Dec. 31, 2009
Complete Release in PDF Format 
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri women's basketball team opens seeks its seventh consecutive victory with a home contest against the Duquesne Dukes at 11:30 a.m. Saturday morning at Mizzou Arena. The In the two teams' only other meeting, the Tigers claimed a 76-65 victory at Duquesne on Jan. 3, 2009.
UP NEXT
The Tigers return to Mizzou Arena to close out the non-conference portion of their schedule on Tuesday, Jan. 5 with a contest against No. 13/15 Xavier at 6:30 p.m. The game will be televised live on the Mizzou Sports Network with Beau Baehman on play-by-play duties and former Iowa State Cyclone Anne O'Neil serving as the color analyst. The contest can be found on Fox Sports Midwest in mid-Missouri, Metro Sports in Kansas City, in addition to Universal Sports in Columbia.
SCOUTING DUQUESNE
The Dukes enter Mizzou Arena with a 10-4 mark on the season, including a 4-1 record in the last five games. Most recently, Duquesne played Pittsburgh and upset the No. 20 Panthers 72-63, which was the first win for the Dukes over a ranked team since 1994.
The Dukes average 68.6 ppg. on 41.2 percent shooting from the floor while holding opponents to 65.0 ppg. on 39.9 percent shooting. The squad also dishes out 16.2 apg., nabs 11.3 spg. and posts 4.9 bpg.
Senior guard Keri Pryor leads three Dukes who average double figures with 13.0 ppg., 5.1 rpg. and a team high 2.4 spg. Junior forward Samantha Pollino averages 11.8 ppg. and a team high 5.6 rpg., while sophomore forward Alex Gensler adds 11.0 ppg. and 3.0 apg.
Head Coach Suzie McConnell-Serio is in her fourth season at the helm of the Dukes and has a 45-31 record with the squad.
LAST TIME VS. DUQUESNE
Missouri earned a 76-65 victory over Duquesne Saturday, Jan. 3, 2009 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.
LAST TIME OUT
Mizzou claimed its sixth consecutive victory as the team picked up a 71-44 victory over North Texas Monday night at Mizzou Arena.
Senior Toy Richbow and junior Shakara Jones paced the Tigers with 11 points apiece, a new career high for Richbow. Sophomore Christine Flores posted nine points while senior Jessra Johnson and junior Jasmyn Otote each added eight. Junior RaeShara Brown nabbed a career high seven steals for the second consecutive game to go along with a team high six assists.
SEEKING SEVEN STRAIGHT, AGAIN
For the second season in a row, the Tigers seek a seventh consecutive win against the Duquesne Dukes. Mizzou has won six straight games since a 66-55 win over Ball State on Dec. 5. Since then, the Tigers have run off wins against Bradley (52-46), Texas-Pan American (83-34), Murray State (71-32), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (81-50) and North Texas (71-44).
Last season Missouri kicked off its winning streak with a 69-63 victory over Northwestern on Nov. 30, followed by wins against Toledo (70-50), Bradley (83-54), UT Martin (74-23), Arkansas (56-55), SEMO (60-31), Duquesne (76-65) and Chicago State (63-42).
Additionally, Missouri recorded a perfect record in December for the ninth time in program history and has won 12 consecutive games in December.
RICHBOW UPS OFFENSIVE OUTPUT
Missouri's last three wins against Murray State, Arkansas-Pine Bluff and North Texas were aided significantly but senior Toy Richbow's increased offensive output.
The guard has averaged 9.0 ppg. over the past three contests, including a career high 11 points against North Texas on Dec. 28. She recorded eight points in games with both Murray State and Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Richbow was not looking for her shot nearly as much in the first eight games of the year. She averaged 2.0 ppg. over that stretch, with a four-point output at Indiana as the highest point total of that span.
BROWN STEALING UP A STORM
Junior RaeShara Brown has put on a defensive clinic the past two games. In contests with Arkansas-Pine Bluff and North Texas, the guard has recorded seven steals, a career high. Brown now leads the Big 12 with 3.7 spg. With 41 steals so far this year, if she keeps on her current pace, Brown will have an excellent chance to break Amanda Lassiter's single-season steals record of 98.
When NCAA stats were last updated on Dec. 20, Brown was tied for 26th nationally with 3.0 spg. When her 3.7 spg. is applied to those statistics, Brown would rank fifth nationally in that category.
Brown led the conference in steals last year with 2.7 spg. and 79 total on the year, which is the seventh best single-season total in Tiger history.
FLORES EN FUEGO
Sophomore Christine Flores' play in December was remarkable considering her output in Mizzou's first five contests.
