Jan. 9, 2009
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COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri women's basketball team (9-4) opens Big 12 Conference play on Saturday, Jan. 10 at 5 p.m. when the No. 3/6 Texas A&M Aggies (12-1) come to Mizzou Arena. The contest will be televised on the Mizzou Sports Network with Beau Baehman on play-by-play duties and former Iowa State Cyclone Anne O'Neil as the color analyst. The game came be found on KZOU in Mid-Missouri, Metro Sports in Kansas City and Fox Sports Midwest throughout most of Missouri. The all-time series is even at 7-7 but MU holds a 5-1 lead in games played in Columbia.
Up Next
The Tigers continue conference play with a road contest against M&I Bank Border Showdown foe Kansas at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 14. Mizzou then returns to Mizzou Arena on Saturday, Jan. 17 for a 5 p.m. game against Nebraska, which will be televised on the Mizzou Sports Network.
Scouting Texas A&M
The Aggies won their first 12 games, highlighted by victories over Pittsburgh and TCU, before falling 60-53 at Florida State in the non-conference finale on Monday.
Known for its stingy defense, Texas A&M ranks second among Big 12 teams in scoring defense with 50.8 ppg. and holds opponents to 34.6 percent shooting from the field. The Aggies also swipe a league high 13.1 spg.
Senior Takia Starkers leads the squad with 14.5 ppg. to go along with 4.1 rpg. and 2.1 spg. Classmate Danielle Gant is second on the team with 13.6 ppg. and leads the Aggies with 7.2 rpg. Junior Tanisha Smith tosses in 9.3 ppg. and is shooting 41.4 percent from behind the arc.
Head Coach Gary Blair is in his sixth season at the helm of the Aggies and sports a 114-59 record at the school.
Mizzou earns eighth consecutive win
Missouri scored the game's first 22 points to roll to a 63-42 victory over Chicago State and extend its winning streak to eight games on Jan. 6 at Mizzou Arena.
Junior Jessra Johnson led Mizzou with 15 points and three blocks while sophomore Shakara Jones joined Johnson in double figures with 13 points. Sophomore RaeShara Brown and redshirt freshman Bekah Mills each nabbed four steals in the contest.
The Tigers roared to a 22-0 run to start the contest, capped by a layup from freshman Christine Flores with 12:45 left in the first frame. Six different players scored for Mizzou during the opening run, including seven points from Johnson.
Two free throw by Chicago State's Laureen Pierson gave the Cougars their first points of the game. An additional two freebies from Jasmin Dixon cut the Tigers' lead to 33-17 with 37 seconds left in the first but junior Marissa Scott hit a three-pointer with 28 seconds remaining and converted two free throws with 2.8 seconds on the clock to give Missouri a 38-17 halftime advantage.
Missouri kept a comfortable advantage throughout the second half and got its biggest lead of the night, 55-27, when junior Amanda Hanneman hit a three with 10:12 left in the contest.
Mizzou scored 27 of its 61 points off Chicago State turnovers and outscored the Cougars 32-6 in the paint.
Eight in a row
Mizzou's 63-42 win Chicago State on Jan. 6 marked the team's eighth consecutive victory, dating back to a 69-63 comeback win over Northwestern on Nov. 30.
During the six-game span, Missouri has averaged 68.9 ppg. and allowed only 47.79 ppg., a +21.0 mark. Additionally the team is shooting 43.4 percent from the field, grabbing 13.0 spg. and has a +7.8 turnover margin (15.9-23.6).
Mizzou in conference openers
Saturday marks the first time the Tigers will open Big 12 play against Texas A&M. Since the inception of the Big 12 in 1996, the Tigers are 2-10 in conference openers. However, the team's two wins have both come against Big 12 South teams (Oklahoma State on Jan. 5, 2005 and defending national champion Baylor on Jan. 4, 2006).
Mizzou also sports a 2-3 record in conference openers when played at home.
