Feb. 17, 2009

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Mizzou hosts WBCA Pink Zone Wednesday
The University of Missouri women's basketball team (11-12, 2-8 Big 12) hosts No. 16 Kansas State (20-3, 7-3) on Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 6:30 p.m. in the Tigers' WBCA Pink Zone^TM event, a global, unified effort for the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's (WBCA) nation of coaches to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond. 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. Komen for the Cure and the Kay Yow Foundation.

Up Next
Mizzou travels to Lincoln, Neb., on Saturday, Feb. 21 for a 7:05 p.m. contest against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at the Devaney Center. The Tigers then return home on Tuesday, Feb. 24 to face the Texas Longhorns at 6:30 p.m. in the NCAA's Take a Kid to the Game promotion. All youth will receive free admission with the purchase of an adult ticket.

Scouting Kansas State
Kansas State enters Mizzou Arena with an impressive 20-3 overall record and a 7-3 mark in Big 12 play. The last time out, the Wildcats recorded a 79-71 win over Oklahoma State.

The team is averaging 64.3 ppg. and allows just 51.3 ppg., which ranks second nationally. Kansas State also commits just 13.3 turnovers per game to rank fourth in the country and has a team assist/turnover ratio of 1.1.

Junior Ashley Sweat, who had 25 points in the Wildcats' last meeting with Mizzou, leads the team with 16.9 ppg. and is shooting 51.8 percent from the floor. Senior Marlies Gipson is second on the squad with 12.5 ppg. and averages 3.1 bpg.

Head Coach Deb Patterson is in her 13th season at the helm of the team and sports a 260-141 record with the program.

Baylor defeats Mizzou
Missouri suffered a 72-43 loss at No. 6/7 Baylor Saturday afternoon at the Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas.

Junior Jessra Johnson paced the Tigers with 10 points and eight rebounds

Baylor quickly scored the games first two baskets and grabbed an 11-6 advantage when Danielle Wilson hit a jumper with 14:15 on the clock. The Tigers came back and a basket from senior Alyssa Hollins at the 9:25 mark cut the Bears' lead to one, 16-15.

A basket from Jhasmine Player jumpstarted an 8-0 Baylor run as the home team built a 24-15 advantage with 8:03 remaining in the first half. After the Bears extended their lead to 29-17, Johnson drilled a three-pointer to bring the score to 29-20 with 2:23 left. Baylor entered the locker room with a 32-21 halftime advantage.

The Bears used a 10-2 run to increase their advantage to 42-23 to open the second half. The Tigers responded by outscoring Baylor 8-1 over the next minute and thirty seconds, including three points apiece from Johnson and sophomore RaeShara Brown, to cut Mizzou's deficit to 43-31 with 14:29 on the clock.

Baylor again responded with a 9-0 run to increase its lead to 52-31 at the 12:25 mark of the second half. The Bears continued to shoot well as they earned the 72-43 victory.

WBCA Pink Zone
Mizzou will join the WBCA's Pink Zone^TM initiative when the team hosts Kansas State tonight.

In its third year, Pink Zone^TM is a global and unified effort for the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's (WBCA) nation of coaches to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond. 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. Komen for the Cure and the Kay Yow Foundation.

Last time against the Wildcats
Just two weeks ago 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 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.

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.

Hollins selected to Mizzou `39
Alyssa Hollins was one of 39 University of Missouri seniors chosen to the 2009 class of Mizzou `39. The award program, created by the Mizzou Alumni Association in 2005, honors students in the spirit of service displayed by founding families of the University in 1839.

Hollins and the rest of the class selected for their academic achievement, leadership and service to the University and community. Recipients are selected by a committee of alumni and faculty that reviews the applications and conducts interviews. Recently Hollins and the other 38 seniors were publicly revealed for the first time at a ceremony on the Francis Quadrangle.

Brown stealing up a storm
Sophomore guard RaeShara Brown has 59 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 2.8 spg., still a Big 12 high. Additionally, since the Kansas game on Jan. 14, she has averaged 3.0 spg.

Brown's 59 swipes are four more than Alyssa Hollins' team high total from all of last year with at least six more games to play.