In the first five contests of the year, the forward averaged just 2.0 ppg. In the six games since, Flores has averaged a team high 12.8 ppg., to up her season scoring average to 7.9 ppg.
On Dec. 28 Flores had her best game of the year as she posted career highs with 19 points and 14 rebounds. The game before that, she recorded seven blocks to tie MU's single-game record and scored 16 points.
FLORES DOUBLING UP
It took sophomore Christine Flores 37 games to earn the first double-double of her career with 16 points and 12 rebounds against Murray State on Dec. 13. It took her just one more contest to earn her second.
Flores posted her second career double-double with career highs of 19 points and 14 rebounds against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Dec. 21.
FREE THROWS COMING AROUND
The Tigers struggled from the free throw line early in the season. In six of the first seven games, Mizzou shot less than 57 percent from the charity stripe for a 55 percent shooting percentage.
Since that time the Tigers have turned things around, shooting 71 percent from the line in the last four games.
Leading the charge are junior Shakara Jones and sophomore Christine Flores. Jones has shot 83.3 percent (10-12) during the four game stretch while Flores has shot 82.6 percent (19-23) from the line.
Additionally, Missouri's free throw shooting percentage is at 74.6 percent in the last two games, with only one player (out of nine with attempts) shooting below 66.7 percent.
TIGERS UP THEIR DEFENSE
Over the past five games the Tigers have nabbed 13.0 spg. in wins over Bradley, Texas-Pan American, Murray State, Arkansas-Pine Bluff and North Texas. In Mizzou's first six games of the season, the team averaged just 8.3 spg.
Those extra steals have accounted for the Tigers forcing their opponents into 25.6 turnovers per game the past four contests, compared to the 17.8 Mizzou opponents committed in those first six games.
The team now ranks second in the Big 12 in turnover margin (+6.3) and third in steals (10.5).
TIGERS STRONG ON THE OFFENSIVE GLASS
Missouri grabbed a season high 26 offensive rebounds (compared to 23 defensive rebounds) in the team's 52-46 victory over Bradley on Dec. 8. So far this year the team has recorded at least 19 offensive boards in five of its 11 games.
The total is also a major reason Mizzou ranks first in the Big 12 with 16.8 offensive rebounds per game, ahead of Texas, which averages 16.4.
BLOCK PARTY
The Tigers posted a season high 12 blocks against Murray State on Dec. 13. The total stands as the most blocks for a Mizzou team in over six years, since the Tigers recorded 12 against Bradley on Nov. 23, 2003. The team record for blocks in a game is 14, set against Iowa State during the 1983-84 season.
On an individual level, sophomore Christine Flores' seven blocks against the Racers tied the program single-game record. Former Tigers Amanda Lassiter and Stretch James also recorded seven against Western Kentucky on Dec. 4, 1999 and Southwest Missouri State on Dec. 10, 2003, respectively.
FRAZIER MAKING MOST OF HER TIME
Sophomore Kendra Frazier has made the most of her playing time the past three contests. The forward, who played a combined 11 minutes in three games prior to Dec. 10, is setting career highs left and right lately.
Frazier started the trend with a then-career high seven points in 13 minutes against Texas-Pan American on Dec. 10. Three days later, she narrowly missed her first double-double with career highs of eight points and 10 rebounds against Murray State. Most recently, she dished out a career high three assists to go along with six rebounds and four points in 16 minutes of action.
GEE EARNS THE SPOTLIGHT
Sophomore Bailey Gee had a breakout game against Texas-Pan American Dec. 10 at Mizzou Arena. She played a season high 19 minutes and erupted for a personal best 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor.
Entering the game with the Broncs, Gee has seen action in just two of Missouri's first seven games, playing a total of six minutes and no points.
Including her game against the Broncs, Gee has totaled 28 points in her last three games for a scoring average of 9.3 ppg.
Her 14-point output surpassed her previous career high of 13 points, accomplished against UT Martin on Dec. 14, 2008.
JOHNSON REACHES MILESTONE
With a layup to start scoring in the second of Missouri's game against Bradley on Dec. 5 senior Jessra Johnson etched her name in the MU record book. The basket marked the 999th and 1,000th points in her Tiger career, making her the 27th player in Missouri history to score at least 1,000 points.
Johnson entered the 2009-10 season with 902 points in her career, just 98 shy of the century mark. She posted eight points against North Texas to put her career total to 1,023.
Johnson should also end her tiger career ranked in the top-10 in career rebounds as well. Currently sitting on 587 in her career, she needs 82 rebounds to pass Nikki Smith (1992-95) and move into 10th place on the all-time list.