Dec. 6, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format 
TIP-OFF: 7 p.m.
ARENA: Mizzou Arena (15,061)
TV: None
RADIO: KFRU-AM 1400 (David Lile, play-by-play / Edith Thompson, color)
Rankings: Neither team is ranked in the AP or ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll
SERIES: Missouri leads 1-0 (MU 79-53, Dec. 3, 2004)
COACHES:
Missouri: Cindy Stein (Illinois, 1984); 154-124 at Mizzou (10th season)
Mississippi Valley State: Nate Kilbert (Mississippi Vall. St., 1987); 54-122 at MVSU (seventh season)
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Missouri women's basketball team welcomes Alcorn State, Mississippi Valley State and Stephen F. Austin to Mizzou Arena this weekend for the 30th Annual CenturyTel Tiger Tournament. Alcorn State (0-3) and Stephen F. Austin (1-5) kick things off at 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 7, followed by Missouri and Mississippi Valley State (4-0) at 7 p.m.
Missouri will play in the 6:30 p.m. game on Saturday, Dec. 8 in either the championship or consolation contest. Saturday's other game will tip-off at the conclusion of the Missouri's game.
Up next
Following the CenturyTel Tiger Tournament's championship or consolation game, Mizzou will host UMKC on Saturday, Dec. 15 at 1 p.m. at Mizzou Arena.
Scouting the Devilettes
A perfect 4-0 this year with wins over Texas College (82-35), Tougaloo (83-62), Philander Smith (81-41) and Tougaloo (86-60), Mississippi Valley State averages 83.0 points and 54.0 rebounds per contest.
Senior forward Portia Wilson paces the Devilettes with 22.8 ppg. and 8.8 rpg., both of which lead the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Sophomore guard Amanda Hammond is the only other Mississippi Valley State player who averages double figures, with a mark of 10.8 ppg., but fellow guard, Ashley Howard clocks in at 9.5 ppg.
Tigers back on track
Playing without leading scorer Jessra Johnson, the Tigers secured a 70-61 win over Texas State at Mizzou Arena on Dec. 1. Freshman Shakara Jones led the charge with her second career double-double after recording 20 points and 13 rebounds and junior Alyssa Hollins scored 18, including 16 in the second half.
Richbow boards with the best
Entering the Texas State game with a career high five rebounds, sophomore Toy Richbow used all of her 5'6" frame to pull down 10 boards against the Bobcats.
Richbow had recorded five rebounds against Eastern Illinois on Nov. 15 but the guard breezed by that mark with her numbers against Texas State. Her four offensive rebounds in the contest almost set a new career mark in their own.
>b>Cold shooting hampers Tigers
Missouri shot a season-low 26.2 percent (16-61) from the floor in the Tiger's 66-53 loss to Arkansas on Nov. 28, including 21.2 percent (7-33) in the first half. Despite the cold shooting, Mizzou only trailed the Lady Razorbacks 31-25 at the half and cut the deficit to 51-50 with just over six minutes left in the game.
Mizzou's previous season-low in field goal percentage was .400 (20-50) in the loss to Samford.
Three spree
In a game where the Tigers were ice cold from inside the arc, Missouri stayed close with Arkansas on hot shooting from the 3-point line. The Tigers made six threes in the first half on 6-of-13 shooting to keep within striking distance of the Lady Razorbacks.
Mizzou's barrage of threes continued to the second half, where the squad sunk another five 3-pointers for a game total of 11 and shot 42.3 percent from behind the arc.
Trouble from two
Despite Mizzou's success from behind the 3-point line against Arkansas, the team struggled the close it got to the basket. The Tigers were 1-of-20 from inside the arc in the first half and didn't make that one two-point field goal until sophomore Toy Richbow made a driving layup with 5:54 left in the frame.
The Tigers did not fare much better in the second half, shooting 4-of-15 from inside the 3-point line, and didn't hit their second two-point field goal until 11:18 left in the game.
Free throws back on track
After struggling from the free throw line in their first four games with a .467 (21-45) percentage, the Tigers came out of their funk and shot .783 (18-23) percent against Robert Morris and Arkansas.
Leading the charge for the Tigers is sophomore Jessra Johnson. The forward is a combined 16-of-18 (.889) in the past two games and has shot more than half of the teams free throw attempts this year.
Hollins lighting it up
Junior Alyssa Hollins is second on the Tigers and seventh in the Big 12 with a 16.1 ppg. mark this season, a fact more noteworthy because she scored only four points in the season opener against Murray State. Over the last three games, Hollins has posted point totals of 22, 20 and 18 for a 20.0 ppg. average.
