Feb. 18, 2005
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MISSOURI (9-14, 3-9 Big 12) at Oklahoma (14-9, 6-6)
Saturday, Feb. 19, 2005 - Norman, Okla.
TIPOFF: 4:06 p.m. CST.
ARENA: Lloyd Noble Center (10,284). Opened in 1975. Missouri is 166-188 (.469) all-time on the road, including 18-26 (.409) against unranked Big 12 opponents.
RADIO: KFRU-AM 1400, KLIK-AM 1240 (David Lile, play-by-play/Kerensa Barr, color). Also available through Yahoo! audio at www.mutigers.com.
TV: FSN national cablecast. Kevin Eschenfelder, play-by-play; Debbie Antonelli, color; Wave Robinson, producer.
SERIES: Missouri leads, 28-19, yet is 9-11 in Norman. The Tigers took last year's meeting in Columbia, 77-65, yet OU has won the last two meetings in Norman. Cindy Stein is 2-4 against the Sooners, including 1-2 in Norman.
RANKINGS: Neither team is receiving votes in either poll.
COACHES:
Missouri: Cindy Stein (Illinois '84), 110-93 at MU (seventh season) and 175-118 overall (10th season).
Oklahoma: Sherri Coale (Oklahoma Christian '87), 170-104 at OU and overall (ninth season).
TIGER WOMEN HIT THE AIRWAVES SATURDAY VS. OU
The Missouri women's basketball team (9-14, 3-9 Big 12) concludes a two-game road trip Saturday afternoon with a 4 p.m. tipoff at Oklahoma. The game will be nationally cablecast by FSN.
IT WON'T END THE STREAK, BUT IT'S NOTEWORTHY
While Oklahoma isn't ranked for Saturday's matchup, the Sooners are the last ranked team that the Tigers defeated. It came last Jan. 28, in Columbia, in a 77-65 win. The Tigers broke the school record for free-throw percentage, making all 21 of their charity tosses.
THE OKLAHOMA SERIES
As mentioned above, the Tigers have fared well against the Sooners in the all-time series, going 28-19 since the first matchup in 1977. Among Big 12 schools, the Tigers' success rate against the Sooners (59.5 percent) is surpassed only by MU's 74.1-percent winning percentage against Iowa State.
The Tigers broke a four-game losing streak to the Sooners with last year's win in Columbia, and will try to end a two-game losing streak in Norman that dates back to 1999. In Mizzou's last visit to Oklahoma in 2003, the Tigers rained down 10 3-pointers - the most since February of 2001 - yet Oklahoma matched that with 30 points from the free-throw line in a 74-69 win. The MU-OU game has traditionally been a high-scoring affair: the lowest winning score for either team came in the inagural game in 1977, when Mizzou registered a 66-48 win. Since 1997, the lowest winning score was 73 by Missouri in 1999.
SCOUTING THE SOONERS
Point guard and St. Louis native Dionnah Jackson, one of only two Oklahoma seniors, leads the Sooners in six major statistical categories: scoring (15.0 ppg), rebounding (8.4 rpg), assists (6.0 apg), blocks (1.0 bpg), steals (2.1), and field-goal percentage (.490). OU's only other player in double-figure scoring is sophomore forward Leah Rush, who is averaging 14.7 ppg. She is also second in rebounding (6.4 rpg).
In conference games, the Sooners, under ninth-year Head Coach Sherri Coale, are second in both assists (16.5 apg) and assist-turnover ratio (1.13-1).
LAST TIME OUT: #7/8 BAYLOR 74, MIZZOU 57
The Tigers held their own against the nation's seventh-ranked team, yet couldn't overcome a career-high 31 points and 11 rebounds from Steffanie Blackmon in a 74-57 loss to Baylor Wednesday night at the Ferrell Center.
THE SCHEDULE'S NOT KIND DOWN THE STRETCH...
With its previous 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. Starting this past Wednesday at Baylor, Mizzou's last five games come against the top seven teams in the league. Three of those games - against BU, and second-place Iowa State and Kansas State - are against top-25 teams, with the ISU and KSU games coming at Mizzou Arena.