Jan. 15, 2010
Complete Release in PDF Format 
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri women's basketball team hits the road for a contest against Border Showdown foe Kansas on Sunday, Jan. 17 at 1 p.m. in Lawrence, Kan. The game will be televised live on Metro Sports in Kansas City with Nate Bukaty on play-by-play duties and Patti Phillips serving as the color analyst.
The Jawhawks hold a slight 39-36 edge in the all-time series but split last year's two games with the Tigers. Kansas won in Lawrence, 75-58, on Jan. 14, but Mizzou won its home contest, 74-60, on Feb. 7 .
UP NEXT
The Tigers return home for a pair of games next week. First Missouri welcomes No. 13 Oklahoma to Mizzou Arena for a 6:30 p.m. game on Wednesday, Jan. 20. The Tigers next hit the court as the team hosts No. 9 Baylor on Saturday, Jan. 23 at 1 p.m.
SCOUTING KANSAS
Kansas comes into Sunday's contest with a 10-5 record but in the midst of a three-game skid after riding a seven-game winning streak.
The Jayhawks average 72.7 ppg. and shoot an impressive 46.1 percent from the floor while holding opponents to 39.3 percent shooting.
Senior Danielle McCray, the Preseason Big 12 Player of the Year, ranks second in the league at 20.5 ppg. McCray shoots 47.3 percent from the floor and 43.8 percent from behind the arc. Sophomre Aishah Sutherland and junior Krysten Boogaard join McCray in double figures at 11.9 ppg. and 11.7 ppg., respectively, while Sutherland pulls down a team high 8.3 rpg. Freshman Angel Goodrich suffered a season-ending injury on Tuesday. Goodrich has started all 15 games for KU and averaged 6.8 ppg. and 7.1 apg. in 31.2 mpg.
Head Coach Bonnie Henrickson is in her sixth season at the helm of the Jayhawks and has an 89-84 record with the team.
LAST TIME VS. JAYHAWKS
Missouri shot a season high 51.8 percent from the floor to propel the team to a 74-60 victory over Border Showdown rival Kansas on Feb. 7, 2009 at Mizzou Arena.
Jessra Johnson led four players in double figures with 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor and 7-of-8 shooting from the free throw line. Alyssa Hollins and Shakara Jones each added 15 points and Marissa Scott tossed in a then-career high 10 points and three blocks.
The Tigers started on fire in the second half and built an 18-point advantage, 53-35, when Johnson made a jumper with 13:48 remaining. Kansas got back within 12, 53-41, but Missouri used a 15-4 run, capped by a backdoor layup from Scott off a Johnson feed, to lead by a game high 23 points, 68-45, with 5:29 on the clock.
LAST TIME OUT
Strong second half shooting by the Kansas State Wildcats propelled the visiting team to a 65-50 victory over the Missouri at Mizzou Arena.
Senior Jessra Johnson led the way for the Tigers with 12 points, while juniors RaeShara Brown and Shakara Jones each chipped in nine points apiece.
The teams stayed close in the opening minutes of the second half. A jumper from Richbow put the Tigers ahead 32-27 with 17:20 remaining but five straight points by the Wildcats knotted the game at 32-32 a minute and a half later.
With the score tied at 34-34 five minutes into the half, Kansas State's offense caught fire, as the team hit 10 consecutive baskets, including six three-pointers, to build a 59-43 lead with 6:39 on the clock.
The Wildcats shot 62.5 percent from behind the arc in the game, including 87.5 percent in the second half.
FLORES STEPPING UP
Sophomore Christine Flores has been the Tigers' biggest scoring threat for the last month and a half of the season. Since the game against Ball State on Dec. 5, the forward has averaged a team best 13.0 ppg., 6.1 rpg. and 2.3 bpg., while shooting 48.9 percent from the field.
During the 10 game stretch Flores has reached double figures seven games and scored at least 16 points four times. She has notched a caerer high 19 points twice, against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Dec. 21 and against No. 14 Xavier on Jan. 5.
She also has all three of her career double-doubles during the stretch. Flores recorded her first with 16 points and 12 rebounds against Murray State. A 19 point, 14 rebound output in the next game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff was her second of the season. Most recently, she had 10 points and 10 rebounds against Colorado in the Big 12 opener.
