Jan. 5, 2009
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COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri women's basketball team (8-4) closes out the non-conference portion of its schedule as the team seeks its eighth consecutive victory against Chicago State on Tuesday, Jan. 6 at 5 p.m. The Tigers hold a perfect 3-0 lead in the all-time series, including a 83-50 win in the last meeting on Dec. 13, 1991.
Up Next
The Tigers open Big 12 Conference play at home against No. 3 Texas A&M on Saturday, Jan. 10 at 5 p.m. The contest will be televised 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.
Scouting Chicago State
The Cougars enter Mizzou Arena on a three game winning streak and sporting a 8-7 mark on the year. The team has recorded wins over Northwestern (76-69), Akron (64-54), Austin Peay (62-53), SIU-Edwardsville (69-56), Southern Illinois (71-68, OT), Drake (78-66), Air Force (64-50) and Northern Illinois (76-68). Chicago State's losses have come at the hands of Eastern Kentucky (71-61), Wisconsin-Green Bay (66-48), Loyola (74-59), Santa Clara (52-48), Eastern Michigan (68-61), Dayton (75-70) and Western Michigan (72-63).
Junior guard Jasmin Dixon paces the Cougars with 16.1 ppg. to go along with 5.6 rpg. and 4.1 apg. Junior guard Alyssa Waldon joins Dixon in double figures with 12.7 ppg., a team high 3.7 spg. and 34 three-pointers on the year.
Head Coach Angela Jackson is in her sixth season at the helm of Chicago State and sports a 66-91 record at the school.
Mizzou earns seventh consecutive win
Missouri earned its seventh consecutive win with a 76-65 victory over the Duquesne Dukes on Saturday afternoon at the A.J. Palumbo Center in Pittsburgh, Pa.
Senior Alyssa Hollins led the Tigers with 19 points and eight rebounds while freshman Christine Flores exploded for a career high 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor. Sophomore RaeShara Brown paced the team in boards with nine rebounds.
The game went back and forth over the opening minutes with neither squad gaining an advantage. Dusquesne held a slim 12-10 lead five minutes in but junior Marissa Scott sank a turnaround jumper off the glass to knot the score at 12-12 with 13:38 on the clock. A minute later, Hollins hit a three as the Tigers took a 15-12 advantage.
Two three-pointers by junior Amanda Hanneman ignited the Tiger offense and a layup from redshirt freshman Bekah Mills off an assist from Brown put Missouri up five, 25-20, with 9:46 left in the first. Mizzou upped its advantage to six, 28-22, after freshman Kendra Frazier converted a pair of free throws a minute later.
Flores then hit three consecutive baskets and two free throws from junior Toy Richbow gave Mizzou its biggest lead of the first half, nine, at 36-27 with 1:47 on the clock. Another basket and two free throws from Flores closed out scoring in the first frame as the Tigers entered the break on top 40-28.
After the Dukes cut Mizzou's lead to seven, 44-37, the Tigers reeled off eight consecutive points, capped by a breakaway layup from Hanneman, for a 52-37 Tiger advantage.
Duquesne came back and got within single-digits at 60-51 with but Mizzou ran off a 9-0 run for a 18-point advantage, 69-51, with 6:14 remaining.
Seven in a row
Mizzou's 76-65 win against Duquesne on Jan. 3 marked the team's seventh consecutive victory, dating back to a 69-63 comeback win over Northwestern on Nov. 30.
During the six-game span, Missouri has averaged 69.7ppg. and allowed only 48.7 ppg., a +21.0 mark. Additionally the team is shooting 43.3 percent from the field, grabbing 12.7 spg. and has a +7.3 turnover margin (16.0-23.3).
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.
Over the two games, Flores averaged 13.0 ppg., 4.5 rpg. and shot 75 percent from the floor.
Hollins heating up
The leading scorer from a year ago, senior Alyssas Hollins was expected to carry the offensive load this season. The shooter led the Tigers in points four times in the team's first 10 games but struggled from the floor, shooting 32.1 percent and grabbing 2.7 rpg.
Hollins has found her shooting stroke in the past two games, shooting 44.8 percent from the field in games against SEMO and Duquesne. Additionally, the senior has averaged 5.0 rpg.
Hanneman hits her mark
Junior Amanda Hanneman posted a season high eight points on a perfect 3-of-3 from the floor in Mizzou's win at Duquesne on Jan. 3. The sharpshooter hit both of her attempts from behind the arc and now has made four threes in the last three games after making just one in her previous nine games this year.
Hanneman has also scored in her last four games after accomplishing the feat just three times in the first eight games of her junior season.
Blocks for Bekah
Although only 5'9”, redshirt freshman Bekah Mills currently ranks second on the team in blocks with nine on the year. Against SEMO on Dec. 29, Mills swatted away three shots for a new career high, which is also tied for the individual single game high.
The guard has posted blocks in seven of Mizzou's 12 games this season and has had a game high in that category five times.
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 112games and is playing a team fourth best 26.6 mpg. this season. So far this year, she has recorded 78 rebounds, 34 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 58.5 percent from the charity stripe in the first 11 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.
Missouri also made its final 11 attempts from the line in their come-from-behind win at Arkansas on Dec. 21 and is 21-of-24 (87.5 percent) since.
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 11.0 spg. on the year to rank third in the Big 12, behind Texas A&M (13.3) and Oklahoma State (11.1).
Johnson doing it all
Johnson started her junior season on a tear and has not let up in the first 12 games of the year. She currently leads the team in rebounding (7.6), assists (3.0) and blocks (1.1), is tied for first in steals (2.3) and is second in scoring (13.9).
The junior has led the team in blocks eight times, rebounds six games, points and assists five games, and steals four.
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 19 points against Duquesne on Jan. 3 Hollins now has 1,106 in her career, good for 20th place on the all-time list. She is 30 points shy of passing Cindy Kiser (76-80) 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.
Johnson makes all-tournament team
In the DoubleTree White Invitational on Nov. 29-30, junior Jessra Johnson shot 8-of-14 from the field to post 19 points and nine boards in a come-from-behind win over host Northwestern and recorded 21 points, nine rebounds and three steals in a triple overtime loss to Holy Cross. The forward averaged 20.0 ppg. and 9.0 rpg. in the two games to earn all-tournament team honors.
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 three treys against Duquesne on Jan. 3, she now has 193 in her career, 51 more than the second-best total.
Additionally, last season she made 90 threes to smash Amanda Lassiter's old single season mark of 65.