Tigers to Host Hoosiers on Tuesday
11/25/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 25, 2008
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COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri women's basketball team (1-2) returns to the court on Tuesday, Nov. 25 for a nonconference contest against the Big Ten Conference foe Indiana at 6:30 p.m. at Mizzou Arean. The all-time series between the two teams is tied at 1-1 but the squads have not squared off since Nov. 24, 1990, when the Hoosiers claimed a 70-65 overtime victory over the Tigers.
Up Next
Mizzou travels to Evanston, Ill., to compete in the DoubleTree White Invitational. On Saturday, Nov. 29, the Tigers will face the Holy Cross Crusaders at Noon before a 3 p.m. contest against host Northwestern on Sunday, Nov. 30. Following the tournament, Missouri returns to Mizzou Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 3 for a matchup with Toledo at 6:30 p.m.
Scouting Indiana
The Hoosiers enter Mizzou Arena sporting a 1-2 record so far this season. The team picked up a 84-68 win over Ball State in the season opener before a home loss to Xavier (62-59) and a loss at Middle Tennessee (65-59) on Saturday.
Indiana has averaged 67.3 ppg. so far this year and shoots 46.7 percent from the field. Additionally, the team averages just 15.0 turnovers per contest and pulls down 34.7 rpg.
The Hoosiers have four players who average double figures, including senior forward Amber jackson (13.3), sophomore guard Jori Davis (12.3), senior guard Kim Roberson (11.0) and junior guard Jamie Braun (10.5). Senior forward Whitney Thomas is just shy of averaging a double-double with 9.7 ppg. and 9.3 rpg.
Head Coach Felisha Legette-Jack is in her third season at Indiana and has a 38-31 record with the Hoosiers.
Tigers come from behind for 61-54 win
Missouri scored the final 10 points of the game to pick up its first victory of the year, a 61-54 win over Western Illinois at Mizzou Arena on Saturday night. Junior Jessra Johnson notched a double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds as the Tigers improved to 1-2 overall while the Westerwinds dropped to 1-2 on the year.
Down three, 54-51, with 3:19 left to play, Johnson passed out of a double team to sophomore Shakara Jones, who was wide open under the basket and got the Tigers within one. Sophomore RaeShara Brown nabbed a steal on the next possession and Jones gave Mizzou the lead, 55-54, off a feed from senior Alyssa Hollins with 2:15 on the clock.
With just under a minute left, Johnson converted a layup to put Mizzou up three, 57-54, and Hollins hit four free throws in the final seconds to secure the Tiger victory.
Brown had career highs with seven points and five steals and Johnson knocked down a personal best four three-pointers in the contest.
Hollins nears 1,000
Entering Wednesday's matchup with Indiana, Hollins needs jus 35 points to become the 26th player in Mizzou history to reach 1,000 points. The senior entered her final year with 930 points and now stands at 965 after scoring 13 points against South Dakota State in the season opener, 16 at Illinois on last week and six agianst Western Illinois. If Hollins scores at her average of 16.6 ppg. a season ago this year, the guard would finish her career 10th all-time in scoring.
The last Tiger to reach the 1,000-point plateau was EeTisha Riddle (04-07), who accomplished the feat against in the 2007 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship againstTexas on March 6, 2007.
Johnson puts on a show
Johnson stole the show against Western Illinois with a 22 point, 12 rebound outing. The double-double was the first of the season for the junior and the seventh of her career.
She recorded 12 points and seven boards in the final 20 minutes as the Tigers came back to earn the 61-54 victory over the Westerwinds.
So far this year, Johnson leads the team with 14.3 ppg. and is tied with Brown with 7.0 rpg. in 26.3 mpg.
Brown a beast on the boards
At 5-8 sophomore RaeShara Brown is Mizzou's second shortest player yet after two games, the guard is tied with teammate Jessra Johnson for the team lead in rebounds with 7.0 rpg.
Brown opened the 2008-09 season with a career high six boards against South Dakota State. She followed that up with a nine rebound performance, including four on the offensive end, at Illinois on Wednesday. The sophomore recorded 44 rebounds all of last year but has 22 so far this year in only three games.
Additionally, Brown has started all three games and is playing a team second best 30.3 mpg. this season. She set new career highs with seven points and five steals against Western Illinois on Saturday.
Freshmen make an impact
Freshman Christine Flores and Kendra Frazier both earned important playing time on last Wednesay at Illinois. against the Fighting Illini's All-American center Jenna Smith. Flores played 14 minutes, pulled down five rebounds and scored four points.
In only 12 minutes before fouling out, Frazier hit two of her three shot attemps for five points and recorded two blocks and two steals.
Frazier also earned a start against Western Illinois on Saturday and played a career high 17 minutes and pulled down four rebounds.
Mills finally hits the court
Redshirt-freshman Bekah Mills finally hit the court in a Mizzou uniform in Missouri's exhibition contest with Southwest Baptist on Nov. 7. The El Dorado, Kan., native missed all of last season due to a knee injury suffered during the preseason.
In her second official game with Mizzou, Mills dished out a team season high five assists in 23 minutes. Three days later, Mills posted eight points on 3-of-6 shooting from the floor in Mizzou's win over Western Illinois.
Jones on target
Sophomore Shakara Jones led Mizzou in scoring against South Dakota State in the season opener with 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor. The past two contests, Jones hit 4-of-8 of her shot attempts from the floor.
So far this year Jones is shooting .542 (13-22) from the floor, tops on the team. Her scoring average of 10.7 ppg. is third on the team behind Johnson's 14.3 and Hollins' 11.7.
Tigers finally hit from behind the arc
One season after setting a new program single season record with 197 three-pointers, the Tigers failed to hit a trey in the season opener against South Dakota State. Hollins finally broke Mizzou's 0-for-6 2008-09 start from behind the arc with a three-pointer 19 seconds into the second half at Illinois on Wednesday.
Hollins went on to hit two more threes in the game to increase her career Missouri record for three-point field goals to 169.
Tigers sign prep recruit for 2009-10
Kansas City prep star Trenee Thornton signed a National Letter of Intent to enroll at the University of Missouri and play basketball,
Head Coach Cindy Stein announced on Monday. Thornton will suit up as a Tiger for the 2009-10 season. "We are so excited to have such an outstanding young lady in Trenee Thornton," Stein said. "She brings good court sense and savvy and the ability to play any of the guard spots. She can create her own opportunities and get the ball to who you need to. Trenee prides herself on her defense and will be able to fit in well into the style of defense that we want to play."
Thornton averaged 19.4 ppg., 5.6 rpg., 4.2 apg., 3.8 spg. as a junior for Central High School in Kansas City, Mo. She earned Interscholastic League Most Valuable Player honors following the season, to go along with all-district, all-metro and all-state honors. Over her career, Thornton has averaged 14.6 ppg.
