March 1, 2005
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MIZZOU (10-16, 4-11 Big 12) vs. #17/18 Kansas State (20-6, 11-4)
Wednesday, March 2, 2005 - Columbia, Mo.
TIPOFF: 7:00 p.m. CST.
ARENA: Norm Stewart Court at Mizzou Arena (15,061). Opened in October 2004. MU is 285-109 (.723) all-time at home, including 5-7 at Mizzou Arena. The Tigers are 8-21 (.276) in the nine years of the Big 12 vs. ranked teams at home.
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: Kansas State leads, 35-31, yet Missouri is 18-9 in Columbia. Kansas State has won the last eight games overall, including the last three in Columbia. Cindy Stein is 4-10 against the Wildcats, including 2-4 in Columbia.
RANKINGS: Kansas State is ranked No. 17 in the Associated Press and No. 18 in the coaches' poll.
COACHES:
Missouri: Cindy Stein (Illinois '84), 111-95 at MU (seventh season) and 176-122 overall (10th season).
Kansas State: Deb Patterson (Rockford College '79), 171-101 at KSU and overall (ninth season).
Special Promotions: "Senior Night"
RONEY, SWOBODA BID FAREWELL WEDNESDAY NIGHT VS. 17TH-RANKED KANSAS STATE
The Missouri women's basketball team (10-16, 4-11 Big 12), fresh off a dramatic five-point overtime win at Nerbraska last Saturday, sends off its two seniors Wednesday night against No. 17 Kansas State. Megan Roney and Shea Swoboda will be honored in a pre-game ceremony, and will both sign autographs after the game. They will be joined by two members of the WNBA Minnesota Lynx - former Tiger All-American Amanda Lassiter, and Kansas State's Nicole Ohlde.
LAST TIME OUT: MISSOURI 70, NEBRASKA 65 (OT)
Carlynn Savant earned her first career double-double, and led four Tigers in double-figure scoring, as Missouri captured a 70-65 win over Nebraska on Saturday evening at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. It is Missouri's first overtime win since a three-point triumph in the first round of the 2003 WNIT against Western Illinois.
THE KANSAS STATE SERIES
The Wildcats have dominated the matchup the last four years, winning the last eight games in the series. That coincides with the Wildcats' arrival in the top 25 polls; Missouri has not beaten Kansas State since the last time they were unranked: Feb. 7, 2001, and MU has not won in Columbia since Jan. 20 of that year. KSU's No. 17 ranking is its lowest in Columbia in this span.
The Tigers will look to pull off the upset and post their first win over a ranked opponent since last Jan. 28 against Oklahoma. Missouri has lost 14 of its last 15 at home against ranked opposition, yet nearly picked the Wildcats off last year in a 93-90, double-overtime thriller.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Kansas State will be playing its final regular-season game with the senior trio of Kendra Wecker, Laurie Koehn and Megan Mahoney. Wecker's national player-of-the-year candidacy has been solid this season, as she is the lone player in the Big 12 who is averaging a double-double with league-leading totals of 20.8 points and 10.1 rebounds per game.
Koehn needs just 19 3-pointers to become the NCAA's career leader in that category, and she is second on the squad in scoring at 12.6 ppg. Mahoney leads the team in assists with 91, and is averaging 9.5 ppg. Sophomore Claire Coggins is averaging more than 10 points per game in league play as KSU's third-leading scorer.
TIP-INS FROM LAST WEEK...
SO WHEN ARE WE GOING TO PLAY?
The question refers to the bracket for the upcoming Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Women's Basketball Tournament, and the answer is this coming Tuesday, March 8, at either noon or 6:30 p.m. The Tigers will secure the No. 9 seed - and a noon matchup next Tuesday vs. Kansas - with either a Texas A&M loss at home to Texas on Wednesday, or a combination of wins by the Aggies, Tigers, and Jayhawks. Should the three teams finish in a three-way tie at 5-11 (with a Kansas loss to Iowa State on Tuesday) - or if the Tigers are alone at 4-12 - Texas A&M would earn the eighth seed, Kansas the ninth and Missouri would play Oklahoma at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday as the 10th seed.