Scott on rebounding roll
In the first 14 games of her Mizzou career, sophomore Marissa Scott pulled down a total of 13 rebounds. The past three games has been a different story for the forward, who has tallied 28 total rebounds against Robert Morris (11), Arkansas (nine) and Texas State (eight). Her per game rebounding mark has increased from 3.0 in the first four games of the season to 5.7 thanks to her performances the last three contests.
Hollins secures win over Robert Morris
Junior guard Alyssa Hollins made a 15-foot jumper with two seconds remaining to give the Tigers a 74-73 win over Robert Morris in Mizzou's second game in the FAU Thanksgiving Tournament. After the Tigers committed turnovers on three straight possessions that allowed the Colonials to go ahead 73-72 with seconds left, Hollins received an inbounds pass, dribbled around a defender and nailed the winning shot.
The basket gave Hollins 22 points in the game, one above her previous career high, and shot 10-of-20 from the field to go along with six assists.
New faces in lineup
After having the same starting lineup through the first four games of the year, Head Coach Cindy Stein shuffled things around in the contest against Robert Morris.
Sophomore Amanda Hanneman and freshman RaeShara Brown earned their first career starts, taking the spots held by sophomores Jessra Johnson and Toy Richbow. Both new starters played career highs in minutes during the game, with Brown clocking 27 and Hanneman 22. Brown also dished out six assists in the contest, the most by a Missouri player this season.
Hanneman shines
While many of her teammates struggled in Mizzou's loss to Samford on Nov. 24, sophomore Amanda Hanneman took advantage of her increased playing time and led the Tigers with a career high 16 points on 6-of-11 from the floor and 4-of-6 from the 3-point arc.
Hanneman was rewarded for her efforts with her first career start the following day against Robert Morris and played 22 minutes.
Hollins named to all-tournament team
Junior Alyssa Hollins was named to the FAU Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament Team after averaging 16.5 points in Mizzou's two games in Boca Raton, Fla. She scored 11 points against Samford on Nov. 24 but really shined against Robert Morris, as the guard posted 22 points, including the game-winning shot.
Johnson comes off bench to lead team
Despite not starting for the first time all year, sophomore Jessra Johnson made the most of her 19 minutes against Robert Morris to post a career high 24 points on 8-of-13 from the field and 7-of-8 from the free throw line.
Johnson was limited to only one point in Mizzou's 65-49 loss to Samford the previous day and played only 16 minutes in the contest but her dominant play in the paint against the Colonials the next day helped the Tigers pick up their dramatic win over Robert Morris.
Johnson has career night
Sophomore Jessra Johnson filled up the stat sheet in Mizzou's contest with Eastern Illinois on Nov. 15. Over the course of the game, Johnson posted 22 points and pulled down 19 rebounds both of which were career highs. Her 19 rebounds were the most by a Tiger since Evan Unrau recorded 20 against Texas on Jan. 10, 2001.
Johnson bested her previous score total of 21 set in the season opener and rebound mark of 10, which she recorded against at Stanford last season.
Shak attack
Freshman Shakara Jones stole the show in her Missouri debut with a game-high 27 points and 14 rebounds in Mizzou's win over Murray State. Jones' point total set a new Tiger mark for freshmen in their Missouri debut and was the highest total in a season opener since Julie Helms poured in 38 in 1999.
Jones responded in Mizzou's second game against Eastern Illinois with 15 points.
All in the family
Freshman forward Shakara Jones becomes the second member of her family to don the No. 44 jersey on the Tiger hardwood. Her father, Ron Jones, played for Mizzou under Norm Stewart from 1980-84. Known as a defensive specialist, Ron held Michael Jordan to 13 points in Missouri's 64-60 upset of North Carolina in 1982.
Injury bug hits early
Freshman guard Bekah Mills will be forced to sit out her inaugural Tiger campaign after suffering an ACL tear in her right knee at practice on Oct. 27. The freshman had looked strong in preseason practices and would have challenged for the starting point guard position.
Tiger Tidbits
ReaShara Brown
Earned her first career start against Robert Morris (11/25/07) and responded with a then-team season high six assists ... Pulled down a career high five rebounds against Samford (11/24/07) ... Scored her first collegiate points with a basket against Murray State (11/9/07) in the season opener ... Recorded three steals and two assists against Eastern Illinois (11/15/07) ... Is a perfect 2-for-2 from the free throw line on the year, after making both her attempts against South Dakota State (11/18/07).
