Nov. 3, 2006

The Missouri women's basketball team will raise the curtain on its exhibition season Saturday afternoon against NCAA Division II member Truman State. Tip-off at Mizzou Arena is set for 1 p.m. General admission tickets can be purchased for $5, while senior citizens and children are $3.

Missouri 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. In this season's Big 12 Preseason Poll, the Tigers were picked to finish ninth.

Truman State is coming off a 12-16 season in which they finished eighth in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association. TSU has already played one exhibition contest, falling at Bradley, 56-42, on Wednesday night. The Bulldogs shot just 32 percent from the floor and were out-rebounded by a 41-31 margin.

Missouri leads the all-time series 7-1, with the last regular-season game being played in Columbia on Jan. 2, 1995 - a 97-40 Tiger win. The initial seven meetings all occurred in the first three seasons of Mizzou's program from 1974-77.

Missouri is 13-1 in exhibition play under Cindy Stein. The only previous time the Tigers and Bulldogs met in a preseason match-up came four years ago when MU won 92-46 on Nov. 15, 2002.

On Saturday morning a free youth clinic will be conducted from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. in the Albrecht Family Practice Facility, located on the west side of Mizzou Arena. Parents and clinic participants will receive free admission to the game.