Jan. 18, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

TIP-OFF: 2:00 p.m. CT
ARENA: Allen Fieldhouse (16,300)
TV: None
RADIO: KFRU 1400 AM (David Lile, play-by-play / Edith Thompson, color)
RANKINGS: Kansas: RV (AP)
SERIES: KU leads 38-34 (Last meeting: KU 70, MU 66; March 1, 2007)
COACHES
MISSOURI: Cindy Stein (Illinois, 1984); 158-129 at Mizzou (10th season)
KANSAS: Bonnie Henrickson (St. Cloud, 1986), 51-54 at KU (fourth season)

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri women's basketball team (8-8, 1-2 Big 12) hits the road for a Border Showdown matchup with Kansas (11-5, 0-3 Big 12) in Lawrence, Kan., at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 19. Saturday's game will be the 73rd between the rivals, making it Mizzou's most played series. KU owns a slight 38-34 advantage but the squads split their meetings last season. Mizzou claimed a 67-57 win in Lawrence on Feb. 14 but Kansas earned a 70-66 win at Mizzou Arena on March 1.

Up next
Mizzou returns home to Mizzou Arena to face No. 6/7 Baylor next Wednesday, Jan. 23 at 6 p.m. The game with the Bears will be broadcast on the Mizzou Sports Network. The Tigers then travel to Austin, Texas, to face the Texas Longhorns on Saturday, Jan. 26 at 1 p.m. The contest will be televised by ESPNU.

Scouting the Jayhawks
Looking to avoid an 0-4 start in conference play, Kansas is 11-5 overall on the season. The Jayhawks are coming off a 59-35 loss to No. 6/7 Baylor on Wednesday where the team scored only 13 points in the first half. The Jawhawks also fell to Oklahoma State (59-54) in the Big 12 opener and suffered a loss at Nebraska (71-51) on Jan. 12.

Kansas is the only team in the Big 12 that scores less points per game than Mizzou, as the Jawhawks average 63.4 ppg. However, Kansas holds a field goal percentage advantage 43.7-39.5.

Sophomore forward Danielle McCray leads the Jawhawks and is seventh in the Big 12 with 15.2 ppg., while senior forward Taylor McIntosh is eighth in the league with 7.8 rpg. Joining McCray in double-figure scoring is sophomore guard Sade Morris, who contributes 12.0 ppg.

Missouri-Kansas Border Showdown
More than a win is at stake in Mizzou's game with Kansas Saturday afternoon. 2007-08 marks the sixth year of the Mizzou-Kansas Border Showdown, which compiles points in all athletic matchups with the two rivals. Missouri claimed the Border Showdown in 2002-03, 2004-05 and 2006-07, while Kansas won in 2003-04, and 2005-06.

The Tigers currently lead 8-4.5 in the standings as Mizzou picked up three points from football, 1.5 from women's swimming and volleyball and one apiece from men's and women's cross country.

Tigers approaching 1,000th game
Mizzou will reach a milestone on March 1, 2007 when the program plays its 1,000th game, a road contest against Kansas State. The Tigers, who played their first game on Nov. 11, 1974 (a 47-16 win against Columbia College), currently sit at 988 games played.

In its 34th season of basketball, Missouri owns a 589-399 (.596) record.

Cowgirls too strong for Tigers
The No. 18/19 Oklahoma State Cowgirls used a 54-28 rebounding advantage to storm past the University of Missouri women's basketball team 76-41 at Gallagher-Iba Arena on Wednesday night.

Mizzou stayed with Oklahoam State early but the Cowgirls' inside game proved too much as the home team began to pull away in the first half, entering the break with a 40-21 advantage.

Oklahoma State continued to build its lead in the second on five straight points from Taylor Hardeman for a 45-21 Cowgirl advantage with 16:50 on the clock. The Cowgirls' strong play continued throughout the second half as the team outscored Mizzou 36-20 in the frame.

Overall, Oklahoma State used 23 offensive rebounds to build its 54-28 margin.

Tigers struggle to put up the points
Oklahoma State held Missouri to season lows in both points (41), field goals (15) and field goal percentage (.254, 15-59) on Wednesday night. The Tigers entered the contest with previous season lows of 49 points (Samford, 11/24/07), 16 field goals (Arkansas, 11/28/07) and .262 shooting percentage (Arkansas, 11/28/07).

The 41 points scored by Mizzou was the fewest points posted by the Tigers in nine years, when Missouri fell to Kansas 48-37 on Feb. 7, 1999.

Mizzou earns first Big 12 victory
Missouri outscored Texas Tech 26-8 over the final 12 and a half minutes of the game to claim a 68-58 win over the Red Raiders on Saturday night at Mizzou Arena. With the win the Tigers picked up their first Big 12 win to improve their record to 8-7 overall and 1-1 in Big 12 Conference action.

Down by nine, 51-42, with 12:34 left, Mizzou reeled off a 14-4 run to take a 56-55 lead at the 5:24 mark when sophomore Amanda Hanneman got a steal and made a layup.

