Oct. 17, 2006
The Missouri women's basketball team was picked to finish ninth in the Big 12 Conference according to a vote by the league's head coaches.
Mizzou returns 10 letterwinners and three starters from last season's NCAA Tournament team that went 21-10 overall and 10-6 in league play for a fourth-place finish - after being tabbed tenth in the preseason.
"We were picked tenth last year and finished fourth, so being picked ninth just fires me up," said head coach Cindy Stein, who is entering her ninth season at Mizzou. "I can't wait for the season to begin! We have great talent and great coaches in our league and every night is a challenge, so we will just concentrate on controlling what we can and giving it our best shot."
Under Stein, the Tigers have finished higher than their preseason prediction six times.
"I have never been a big fan of the pre-season poll," Stein added. "I think it gives a lot of hoopla for whoever is picked first and incentive to the other eleven. Keeping everything in perspective is the fact that the poll is rarely correct from top to bottom and the Big 12 Conference is an awesome league and extremely tough."
Defending regular-season and tournament champion Oklahoma received all 11 possible first-place votes for 121 points (coaches could not vote for their own team). Texas A&M was selected second with 107 points and the other first-place vote, just ahead of Texas and Baylor with 104 and 94 points, respectively.
Iowa State (68 points) and Nebraska (66 points) came in at Nos. 5 and 6, with Kansas State (57 points) and Texas Tech (57 points) tying for seventh just ahead of the Tigers. Kansas (36 points), Colorado (26 points) and Oklahoma State (16 points) round out the final three spots in the poll.
Among the returning starters are seniors Tiffany Brooks, EeTisha Riddle and Carlynn Savant. The Tigers' talented roster features seven seniors, two juniors and sophomores and four freshmen who will combine to fill the void left by LaToya Bond and Christelle N'Garsanet, each of whom played in the WNBA as rookies.
Fans can catch a sneak peak of the Tigers this Saturday when they conduct a scrimmage at the Eighth Annual Brewer Breakfast. The event will begin at 7:45 with a free pancake breakfast and the team taking the Brewer Fieldhouse floor at 8 a.m. Mizzou opens its regular-season on Nov. 12 at Southern Illinois before facing Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in its home opener two days later.
2006-07 Big 12 Conference Women's Basketball Preseason Poll
1. Oklahoma (11), 121
2. Texas A&M (1), 107
3. Texas, 101
4. Baylor, 94
5. Iowa State, 68
6. Nebraska, 66
7. Kansas State, 57
Texas Tech, 57
9. Missouri, 43
10. Kansas, 36
11. Colorado, 26
12. Oklahoma State, 16
(first place votes in parentheses; coaches not allowed to vote for their own team)