Garsanet 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 New Year's Eve, hitting for 10 points and nine rebounds at Miami (Ohio).
N'Garsanet is now Mizzou's leading scorer, averaging 12.2 ppg, as well as Mizzou's top rebounder (6.4 rpg). She set a career high with four steals vs. Texas A&M, tied her career high with five blocks vs. Oklahoma State, and leads the team and is sixth in the Big 12 with 1.50 blocks a game.