Hanging onto a one point lead, 60-59, Mizzou ended the game on a 9-0 run over the final 3:25.

Junior Alyssa Hollins paced all scores with 25 points and hit 5-of-6 three-point attempts on the night. Hanneman joined Hollins in double-figures with 13 and sophomore Toy Richbow had nine points, six rebounds and five assists.

Scott returns to action
Sophomore Marissa Scott returned to action against Texas Tech after missing three games due to mononucleosis. Scott, who played seven minutes and knocked in her only shot attempt against the Red Raiders, sat out the Marshall, Delaware State and Colordo games after a min-December diagnosis. Before her illness, Scott had started Mizzou's first 11 games and averaged 3.3 ppg. and 5.4 rpg. in almost 29 minutes of action per contest.

Four days after the Texas Tech contest, Scott looked back to her old self as she played 25 minutes against Oklahoma State on Wednesday.

Hollins inching up the record books
With her 46 3-pointers this sesaon, junior Alyssa Hollins now sits in fourth place all-time in the Mizzou record books for career 3-point field goals with 122. She needs one more to tie Julie Helm for third place with 123 and only 21 to pass Carlynn Savant for the career record with 143.

Additionally, Hollins needs only 19 to tie Amanda Lassister's single-season record at 65. Last year Hollins fell one shy of the mark with 64 threes to stand in second place in single-season 3-pointers.

More about those threes
Alyssa Hollins is tied with the the Big 12 Conference lead and ranks 11th nationally with 46 3-pointers (2.88 per game). If she continues on her pace Hollins will shatter the single-season three mark and end up with 86, besting Amanda Lassister's record of 65 in 2000-01.

If she keeps on her current pace, Hollins will past Lassiter in Mizzou's contest with Iowa State on Feb. 9.

Hanneman hot of late
Entering her sophomore season, Amanda Hanneman had not posted a double figure point total in her career. This season she has hit the mark eight times, including six of the last seven games. The only game Hanneman missed double-figures during that stretch was Colorado, when she posted seven points.

She averaged 11.9 ppg. over the past seven contests after averaging 6.8 ppg. in her first eight games of the season.

Three spree
In its 13 non-conference games, Missouri shot a respectible 34.9 (90-258) percent from behind the arc. In its first two games Big 12 games (Colorado and Texas Tech) the Tigers shot an impressive 50.0 percent (18-36) from the 3-point line.

Thanks to the recent success, Mizzou currently ranks 20th (as of Jan. 13) in the nation in 3-pointers per game (7.2) and is 36th in 3-point field goal percentage (36.7).

The Tigers also rank second in the Big 12 in 3-point field goal percentage (behind Iowa State) and third in 3-point field goals per game (behind Iowa State and Colorado).

Hollins hot from behind the arc
Junior Alyssa Hollins entered the conference season with 34 threes and shooting 33.3 percent from behind the arc. In her last two games, Hollins has shot an astounding 68.8 (11-16) percent from the 3-point line to raise her season numbers to 45 treys and a 38.1 3-point field goal percentage.

Hollins started her hot streak against Colorado on Jan. 9 when she hit 6-of-10 from three. Three days later, she did even better when she made 5-of-6 from behind in arc against Texas Tech.

Mizzou ends streak
The Tigers' win against Texas Tech marked the first time since March 8, 2006, that the squad defeated a Big 12 South school, when Mizzou beat the Red Raiders 81-75 in the Big 12 Championship.

Mizzou lost all five regular season games against south schools last season and also fell to Texas in the 2007 Big 12 Championship. Last season's results against south schools are below.

March 6 Texas (N) L, 77-70
Feb. 25 Oklahoma (A) L, 72-57
Feb. 10 Oklahoma State (H) L, 83-57
Feb. 7 Texas A&M (H) L, 69-63
Jan. 31 Baylor (A) L, 71-70
Jan. 17 Texas Tech (A) L, 63-55
Jan. 10 Texas (H) L, 79-77 (OT)

Richbow on point in Big 12 action
In the first two Big 12 games, sophomore Toy Richbow dished out 10 assists and committed only three turnovers, for a 3.3 assist/turnover ratio. After a three assist, three turnover performance at Oklahoma State, Richbow's conference assist/turnover ratio fell to 2.17, still an impressive number.

Overall, Richbow has recorded 68 assists (4.25) to only 43 turnovers (2.69) for a 1.58 assist/turnover ratio.

Wilson making her mark
Former Mizzou volleyball player Nicole Wilson is still new to the world of collegiate basketball but that has not kept her from making an impact with the Tigers.

After not playing competitve basketball since her senior year in high school, Wilson has played in 15 games for Missouri this year and started the last four contests at center. The Tigers' tallest player at 6-3, she has added height and poise to the lineup.

Against the Red Raiders on Jan. 12, Wilson played a season high 19 minutes of action.

Mizzou earns comeback win
Missouri went on a 12-0 run over the last 4:56 of the game to pick up a 55-50 comeback win over Delaware State in the consolation contest of the Marriott Cavalier Classic on Dec. 28 at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Va.

