Feb. 7, 2006
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at Iowa State (12-8, 3-6)
Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2006 - Ames, Iowa
TIPOFF: 7:00 p.m. CST.
ARENA: Hilton Coliseum (14,092). Opened in 1971. MU is 170-193 (.468) all-time on the road, including 17-10 (.630) in Ames.
RADIO: KFRU-AM 1400/KLIK-AM 1240 (David Lile, play-by-play/Edith Thompson, color) and available to affiliates of the Tiger Network.
TV: None.
ONLINE: Live audio available via Yahoo! subscription at mutigers.com.
RANKINGS: Mizzou is receiving votes in both the Associated Press (#30) and Coaches (#26) polls; Iowa State is not receiving votes.
SERIES: Mizzou leads, 43-17, including 17-10 in Ames. Iowa State won last year's meeting in Ames, 65-59, and swept the season series.
COACHES:
MIZZOU: Cindy Stein (Illinois '84), 128-102 at MU (eighth season) and 193-127 overall (11th season).
IOWA STATE: Bill Fennelly (William Penn '79), 227-105 at Iowa State (11th season) and 393-158 overall (18th season).
WITH ONE STREAK DONE, TIGERS TRY TO KEEP ANOTHER IN AMES
The Mizzou women's basketball team (16-5, 6-3 Big 12), which had its 11-game home winning streak snapped by now-No. 9 Oklahoma on Saturday, heads out for a two-game road trip beginning Wednesday at Iowa State (12-8, 3-6).
The Tigers, tied for second place in the Big 12 Conference with Baylor and Texas A&M, will go for their second straight road win on Wednesday, after capturing a one-point overtime victory at Kansas State last Wednesday.
Iowa State has lost four straight games, including back-to-back contests in Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones' most recent losses have come at Nebraska and at Kansas, and came without the services of junior guard Lyndsey Medders, ISU's leading scorer and the NCAA national assist leader.
LAST TIME OUT: NO. 11 OKLAHOMA 88, MIZZOU 73
Freshman center Courtney Paris notched her Big 12 record-tying 20th double-double of the season to lead 11th-ranked Oklahoma to an 88-73 win over Missouri on Saturday. The loss, the Tigers' first of the season at Mizzou Arena, snaps Mizzou's 11-game home winning streak. With the loss, the Tigers (16-5, 6-3 Big 12) fall into a tie for second with Baylor and Texas A&M.
SERIES VS. IOWA STATE
Historically, Mizzou has had better success against the Cyclones than any other Big 12 opponent, as the Tigers have won 72 percent of the 60 meetings in the series (43-17). That includes a 17-10 mark in Ames, yet since Bill Fennelly came to Iowa State in 1995, the Cyclones are 15-6 against the Tigers (8-2 in Ames).
SCOUTING THE CYCLONES
Iowa State's leading scorer, junior guard Lyndsey Medders, has been sidelined for the last two games with a foot sprain, and is questionable for Wednesday night's game. In her absence, the Cyclones have moved to a three-forward starting lineup, with freshman Heather Ezell (11.3 ppg) the lone guard of the new starting five.
Freshman Abby Reinert, who had played just 10 minutes in Big 12 play coming into the weekend, started the Kansas game in place of Medders, yet fellow frosh Amanda Nisleit is projected to start Wednesday night.
Senior center Brittany Wilkins (14.5 ppg, 9.3 rpg) is ISU's second-leading scorer and leading rebounder, and anchors the frontcourt. Junior forward Megan Ronhovde (9.7 ppg, 7.6) is the most-experienced Cyclone on the floor.
BOND GETS SECOND BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONOR
Senior guard LaToya Bond was named Big 12 Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week by a media voting panel for games played from Jan. 30-Feb. 5. It is the second conference weekly award for Bond, who also earned Player of the Week honors following Mizzou's league-opening wins vs. Baylor and Kansas State.
Bond averaged 25.5 points in Missouri's two games to keep the Tigers in a tie for second place in the league standings. She began the week with a team-high 21 points - including 20 in the second half and overtime - to lead Mizzou back from a 22-point deficit to a 66-65 overtime win at Kansas State. She finished the week by topping 30 points for the second time this season, and the first time in Big 12 play, with a game-high 30 points against No. 11 Oklahoma. For the week, Bond was 20-of-35 from the field (.571), and 6-of-13 from 3-point range (.462).
The Urbana, Ill., native has now topped 20 points 10 times this season, and is fifth in the league in scoring at 18.0 ppg. She is also among the league leaders in seven other categories.
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 Kansas State on Wednesday, Mizzou bumped its win total to 16 this season to guarantee Mizzou a winning record; the Tigers had 11 wins all of last year (11-18). In addition, the sixth Big 12 win of the season exceeded last year's entire season total (4-12).
Mizzou has won 15 of its last 18 games. Mizzou's 16-5 start is the third-best in school history through 21 games; it trails only the 18-3 start by the 1983-84 Tigers and the 17-4 start from the 1982-83 squad. In addition, the Tigers' 6-3 conference start is the best in their 10 years in the Big 12, and just two games off the all-time team best set by the 1984 Big Eight squad.