Feb. 26, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

Tip-off: 6:36 p.m. CT
Arena: Mizzou Arena (15,061)
TV: FSN Midwest (Beau Baehman, play-by-play / Gary Link, color)
Radio: KFRU 1400-AM (David Lile, play-by-play / Edith Thompson, color)
Rankings: Neither team is ranked in the AP or ESPN/USA Today Coaches polls
Series: Missouri leads 45-20 (Last meeting: ISU 64, MU 46; Feb. 9, 2008)
Coaches
      Missouri: Cindy Stein (Illinois, 1984); 159-138 at Mizzou (10th season)
      Iowa State: Bill Fennelly (William Penn, 1979); 275-129 at ISU (13th season)

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Missouri women's basketball team (9-17, 2-11 Big 12) closes out the home portion of its schedule with a 6:30 p.m. contest against the Iowa State Cyclones on Wednesday, Feb. 27. The game will be aired on FSN Midwest in Missouri with Beau Baehman doing the play-by-play and Gary Link serving as color analyst. The Tigers, who hold a 45-20 advantage in the all-time series, suffered a 64-46 loss to the Cyclones on Feb. 9 in Ames, Iowa.

Up Next
Mizzou finishes the regular season with two consecutive road contests, starting with a game in Manhattan, Kan., against Kansas State on Saturday, March 1 at 2 p.m. The Tigers then face Colorado in Boulder, Colo., on Wednesday, March 5 at 8 p.m. CT.

Scouting the Cyclones
Iowa State, 16-10 overall and 5-8 in Big 12 play this season, is coming off two consecutive losses to Texas A&M (60-46) and Baylor (59-54). Against the Bears on Feb. 23, the Cyclones held a two-point lead with 2:40 to play but Baylor went on a 7-0 run to end the game.

The Cyclones have been hampered by injuries this season. Senior Toccara Ross was lost to an ACL injury on Dec. 21 and junior Nicky Wieben suffered the same injury on Jan. 16. Additionally, junior Amanda Nisleit suffered an ankle injury Saturday against Baylor and is questionable for tonight's game.

Sophomore Alison Lacey paces the Cyclones with 14.5 ppg. and dishes out 4.2 apg. She leads the Big 12 in 3-point field goal shooting at 40.2 percent and is tied for second with 2.58 threes per game. Freshman Kelsey Bolte averages 10.2 ppg. and 5.4 rpg. while junior Heather Ezell is at 9.5 ppg.

Missouri picks up win over Kansas
Junior Alyssa Hollins netted 27 points, including 22 in the second half, to propel the Missouri women's basketball team to a 62-59 win over Kansas on Feb. 24.

Up by just two, 57-55, with 1:04 left in the game, Missouri sophomore Toy Richbow hit a 3-pointer from the corner to give the Tigers a five-point advantage. A jumper from Nicollette Smith 14 seconds later made it a one possession game but Hollins sank two free throws with 19 seconds on the clock to put Mizzou back up five, 62-57.

Hollins, whose 27 points were one shy of her career high, made four 3-pointers for the second consecutive game. Sophomore Jessra Johnson joined Hollins in double figures with 12 points, junior K-Kay Pickens pulled down a career high seven rebounds and Richbow tied her personal best with seven assists.

Mizzou connects from behind the arc
Over the past two contests, Missouri has shot 57.1 percent (16-28) from the 3-point arc. Remarkably, the Tigers shot 8-of-14 (.571) in both those contests, which tie for the second-best 3-point field goal output of the season.

Mizzou has now shot over 50 percent from behind the arc four times this year. The squad shot a season high 60.0 percent (9-15) against Arkansas, 57.1 (8-14) against both Nebraska and Kansas and 50.0 percent (13-26) in its game with Delaware State.

Hollins leads Mizzou past Kansas
Junior Alyssa Hollins scored 22 of her game high 27 points in the second half of Missouri's win over Kansas on Feb. 24. The output was a new personal mark in Big 12 play and just one-point from her career high.

Hollins started the day cold from the floor, making just three of her first 10 shots, but finished on fire. She made seven of her last 11 shot attempts and accounted for over 70 percent of Mizzou's second half scoring output.

Richbow makes it when it counts
Sophomore Toy Richbow entered Sunday's game with Kansas with only four 3-pointers on 12 attempts (.250) this season and missed on her only three attempt in the first half of action with the Jayhawks. But with the Tigers clinging to a two-point lead with just over a minute left, sophomore Jessra Johnson found a wide-open Richbow, who promptly buried a three.

Before her big shot, Richbow was 0-of-3 from the floor.