Tigers earn programs 600th victory
Missouri's win against Chicago State marked the program's 600th victory in over 34 seasons of women's basketball. The Tigers hold an all-time record of 600-416 under head coachs Alexis Jarrett (1974-75), Joann Rutherford (1975-1998) and Cindy Stein (1998-present).
Block party
Junior Jessra Johnson has posted three blocks in each of her last two games to up her team high total to 16 for an average of 1.2 bpg. The three blocks record in the games ties Mizzou's single-game season high, set twice by freshman Christine Flores (UT Martin and Toledo) and once by redshirt freshman Bekah Mills (SEMO).
Jones returns to form
Sophomore Shakara Jones entered the Jan. 6 game against Chicago State with just three double digit outputs in the team's first 12 games and none in the past five.
Against the Cougars, Jones got back on track with 13 points, on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor and 3-of-4 shooting from the charity stripe, to go along with five boards.
Overall this year, the forward is shooting a team high 54.8 percent from the field
Bench needs to be a factor
The Tigers sport a perfect 7-0 record when their bench outscores their opponents bench and has a 162-76 bench scoring margin in those games (Western Illinois, Northwestern, UT Martin, Arkansas, SEMO, Duquesne and Chicago State.
In the five games Mizzou's bench was outscored (115-63), the team has a 2-3 mark, with wins over Toledo and Bradley and losses to South Dakota State, Indiana and Holy Cross.
The Tigers lost its only game when both benches scored equally (Illinois).
Flores catches fire
Freshman Christine Flores exploded for a career high 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor to help Mizzou earn its seventh consecutive win in a 76-65 victory at Duquesne on Jan. 3. Against Southeast Missouri State on Dec. 29, the forward posted a then-career high nine points to go along with five rebounds, two steals and a block.
During the two games, Flores averaged 13.0 ppg., 4.5 rpg. and shot 75 percent from the floor.
Brown a beast on the boards
At 5-8 sophomore RaeShara Brown is Mizzou's second shortest player yet after eight games, the guard is second on the team with 6.5 rpg.
Brown's biggest night on the boards this year was an impressive 12 rebound outing, including four on the offensive end, against Holy Cross on Nov. 29.
Additionally, Brown has started all 13 games and is playing a team fourth best 26.62mpg. this season. So far this year, she has recorded 85 rebounds, 41 more than she posted all of last season.
Tigers yield just 12 first half points
The Tigers allowed only 12 first half points to Southeast Missouri State on Dec. 29 as the Redhawks shot 14.3 percent (4-28) from the floor in the first 20 minutes. The total was the fewest first half points allowed by Mizzou since the team held Kansas State to 11 in a 68-42 Tiger victory on Jan. 7, 2006.
SEMO's point total was also one more than UT Martin managed against the Tigers in the first half on Dec. 14.
Hitting the freebies
Free throw shooting has been Mizzou's Achilles' heel all year as the team is hitting just 58.9 percent from the charity stripe in the first 13 games.
In the team's game with SEMO on Dec. 29, the Tigers shot a season high 76.9 percent from the line on 10-of-13 shooting, including a perfect 4-of-4 from freshman Kendra Frazier.
Mizzou halts Arkansas' streak
The Arkansas Razorbacks entered their game with the Tigers riding a 25-game home non-conferece winning streak. The Razorbacks had not lost at Bud Walton Arena since a 66-64 defeat at the hands of Tulsa on Dec. 1, 2005. Mizzou put a stop to the streak as the visitors came back from eight points down with four minutes to play to pull out a 56-55 victory.
Tigers make them when it counts
Missouri entered the contest with Arkansas shooting just 57.8 percent from the free throw line and during the first 33 minutes of the game, it showed. Mizzou made just 3 of its first 15 attempts at the line. However, a free throw from sophomore Jasmyn Otote with 6:47 left in the game got the team rolling, as Mizzou made its last 11 attempts from the charity stripe, including four in the final minute, to earn a 56-55 victory.
Mills earns weekly honor
Redshirt freshman guard Bekah Mills was named the Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Week by a media voting panel for games Dec. 8-14, the league announced on Monday.
