Feb. 6, 2009

Complete Release in PDF Format

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri women's basketball team (10-11, 1-7 Big 12) hosts Border Showdown rival Kansas (13-7, 2-5) in its annual "Pack the Zou" contest on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 1 p.m. All tickets to the game cost just $1. Additionally the contest will be broadcast nationally on FSN with Brent Stover serving as play-by-play announcer and Brenda VanLangen as the color analyst. The Jayhawks hold a 39-35 lead in the all-time series and picked up a 75-58 win over the Tigers on Jan. 14, 2008 in Lawrence, Kan.

Up Next
Mizzou is off until Saturday, Feb. 14 when the team travels to Waco, Texas, to face No. 7/8 Baylor at 12:30 p.m. The Tigers then host No. 14/18 Kansas State in Mizzou's WBCA Pink Zone event on Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 6:30 p.m. Free t-shirts will be given to the first 500 fans and $2 admission will be given to anyone wearing pink. All proceeds will benefit the Mid-Missouri Susan G. Foundation and the Kay Yow Foundation.

Scouting Kansas
The Jayhawks have a 13-7 overall mark and a 2-5 record in league play after a 65-54 win over Colorado on Wednesday. The team averages 69.1 ppg. and shoots an impressive 46.1 percent from the floor and 39.8 percent from beyond the arc.

Junior guard Danielle McCray is the Big 12's second leading scorer at 19.6 ppg. to go along with 7.9 rpg. Junior guard Sade Morris joins McCray in double figure scoring with 12.2 ppg. and sophomore center Krysten Boogaard adds 9.9 ppg. and 6.1 rpg.

Head Coach Bonnie Henrickson is in her fifth season at the helm of the team and sports a 70-72 record with the program.

No. 14 Kansas State nips Tigers
Missouri used a 25-9 first half run to recover from a 15-2 early deficit but eventually fell to the No. 14 Kansas State Wildcats 58-54 Wednesday night in Manhattan, Kan.

The Tigers had four players in double figures, led by junior Jessra Johnson with 12. Senior Alyssa Hollins and redshirt freshman Bekah Mills each scored 11 while sophomore Shakara Jones added 10. Sophomore RaeShara Brown led Mizzou with eight rebounds and four steals.

After Kansas State jumped out to a 15-2 lead less than eight minutes into the contest, Mizzou caught fire when Hollins hit a jumper and found Johnson, who nailed a three-pointer with 9:01 remaining.

With the Tigers down nine, 20-11, the squad reeled off 12 consecutive points, including threes from Hollins and Mills, to give Missouri its first lead of the game, 21-20, at the 4:57 mark. A layup from Jones extended the Tigers' lead to three, 23-20, a minute and a half later.

Wildcat Shalin Spani made a three-pointer with 2:17 remaining but Mizzou used baskets from Mills and Jones in the final minute to enter the break with a 27-24 advantage. The Tigers outscored the Wildcats 25-9 over the final 12:20 of the half.

Missouri used a basket from freshman Christine Flores and a free throw from Brown to go up 30-24 less than two minutes into the final frame. After Kansas State closed within two, 38-36, Mills grabbed an offensive board and made the putback to put Mizzou back on top, four, with just over 10 minutes remaining.

The Tigers were up one, 44-43, Kansas State's Ashley Sweat nailed a three-pointer with 6:23 on the clock to give the home team a 46-44 advantage. After the Wildcats used two free throws from Ashley Sweat for a 50-47 score, a driving layup by Johnson and two freebies from Mills reclaimed the lead for Missouri with 2:19 left.

Kansas State came back to claim a 55-52 advantage but a jumper by Johnson got the Tigers back within one, 55-54, with 19.3 seconds on the clock. The Wildcats made three free throws in the final seconds to secure the victory.

Border Showdown rekindled
Saturday's game against the Jayhawks marks the 10th sporting event between MU and KU of the 2008-09 academic year in the annual M&I Bank Border Showdown, where winner earns points toward the Border Showdown trophry. The winner of tonight's game will earn 1.5 points toward its school's total. Missouri currently holds a slim 7.5-7 advantage over Kansas.

Brown stealing up a storm
Sophomore guard RaeShara Brown has 54 steals on the year to average a Big 12 best 2.6 spg. this season. In just league play, Brown has upped her average to 2.9 spg., still a Big 12 high. Additionally, since the Kansas game on Jan. 14, she has averaged 3.1 spg.

Brown's 54 swipes stands one steal shy of Alyssa Hollins' team high total from all of last year with at least eight more games to play.

Tigers start slow, then get hot
Missouri could not find the basket in the opening minutes of its game against Kansas State on Feb. 4. The team started the contest shooting just 0.8 percent (1-12) from the floor and trailed 15-2.

The Tigers then found their stroke and shot 8-of-9 from the field to in a 19-5 run that gave the team a 21-20 lead with just under five minutes remaining in the first half.

After the 1-of-12 start, Missouri shot an impressive 68.8 percent (11-16) for the rest of the opening frame.

Mizzou one of youngest Big 12 teams
Missouri is tied as the youngest team in the Big 12, based on average year of a team's starters. The Tigers share the honor with Colorado. The calculation was based on a formula that counts class year as years of experience (senior = 4, junior = 3, sophomore = 2, freshman = 1).

Rank. Team Avg. Year of Starters
1. Missouri 2.4
Colorado 2.4
3. Kansas 2.8
Nebraska 2.8
Oklahoma 2.8
6. Texas Tech 3.0
7. Baylor 3.4
Iowa State 3.4
Texas 3.4
Texas A&M 3.4
11. Kansas State 3.6
Oklahoma State 3.6

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 11 points against Kansas State on Feb. 4, Hollins now has 1,207 in her career, good for 16th place on the all-time list. She is 12 points shy of passing Lisa Sanbothe (87-91) for 15th place on the all-time list.

Brown showcases complete game
Sophomore RaeShara Brown was all over the stat sheet after Mizzou's game at Oklahoma on Jan. 31. The guard recorded team highs in rebounds (eight), assists (five) and steals (four) to go along with six points.

So far this season Brown has led the Tigers in steals a team high 10 times and rebounds nine times, assists a team second best five times and points once.

Flores, Scott enter starting lineup
Freshman Christine Flores earned the first start of her career against Oklahoma on Jan. 31. During the contest the forward played a carer high 24 minutes and tied personal bests with two assists and two steals, to go along with two points and a block. Against Kansas State on Feb. 4 the newcomer had seven points, all in the second half, to go along with five rebounds and a block in 16 minutes.

One game later junior forward Marissa Scott joined Flores as a newcomer to this year's starting lineup. Scott played a season high 26 minutes and had four rebounds, one block and one steal.