March 16, 2006
Tournament Notes
Coach/Player Bios
Press Clippings
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at the 2006 NCAA Women's
Basketball Championship
Bridgeport Region First/Second Rounds - Sunday/Tuesday, March 19/21
Bryce Jordan Center - University Park, Pa.
FIRST-ROUND GAMES - Sunday, March 19
GAME 3: No. 7 Virginia Tech (20-9) vs. No. 10 MIZZOU (21-9), 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT)
RADIO: KFRU-AM 1400/KLIK-AM 1240 (David Lile, play-by-play / Gary Link, color).
TV: ESPN2 (state of Missouri protected from "whiparound" coverage). Mark Jones, play-by-play / Debbie Antonelli, color / Rebecca Lobo, sideline / Jamie Dean, producer. Satellite and cable subscribers to ESPN Full Court may find the game in its entirety on alternate DirecTV, Dish Network or pay-per-view channels.
GAME 4: No. 2 Connecticut (29-4) vs. No. 15 Coppin State (22-8), approx. 30 minutes after Game 3 [ESPN2]
SECOND-ROUND GAMES - Tuesday, March 21
GAME 6: Winners Games 3 & 4, approximately 9:30 p.m. ET (8:30 p.m. CT) [ESPN2]
FROM 10TH TO 10TH - TIGERS HEAD TO HAPPY VALLEY FOR NCAA HOOPS
Picked to finish 10th by the Big 12 Conference coaches prior to the start of the season, the Mizzou women's basketball team (21-9) has shattered preseason expectations to earn a No. 10 seed in the Bridgeport Region of the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship. The Tigers open up first-round action on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT) against No. 7 seed Virginia Tech. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2 (while most of the country will be sent to several different games over the course of the 6 p.m. window, the state of Missouri will be protected from this "whiparound" coverage).
This year's bid is the ninth in program history, and the third under eighth-year coach Cindy Stein. The last time her team was given a No. 10 seed, the Tigers defeated No. 7 Wisconsin before upsetting No. 2 Georgia at Stegeman Coliseum, earning Mizzou its second-ever trip to the Sweet Sixteen.
This year's team earned its best-ever finish in the 10 years of the Big 12 Conference with a fourth-place showing, also picking up its first first-round tournament bye and first tournament semifinal appearance along the way.
BALANCED SCORING HAS BEEN THE KEY
The Tigers' Big 12 quarterfinal win over Texas Tech showed signs of the team that was ranked for two weeks back in mid-January. In that game against the Lady Raiders, all five starters scored in double figures. It was the seventh time this season that five Tigers have scored 10 or more points, and the first time since a Dec. 18 win over Southern Illinois. Mizzou had just one such game last year.
BOND NAMED FINALIST FOR KODAK/WBCA ALL-AMERICA TEAM
Senior guard LaToya Bond has been named as one of 48 finalists for the Kodak/WBCA Division I All-America Team, officials from the Women's Basketball Coaches Association and Eastman Kodak announced Tuesday.
With the honor, Bond is guaranteed at least All-America Honorable Mention status from the organization, which will select the 10 Kodak All-Americans to be announced during a press conference as part of the NCAA Women's Final Four festivities in Boston. Bond is Mizzou's first WBCA All-Region selection since Evan Unrau in 2004, and eighth in program history.
The WBCA honorees were announced in each of eight regions; Bond is one of six players recognized in Region 5. The others, all fellow members of the Big 12, are Baylor senior forward Sophia Young; Oklahoma freshman center Courtney Paris; Texas junior forward Tiffany Jackson; and Texas Tech seniors Erin Grant and LaToya Davis.
Bond led the Tigers in scoring at 17.3 points per game this season. She scored 30 or more points three times, including a Mizzou Arena-record 34 points vs. Western Michigan on Dec. 29. A consensus All-Big 12 First Team selection - Mizzou's fourth in the last six years - she was also named to the All-Big 12 Defensive Team by the league's coaches and the Kansas City Star. Bond also earned all-tournament honors at each of the Tigers' three in-season tournaments, including Most Valuable Player recognition at the Pittsburgh Thanksgiving Tournament and the State Farm Tiger Classic.
For more information on Bond's exploits, including game-by-game stats, season- and career-highs, and career stats, refer to pages 28-29.
#10 SEED BRINGS BACK MEMORIES FOR YOUNG STAFF MEMBERS
As noted on the previous page, this is not the first time a Cindy Stein-coached Mizzou team earned a No. 10 seed to the NCAA Tournament. The last time that happened, in 2001, three current members of Stein's coaching staff were starters on the floor for Ol' Mizzou, and they helped the Tigers to the Sweet Sixteen.
Assistant Coach Kerensa Barr, in her first full-time season on the sidelines following a year as a graduate assistant, was a sophomore point guard; Graduate Assistant Evan Unrau was a freshman forward; and Coordinator of Basketball Operations Tracy Franklin was a senior shooting guard.
MIZZOU VS. THE FIELD
The Tigers have played four members of this year's field of 64, and were a combined 1-4 against them this year.
The lone win came vs. defending NCAA National Champion Baylor on Jan. 4; the Bears are the 3 seed in the Albuquerque Region. The Tigers lost twice to Big 12 Champion Oklahoma, in both the regular season and the Big 12 Championship semifinals; the Sooners are the No. 2 seed in the San Antonio Region. Texas A&M beat Mizzou in College Station in late January; the Aggies are a No. 6 seed in the Cleveland Region. Finally, Arizona State handed the Tigers their first loss of the season in the WBCA Classic, before most of the country had started their seasons; the Sun Devils earned a 4 seed in the Albuquerque Region.
MIZZOU VS. THE SUB-REGIONAL
The Tigers and Virginia Tech will square off for the first time on Sunday; Mizzou is 2-5 all-time against current members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Tigers and Hokies have two common opponents this year; both teams beat Texas Tech (VT by seven on a neutral court; MU by an average of seven in Columbia and Dallas), and Clemson (VT by 12 in Blacksburg, and MU by 24 in the season-opener in Tempe).
Connecticut and Mizzou have each played Oklahoma (UConn beat OU by 20 in the Preseason WNIT; the Sooners swept Mizzou by an average of 18 in Columbia and Dallas). Both teams won at Pitt (UConn by 11, and MU by nine), and both teams played Texas in Austin. UConn beat the Longhorns by 13, just three weeks after the Tigers lost by nine.
Coppin State and Mizzou did not have any common opponents this season.
HOW WE GOT HERE: TIGERS NEARLY DOUBLE LAST YEAR'S WIN TOTAL
Of all the measures of the success of this year's team, the most compelling might be this: With its win vs. Texas Tech in the Big 12 semifinals, Mizzou bumped its win total to 21 this season; the Tigers had 11 wins all of last year (11-18). In addition, the Tigers had 10 Big 12 wins on the year, matching Mizzou's all-time Big 12 best, first set in the 2000-01 Sweet 16 season.
For the first time in the 10-year history of the Big 12 Conference, Missouri clinched a top-four finish and a bye through to the tournament quarterfinals.
Mizzou's 21-9 record ties the eighth-best win total in school history, and is just the second time since 1985 that the Tigers have won 21 games (2001). Mizzou has not entered NCAA Tournament play with 21 wins since that 1984-85 season.