Jan. 17, 2006
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vs. Colorado (6-10, 1-3)
Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2006 - Columbia, Mo.
TIPOFF: 7:00 p.m. CST.
ARENA: Mizzou Arena (15,061). Opened in 2004. MU is 294-110 (.728) all-time at home, including 14-8 (.636) at Mizzou Arena.
RADIO: KFRU-AM 1400/KLIK-AM 1240 (David Lile, play-by-play/Gary Link, color) and available to affiliates of the Tiger Network (see p. 4 for affiliates). Also available online at mutigers.com.
TV: None over-the-air; online via Mizzou All-Access subscription at mutigers.com.
RANKINGS: Mizzou is receiving votes in both polls; Colorado is unranked.
SERIES: Colorado leads, 34-23, including 12-11 in Columbia. CU has won the last two games in Columbia, yet Mizzou won the last meeting (58-55 in Boulder on Feb. 9, 2005).
COACHES:
MIZZOU: Cindy Stein (Illinois '84), 125-100 at MU (eighth season) and 190-125 overall (11th season).
COLORADO: Kathy McConnell-Miller (Virginia '89), 6-10 at CU (first season) and 91-88 overall (seventh season).
MIZZOU WOMEN GO FOR 10TH STRAIGHT HOME WIN WEDNESDAY VS. CU
The Mizzou women's basketball team (13-3, 3-1 Big 12), which had its 12-game winning streak snapped on Saturday at Texas, returns home to Mizzou Arena on Wednesday in search of its 10th straight home win.
The Tigers will face a Colorado squad (6-10, 1-3) that is coming off of a split in its two games last week, beating Kansas by nine at home on Wednesday before losing by 19 at Kansas State on Saturday.
HOME SWEET HOME
Part of the Tigers' about-face this season (see note on page 2) starts with their success at home. Mizzou is a perfect 9-0 in the friendly confines of Mizzou Arena this season, one year removed from a 5-8 mark at home.
The Tigers capped a school-record-tying eight-game homestand a perfect 8-0 last week. Coupled with the Nov. 22 win vs. Northwestern, Mizzou is currently 9-0 at Mizzou Arena this season.
The Tigers played five of their first six games on the road, and have fared relatively well away from Mizzou Arena this season, winning both of their neutral-site games, and posting their only losses this season on the road.
TIGERS EXCEED LAST YEAR'S WIN TOTAL
Of all the measures of the success of this year's team, the most compelling might be this: With the win at Nebraska on Wednesday, Mizzou bumped its win total to 13 this season; the Tigers had 11 wins all of last year (11-18). A win over Colorado would match last year's Big 12 win total of four (4-12).
LAST TIME OUT: TEXAS 63, NO. 24 MIZZOU 54
The 24th-ranked Mizzou women were held without a field goal for the final 11 minutes, 20 seconds, and Texas reeled off 19 of the game's final 21 points to post a 63-54 win in Big 12 Conference action Saturday night at the Frank Erwin Center.
JUST IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...
With its loss at Texas on Saturday, Mizzou dropped out of the Associated Press Top 25 this week. That came one week after the Tigers appeared in the writers' poll (at No. 24) for the first time since the 1984-85 season. The Tigers are receiving votes this week.
Close followers of the Tigers vividly recally the 2001 NCAA Sweet Sixteen squad and might wonder why that team wasn't ranked. It had more to do with the relative strength of the Big 12 - Mizzou was fifth in the league that year - and the fact that the final AP poll is released at the conclusion of the regular season, before the Tigers' deep run in the NCAA Tournament occurred.
Mizzou was ranked 19th in the final coaches' poll of 2001; the Tigers received the 28th-highest total of votes on Tuesday.
TIGERS STREAKING (IN A GOOD WAY!)
As mentioned earlier, Mizzou has won 12 of its last 13 games. Mizzou's 13-3 start is the second-best in school history through 16 games; it trails only the 14-2 start by the 1982-83 Tigers.
SCOUTING COLORADO
For the first time in 22 years, the Buffs come to Columbia without Ceal Barry pacing the sidelines. Colorado is led by first-year mentor Kathy McConnell-Miller, who led Tulsa to a pair of WNIT appearances in the last two seasons. McConnell-Miller will be making her second trip to Columbia; the Tigers defeated Tulsa, 88-68, in the championship of the 2003 Unilever Tiger Classic.
CU is led by the inside-outside combo of sophomore F Jackie McFarland and junior G/F Jasmina Ilic. Ilic leads the team in scoring at 18.1 ppg, while McFarland averages a double-double with 17.9 ppg and a team-best 10.1 rebounds a game. Senior G Whitney Law dishes out a team-best 4.4 assists a game.
Colorado has yet to put together back-to-back wins this season, yet the Buffs looked impressive in a 74-65 win against Kansas a week ago. CU has also been bitten by a pair of overtime losses.
SERIES VS. THE BUFFALOES
Colorado leads the all-time series, 34-23, and has won the last two meetings in Columbia to take a 12-11 lead in games at Mizzou. The Tigers have the most recent win in the series, however. That came last February when LaToya Bond hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to secure Mizzou's first win in Boulder since 1990.
Mizzou leads the series, 19-18, when the Buffs, as they will on Wednesday, are unranked.