Mills averaged a team high 14.5 ppg. and shot 72.7 percent (8-11) from the floor and 83.3 percent (5-6) from behind the arc during the week to help Mizzou record wins over Bradley and UT Martin. She scored a career high 16 points to go along with a personal best six rebounds in the Tigers' 83-54 victory over Bradley on Dec. 9 and notched 13 points and a career best six steals in Mizzou's 74-23 win against UT Martin on Dec. 14.
On the season, Mills is averaging 7.7 ppg. on 51.1 percent (24-47) shooting from the field and 61.1 percent (10-18) from the three-point line.
It was the first career honor for Mills and the first conference weekly award since EeTisha Riddle earned Big 12 Player of the Week honors on Dec. 4 and Dec. 11, 2006.
She is also the fifth Tiger to earn Rookie/Freshman of the Week honors, joining Julie Helm, Amanda Lassiter, Evan Unrau and Kassie Drew. Helm and Lassiter both earned the honor three times during their inaugural year with Mizzou.
What points?
Missouri allowed only 23 points to UT Martin on Dec. 14, the second fewest points the program has allowed in its 34-year history. The total was two more than the all-time record of fewest points allowed, 21, in a 119-21 win over Bethany College on Jan. 3, 1977.
The 23 points were also the fewest ever scored by UT Martin since the school began 5-on-5 basketball.
Where are the field goals?
UT Martin managed to make only seven field goals during its game with Mizzou on Dec. 14. That marks the fewest field goals allowed for Missouri in at least 30 years.
The previous record for fewest field goals allowed by the Tigers in last 31 years was nine, in a 90-27 win over Missouri-Rolla on Dec. 2, 1998 (complete statistics for the 1975-76, 1975-76 and 1976-77 seasons could not be found).
Steals galore
Over a three-game span from Dec. 3-Dec. 14, the Tigers have racked up a total of 57 steals for an average of 19.0 spg. The team started its steal party with 17 against Toledo on Dec. 3 and then did one better when 18 against Bradley on Dec. 9. Five days later, the Tigers posted 22 steals, the highest total in the Big 12 this year. Before the three-game stretch, the team's season high was 12 in a game with Western Illinois.
Missouri is averaging 11.3 spg. on the year to rank third in the Big 12, behind Texas A&M (13.1) and Oklahoma State (11.5).
Hollins joins 1,000-point club
A jumper with 12:37 left in regulation against Holy Cross on Nov. 29 gave senior Alyssa Hollins the 999th and 1,000th points in her career, making the guard the 26th player in Mizzou history to record 1,000 points.
With six points against Chicago State on Jan. 6 Hollins now has 1,112 in her career, good for 20th place on the all-time list. She is 24 points shy of passing Daina Supstiks (78-81) for 19th place on the all-time list.
Mizzou dishes out the assists
Against Holy Cross on Nov. 29, Mizzou was credited with an impressive 31 assists on its 37 field goals. The total was the most since Nov. 11, 1984, when Missouri dished out a team record 41 in a contest with Cleveland State.
Eight different Tigers posted at least one assist against the Crusaders, led by a career high tying seven from junior Toy Richbow. Sophomore Jasmyn Otote also had a personal best with five and senior Alyssa Hollins and redshirt freshman Bekah Mills also had five to tie career bests.
The total stands as the best assist output by a Big 12 team this season.
Rare triple overtime game for Tigers
The triple overtime on Nov. 29 against Holy Cross, a 94-93 loss, was only the second such game in Mizzou's 34-plus year history. The only other triple overtime game was a 118-111 loss at Kansas on Jan. 29, 1983.
Hollins ups career three-point record
As a junior last year, senior Alyssa Hollins became the program's most prolific three-point field goal shooter, as she set Mizzou's career three-point record. With one trey against Chicago State on Jan. 6, she now has 194 in her career, 52 more than the second-best total.
Additionally, last season she made 90 threes to smash Amanda Lassiter's old single season mark of 65.