Flores, who averaged just 2.0 ppg. the first five games this year, has upped her season scoring average to 9.3 ppg. on 48.1 percent shooting from the field.
JONES A BRIGHT SPOT
Junior Shakara Jones was one of Mizzou's offensive bright spots in the team's loss at Colorado on Jan. 9. The forward shot 6-of-12 from the floor to finish with 15 points, including 11 in the second half.
Jones helped jumpstart the Tiger comeback with five consecutive points to open second half scoring.
The 15 points marked her seventh double-digit scoring output of the season, tied with senior Jessra Johnson and sophomore Christine Flores for the team lead.
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.
A 10 point, 10 rebound performance at Colorado on Jan. 9 marked her third career double-double, tops among all Tigers this season.
BROWN STEALING UP A STORM
Junior RaeShara Brown has been stealing up a storm the past few games. In contests with Murray State, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, North Texas and Duquesne the guard has averaged 5.8 spg. Against both Arkansas-Pine Bluff and North Texas she grabbed a career high seven steals.
Brown now leads the Big 12 and ranks seventh nationally with 3.3 spg. With 50 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.
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.
OFFENSIVE QUESTIONS ANSWERED
One question entering the 2009-10 season was where the offensive production would come from. Senior Jessra Johnson and junior Shakara Jones were Mizzou's two dependable scorers after averaging double figures the past two season but the question remained who else would step up.
Now the answer is evident: everyone. Eight different Tigers (RaeShara Brown - six times; Christine Flores - seveb; Bailey Gee - one; Amanda Hanneman - six; Jessra Johnson - eight; Shakara Jones - seven; Marissa Scott - one; Toy Richbow - one) have reached double figures so far this season.
Additionally, the Tigers have five players averaging at least 9.0 ppg.: Johnson - 12.6; Jones - 10.9; Hanneman - 10.3; Flores - 9.3; Brown - 9.0.
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 12 points against Kansas State to put her career total to 1,066, which ranks her 24th in MU history.
Johnson should also end her tiger career ranked in the top-10 in career rebounds as well. Currently sitting on 600 in her career, she needs 69 rebounds to pass Nikki Smith (1992-95) and move into 10th place on the all-time list.
TIGERS PROTECT THE PAINT
Despite Xavier's clear height advantage on Jan. 5, the Tigers managed to be a force in the post. Missouri actually outscored the Musketeers 34-24 in the paint and outrebounded Xavier 37-35, including a 14-7 advantage in offensive rebounds.
Four of Xavier's five starters were 6-0 or higher, including 6-6 Ta'Shia Phillips and 6-5 Amber Harris. Before the season, ESPN.com named Harris the nations top power foward, while Phillips was among the top five centers in the country.
Sophomore Christine Flores, who stands 6-3, did the most damage down low, with 19 points.
FLORES PERFORMS AGAINST THE BEST
Sophomore Christine Flores had another standout performance against No. 14 Xavier on Jan. 5. The forward matched her career high with 19 points despite going against potential All-Americans Amber Harris and Ta'Shia Phillips.
Flores was especially strong to start the second half, as she scored Missouri's first seven points of the final 20 minutes.
BROWN DOING IT ALL
Known as a defensive specialist after nabbing 79 steals last season, junior RaeShara Brown is doing it all for the Tigers this year.
The guard is averaging 9.0 ppg. after marks of 1.0 ppg. and 6.0 ppg. as a freshman and sophomore, respectively. Brown, who stands just 5'8", also is third on the team with 5.1 rpg. More impressive is that 34 of her 71 rebounds this season have come on the offensive end.
Brown also leads the Tigers in assists (4.0 apg.) and steals (3.5 spg.).
CLOSE BUT NOT ENOUGH
Trailing No. 14 Xavier by 15 points with 5:21 left in the game, the Tigers reeled off 11 consecutive points to pull within four, 62-58, with 2:14 on the clock.
A layup from junior RaeShara Brown got the Tigers started, followed on the next possession with a three-pointer from senior Jessra Johnson. Sophomore Christine Flores hit one-of-two free throws with 3:15 remaining before senior Amanda Hanneman nailed a three to cut the Musketeer lead to six. On Missouri's next possession, Johnson hit another shot for a 62-58 game with 2:14 left.
The Tigers missed quick three-pointers on their next two possessions and Xavier hit its free throws at the end to seal the win.