Amanda Hanneman
Has been in the starting lineup in Mizzou's last three games ... Posted her second career double figure scoring output with 13 against Texas State (12/1/07) in a career high 27 minutes ... Earned the first start of her career against Robert Morris (11/25/07) ... Led the Tigers with a career high 16 points, including four 3-pointers, against Samford (11/24/07) ... Tied her then-career high with six points (on 2-of-2 from behind arc) against South Dakota State (11/18/07) ... Did not play in Mizzou's season opener as she has recovering from a stress fracture in her foot.
Alyssa Hollins
Tied her career high with six made 3-pointers against Arkansas (11/28/07) ... Scored a personal best 22 points, including the game-winning jumper with two seconds remaining, in Mizzou's victory over Robert Morris (11/25/07) ... Tied her personal mark with six steals against Robert Morris (11/25/07) ... Fell one point shy of her career high with 21 against Eastern Illinois (11/15/07) and tied her then-career mark with eight field goals made in the contest ... Tied her personal best with six rebounds against South Dakota State (11/18/07) and five assists versus Eastern Illinois (11/15/07) ... Ranks first in minutes played (35.9), third 3-point field goals made (2.57), fourth in steals (2.57) and seventh in scoring (16.1) in the Big 12 Conference.
Jessra Johnson
Scored 24 points to set a new career high against Robert Morris (11/25/07) ... Has shot a combined 16-of-18 (.889) from the free throw line the past two games ... Posted 22 points and 19 rebounds against Eastern Illinois (11/15/07) ... Scored a then-career high 21 points against Murray State (11/9/07) in the season opener ... Her 19 rebounds against Eastern Illinois (11/15/07) were the most recorded by a Tiger since Evan Unrau pulled down 20 against Texas A&M on Jan. 10, 2001 ... Has scored in double figures in four of five games this season ... Ranks second in defensive rebounds (6.83) and 3-point field goal percentage (.600), fifth in rebounding (8.7) and sixth in scoring (16.2) in the Big 12 Conference.
Shakara Jones
Set a Mizzou record for points by a freshman in her collegiate debut with 27 points against Murray State (11/9/07) ... Had her second career double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds against Texas State (12/1/07) ... Scored in double figures in four of Missouri's games this season ... Recorded a double-double in her first collegiate game, with 27 points and 14 rebounds against Murray State (11/9/07) ... Ranks ninth in minutes played (31.4) in the Big 12 Conference.
Jasmyn Otote
Nailed three 3-pointers in Mizzou's win over Robert Morris (11/25/07) to notch a personal best nine points ... Scored five points in her collegiate debut, including 2-of-3 from the floor and 1-of-1 from behind the arc ... Played a season and career high 19 minutes against Robert Morris (11/25/07) and Texas State (12/1/07).
K-Kay Pickens
Made her only shot attempt, a 3-pointer, against Texas State (12/1/07) ... Played a personal best 13 minutes in Mizzou's game against Samford (11/24/07). Also tied her career high with six points and set a new mark with four rebounds in the contest ... Pulled down three rebounds against both Murray State (11/9/07) and Eastern Illinois (11/15/07) to tie her personal best.
Toy Richbow
Pulled down a personal best 10 rebounds against Texas State (12/1/07), doubling her previous high ... Dished out a career and Mizzou season high seven assists against Arkansas (11/28/07) ... Scored a career high 10 points in the season opener against Murray State (11/9/07) on 4-of-6 from the field ... Posted four steals in Mizzou's loss to Samford (11/24/07) ... Recorded a personal best five steals and five rebounds against Murray State (11/9/07) ... Despite standing only 5'6", picked up blocks in Mizzou's first two games of the season ... Ranks 10th in assists (4.14) and assist to turnover radio (1.38) in the Big 12 Conference.
Marissa Scott
Has recorded 28 rebounds in the previous three games for a 9.3 average ... Her 20 rebounds over a two-game stretch were seven more than she had in the previous 14 games of her Mizzou career ... Had career highs in blocks and assists with four against Texas State (12/1/07) ... Posted a personal best five points and 11 rebounds against Robert Morris (11/25/07) ... Played a career high 33 minutes in Mizzou's season opener against Murray State (11/9/07) ... Made the first two 3-pointers in her collegiate career in the past two games, Samford (11/24/07) and Robert Morris (11/25/07) ... One of three Tigers to start all seven games this season, the first seven of her career ... Tied for eighth in blocks (1.57) in the Big 12 Conference.
Nicole Wilson
Scored her first four collegiate points against South Dakota State (11/18/07) ... Logged a personal best 14 points against Texas State (12/1/07) and finished with three points, all on free throws ... Recorded three steals and two asissts against Eastern Illinois (11/15/07) ... Played in her first organized basketball game in over four years after logging two minutes against Murray State in the season opener. A former four-year volleyball player for Mizzou, last played basketball while a senior in high school.