Down 44-33 with 10 minutes left in the game, sophomore forward Amanda Hanneman nailed a 3-pointer with 4:56 remaining to spark Mizzou's comeback. Sophomore forward Jessra Johnson then hit a basket and three free throws to give the Tigers a 51-50 lead at the 1:10 mark, the squad's first since they led 15-14 with 10:41 left in the first half.

Johnson led Missouri with 20 points, including 14 in the second half and Hanneman and Jones each notched 14. Hanneman, who scored in double figures for the fourth consecutive game, also recorded a career high five steals.

Hanneman named to all-tournament team
Sophomore Amanda Hanneman was named to the Marriott Cavalier Classic All-Tournament team after averaging 16.0 ppg. on 66.7 percent shooting from the floor in Mizzou's two games. Hanneman posted a career high 18 points against Marshall on Dec. 28 and recorded 14 points and a personal best five steals against Delaware State on Dec. 29.

Tigers change script
After losing second half leads in three of four games in December, Mizzou flipped the script against Delaware State to earn a 55-50 comeback victory.

The Tigers, who had been outscored by 54 points (176-122) by its opponents in the four games, outscored the Hornets 30-20 on Dec. 28 to earn the five-point win.

Hollins and Johnson pile on the points
Junior Alyssa Hollins Sophomore Jessra Johnson, Mizzou's two leading scorers, have racked up the points this season.

Hollins has hit double-figures in 13 of Mizzou's 16 games this season and reached at least 20 points on eight different occassions (Eastern Illinois, Robert Morris, Arkansas, Mississippi Valley State, UMKC, Marshall, Colorado and Texas Tech).

Johnson has reached double-figures 10 times this year in 15 games but scored at least 20 points in seven of those nine contests (Murray State, Eastern Illinois, Robert Morris, Mississippi Valley State, Stephen F. Austin, UMKC and Delaware State).

Hanneman on fire against Marshall
With the Tigers off to a slow start in the second half against Marshall, Amanda Hanneman took things into her own hands. The sophomore scored 11 straight points for Mizzou over a 3:26 span on a jumper, and ensuing free throw 3-pointer, layup and another layup.

She scored 14 of her 18 points in the second half.

Jones' jumper gives Mizzou dramatic win
Freshman Shakara Jones grabbed an offensive rebound and made a put back with 6.1 seconds remaining in overtime to give Missouri a 75-73 overtime victory over UMKC on Dec. 15. Mizzou, which scored the first 18 points of the game, led by as many as 21 early in the second half before UMKC tied the game after Tarah Cullen made three free throws with 1.1 seconds left in regulation.

Mizzou had four players in double figures for the first time this season, led by junior Alyssa Hollins' 21. Sophomore Jessra Johnson posted 20, Jones notched her third double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds and sophomore Amanda Hanneman added 10 points.

Four better than three
Mizzou's Dec. 15 game against UMKC marked the first time all season the Tigers had four players score in double-figures. Alyssa Hollins (21), Jessra Johnson (20), Shakara Jones (17) and Amanda Hanneman (10) all reached double-figures in scoring against the Kangaroos.

Missouri had three players tally double-figures against Murray State, Eastern Illinois, South Dakota State, Texas State and Stephen F. Austin and two players against Samford, Robert Morris, Arkansas and Mississippi Valley State.

Scott shines in loss
One bright spot for the Tigers in their overtime loss to Stephen F. Austin was the play of sophomore Marissa Scott. A fixture in the starting lineup all season, Scott entered the SFA contest as one of Mizzou's best post defenders but had yet to make much of an impact on the offensive end.

Against SFA, Scott took only four shots but made all three of her 3-point attempts to post a career high nine points to go along with eight rebounds.

Scott has also been a menace on the boards of late, averaging 7.8 rpg. over the past five contests.

Hollins has career night
Junior Alyssa Hollins erupted for a career high 28 points in Mizzou's 69-52 win over Mississippi Valley State in the first game of the CenturyTel Tiger Tournament on Dec. 7.

Hollins shot 10-of-20 from the floor on the night, hit five of her six free throw attempts and tied her career best with six rebounds in the game. Her point output is the most scored by a Tiger this season, just besting freshman Shakara Jones' total of 27 in the season opener.

Hollins, Johnson named to all-tournament team
Junior Alyssa Hollins and sophomore Jessra Johnson were both named the the all-tournament team of the CenturyTel Tiger Tournament after two strong outings last weekend.

Hollins averaged 22.0 ppg., including a career best 28 against Mississippi Valley State, and Johnson averaged 21.0 ppg. and 10.5 rpg.

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.

Scott on rebounding roll
In the first 14 games of her Mizzou career, sophomore Marissa Scott pulled down a total of 13 rebounds. The next three games of her career was ifferent 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 5.8 during that span.

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.

Hollins named to all-tourney 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 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. She looked strong in the preseason and would have challenged for the starting position.