What turnovers?
Over the past five games, the Tigers have averaged just 11.0 turnovers per game and raised their turnovers per game average from 17.5 to 16.3

Mizzou turned the ball over just 10 times against No. 10 Oklahoma on Feb. 6, compared to 21 turnovers for the Sooners. The Tigers comitted just 11 turnovers against both Iowa State and Kansas State and Kansas and 12 at Nebraska.

Hollins sets two 3-point records...
Junior Alyssa Hollins had a record setting night against Nebraska on Feb. 21. The guard passed Amanda Lassiter's single-season 3-point field goal record of 65 with her second three of the game against the Huskers.

Her third three of the game pushed Hollins past Carlynn Savant's career 3-pointer record of 142 to become Mizzou's most prolific 3-point shooter of all time.

Hollins' single-season and career records now stand at 72 and 148, respectively.

....in record time
Junior Alyssa Hollins now sits atop the career 3-point field goal list at Missouri. Remarkably, her 148 threes have come in just 80 games, for a career average of 1.85 per contest.

In comparisson, former record holder Carlynn Savant recorded her 142 threes in 113 games (1.26 per game), while Tracy Lozier, who is second on the list, made 140 threes in 118 games (1.04).

Over the past two years, Hollins has accumulated 136 threes in just 57 games, for an average of 2.39 per game.

Youth invasion
With only three upperclassmen on the roster, its understandable that freshmen and sophomores will play a lot of minutes. This season, underclassmen have combined to play more then 75 percent of Mizzou's minutes this season.

Class              Pct.
Freshmen       27.7
Sophomores    47.3
Juniors           21.0
Senior             4.0

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 997 games played.

In its 34th season of basketball, Missouri owns a 590-407 (.593) record.

Mizzou nearly upsets No.10 Oklahoma
The Missouri women's basketball team trailed No. 10 Oklahoma by just one, 58-57 with less than 30 seconds left but the Sooners scored the final six points of the game to pick up a 64-57 win on Feb. 6.

Sophomore Jessra Johnson hit a jumper with 45 seconds left on the clock to pull the Tigers within one, 58-57, but sophomore Toy Richbow missed the front end of a one-and-one with 25 seconds left to keep the Sooners on top. Nine seconds later Danielle Robinson made two free throws, stole the ensuing inbounds pass and made a layup for a 62-57 Oklahoma advantage.

An 11-2 run by Oklahoma gave the Sooners their biggest lead of the game, 55-46, with 4:11 remaining but the Tigers responded with and 11-3 run of their own, capped by Johnson's jumper, to pull Mizzou within one, 58-57, with 45 seconds left.

Scott back in the scoring column
Prior to the Feb. 9 against Iowa State, sophomore forward Marissa Scott had a seven game stretch where she did not score a point, dating back to the game with Oklahoma State on Jan. 16. She attemped just six shots in the stretch and did not record a shot attempt in five of those games.

Against the Cyclones, Scott regained her offensive and posted five points on 2-of-3 shooting from the floor and made her only 3-point field goal try.

Hollins regains her scoring touch
With 20 points against Nebraska on Feb. 3, junior Alyssa Hollins reached the 20-point mark for the first time since she scored 25 against Texas Tech on Jan. 12.

Against the Huskers, Hollins shot 57.1 percent overall and from the 3-point arc (8-14 and 4-7, respectively).

Hollins has now reached double-figures in 23 of Mizzou's 26 games this season and scored at least 20 points on 11 different occassions.

Jones hits her stride
Freshman Shakara Jones was nearly unstoppable against Texas A&M on Jan. 29 as she hit 7-of-8 shots from the floor to finish with a team-high 15 points. The game marked the second time in four games the forward hit seven shots in eight attempts after also accomplishing the feat at Kansas on Jan. 19.

Jones has now reached double-figures in 14 of Mizzou's 26 games this season, second on the team behind junior Alyssa Hollins' 23.

Brown earns third start
Freshman guard RaeShara Brown earned the third start of her career against the Texas Longhorns on Jan. 26. Brown played 15 minutes in the contest, the most for the rookie since she logged 17 on Dec. 7 against Mississippi Valley State. She also knocked down her only shot attempt and dished out two assists on the day.

Jones in top form against Jayhawks
Freshman Shakara Jones was almost unstopable in the paint against Kansas on Jan. 19. The forward led Mizzou with 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the floor. During the Tigers' comeback in the second half, Jones was a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor and pulled down five of her eight total rebounds.

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.

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 25 games for Missouri this year and started five contests at center. The Tigers' tallest player at 6-3, she has added height and poise to the squad.

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 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.

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 at the beginning of the 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.

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.

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 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 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.

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.

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.