Feb. 20, 2009

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COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri women's basketball team (12-12, 3-8 Big 12) travels to Lincoln, Neb., on Saturday, Feb. 21 for a 7:05 p.m. game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers (11-13, 2-9) at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The Huskers hold a 36-30 lead in the all-time series but the Tigers picked up a win against Nebraska last month, a 67-66 on Jan. 17 at Mizzou Arena.

Up Next
The Tigers 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. Missouri then travels to Boulder, Colo., for a 5 p.m. (CT) contest against Colorado on Saturday, Feb. 28, in a game that will be televised live on FSN-RM.

Scouting Nebraska
Nebraska is coming off a 61-38 loss to Iowa State on Wednesday, which dropped its record to 11-13 overall and 2-9 in Big 12 conference play. The team has picked up conference wins against Texas Tech (62-56) and Kansas (67-58), both of which came at home.

Junior Cory Montgomery paces the Huskers with 13.9 ppg. and 7.4 rpg. Classmate Yvonne Turner joins Montgomery in double figures with 11.4 ppg. to go along with 2.3 bpg. while sophomore Dominique Kelley adds 9.7 ppg.

Head Coach Connie Yori is in her eighth season at the helm of the team and sports a 117-94 record with the program.

Mizzou upsets No. 14 Kansas State
Junior Jessra Johnson narrowly missed a double-double with 17 points, nine rebounds and a career high six blocks as Missouri upset No. 14 Kansas State 52-43 at Mizzou Arena on Wednesday night.

The Tigers recorded a season high 11 blocks and held the Wildcats to 30.8 percent shooting from the floor, their lowest average of the season.

Joining Johnson in double figures were senior Alyssa Hollins, who had 13 points, and sophomore Shakara Jones, who added 12.

Kansas State jumped out to an early lead but Mizzou closed its deficit to four, 12-8, with 15:22 remaining in the first. After Jalana Childs hit a jumper for a 16-10 Wildcat advantage, Mizzou responded with a seven consecutive points from Jones to take their first lead of the game, 17-16, at the 5:19 mark.

The visitors momentarily regained the lead on two free throws from Kelsey Nelson but on the Tigers' next possession Hollins found Johnson for a layup for a 19-18 Mizzou advantage with 4:41 on the clock.

With Missouri up one, 21-20, the home team reeled off the final five points of the half, including a layup from Johnson with just three seconds on the clock, for a 26-20 Mizzou halftime lead.

The Tigers scored the first seven points of the second frame to increase its lead to 11, 33-20, with 17:00 left in the contest. Kansas State responded with a 6-1 run to cut its deficit to eight, 34-26, at the 14:19 mark but a jumper by Jones one minute later brought the Mizzou advantage back to 10, 36-26.

Missouri's kept its double digit lead for most of the second half and gained its biggest lead of the night, 42-28, when Johnson sank a free throw at the 8:42 mark. Only a jumper from Wildcat Kelsey 11 seconds remaining brought the final margin to nine points, 52-43.

Last time against the Huskers
Just over one month ago Mizzou earned its first Big 12 victory as the team held on for a 67-66 victory over Nebraska on Jan. 17 at Mizzou Arena.

Up one point, 67-66, with eight seconds remaining, Missouri thwarted Nebraska's last-second heroics as sophomore RaeShara Brown grabbed a steal with eight seconds on the clock. Senior Alyssa Hollins missed the front end of a one-and-one with four seconds left but the Huskers could not get off a decent shot attempt for the 67-66 Tiger victory.

Junior Jessra Johnson paced the Tigers with 18 points, including 14 in the second half, and nine rebounds. Hollins had 15 points and three steals while sophomore Shakara Jones added 12 points.

Down 25-21, Mizzou reeled off nine straight points as Brown, Hollins, Johnson and Jones all scored for a 32-25 Tiger lead with 1:56 left in the frame. Missouri lead 34-29 after redshirt freshman Bekah Mills hit a pair of free throws but the Huskers scored seven unanswered points over the final 1:22 to tie the contest at 34-34 at the half.

The Tigers used an 11-5 run to start the second half to gain a 45-39 lead after Mills hit a three with 15:53 on the clock. The Huskers came back and took a 54-53 advantage at the 8:28 mark when Yvonne Turner connected on a three of her own.

A 12-4 run by Missouri, capped by a layup from Jones, gave the home team a seven-point lead, 65-58, with 4:08 remaining. Nebraska came back strong and outscored the Tigers 8-2 over the final four minutes but committed the costly turnover with eight seconds left in the game.

Johnson showcases complete game
Junior Jessra Johnson put on a show in Mizzou's upset over No. 14 Kansas State on Feb. 18. The forward recorded team highs in points (17), rebounds (nine), blocks (career high six), steals (three) and assists (two).

Tigers hold block party
Mizzou recorded a season high 11 blocks against the Wildcats on Feb. 18, which is also the second highest total in the Big 12 this year. The 11 blocks were the most by the Tigers since the team recorded 11 against Oklahoma State on Jan. 4, 2005.

Additionally, Jessra Johnson's six blocks doubled the previous individual season high and stand one shy of the program single-game record of seven, held by Amanda Lassiter (vs. Western Kentucky; Dec. 4, 1999) and Stretch James (Missouri State [SMS]; Dec. 10, 2003). The forward's total was the most since James tied the program record over five years ago.

Mizzou knocks off ranked team
Missouri's upset of No. 14/16 Kansas State on Feb. 18 marked the first time in six tries the Tigers earned a victory over a ranked team this year.

The win also gave the Tigers a win over a top-25 team for the fourth consecutive season:
2008-09: MU 52, #14 KSU 43 (2/18/09)
2007-08: MU 70, #11 OU 64, OT (3/11/08)
2006-07: MU 65, #19 NU 53 (2/17/07)
2005-06: MU 65, #4 BU 61 (1/4/06)

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 61 steals on the year to average a Big 12 best 2.5 spg. this season. In just league play, Brown has upped her average to 2.7 spg., still a Big 12 high.

Brown's 61 swipes are six more than Alyssa Hollins' team high total from all of last year with at least six more games to play.

Mizzou finds stroke against KU
Against Kansas on Feb. 7 the Tigers shot a season high 51.7 percent (29-56) from the floor. The team shot just under 50 percent (15-31) from the field in the first half but found its stroke in the second, making 14-of-25 shots for 56 percent.

Juniors Jessra Johnson and Marissa Scott led the way as the pair shot 6-of-8 and 5-of-8 from the floor, respectively.

Missouri's previous best shooting game of the year was against Duquesne, when the squad shot 48.3 percent (28-58).

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 five points against Kansas on Feb. 7, Hollins now has 1,240 in her career, good for 15th place on the all-time list. She is 72 points shy of passing Mary Brueggestrass (81-85) for 14th 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.

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 two treys against Kansas State on Feb. 18, she now has 214 in her career, 72 more than the second-best total.

Additionally, last season she made 90 threes to smash Amanda Lassiter's old single season mark of 65.