Nov. 11, 2010

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COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri women's basketball team opens the 2010-11 season on Friday, Nov. 12 as the squad travels to Memphis, Tenn., for a game with the Memphis Tigers at 5 p.m. The game marks first-year Head Coach Robin Pingeton's first regular season game on the MU sideline. The all-time series between the teams is tied 5-5 after Memphis picked up a 75-74 win in the last meeting (Nov. 18, 2009). Missouri holds a 28-8 all-time record in season openers.

UP NEXT
Mizzou stays on the road as the team faces the Eastern Illinois Panthers on Sunday, Nov. 14 at 4 p.m. in Charleston, Ill. The Tigers are then off until the squad travels to St. Thomas, U.S.V.I., for the Paradise Jam, Nov. 25-27.

SCOUTING MEMPHIS
The Tigers are coming off a 20-14 season in 2009-10 and return four starters and eight letterwinners from that team. The Tigers are led by junior Brittany Carter, the reigning C-USA scoring champion and Newcomer of the Year. She averaged 19.2 ppg. last year to go along with 5.6 rpg.

Sophomore Nicole Dickson posted a team second best 9.2 ppg. last season but has been sidelined by injury in the preseason, while senior Savannah Ellis led the Tigers with 6.7 rpg. in 2009-10.

Head Coach Melissa McFerrin is in her third season at Memphis and has a 32-32 record with the team.

LAST MEETING
RaeShara Brown missed a basket as time expired as Memphis earned a come-from-behind 75-74 victory over Missouri on Nov. 18, 2009.

After Mizzou junior Shakara Jones hit two free throws with 30 seconds remaining in the contest to put the home team up one, 74-73, Memphis' Brittany Carter made a clutch jumper with 13 seconds on the clock for a 75-74 Memphis advantage. The visitors played tight defense to force a under the basket heave by Brown as time expired for the Memphis win.

Mizzou led by 20 points late in the first half and had a 17-point halftime advantage but Memphis outscored the home Tigers 51-33 in the final 20 minutes to pull out the victory.

Jessra Johnson led Missouri with 22 points and nine rebounds, while Jones posted a double-double with 16 points and 10 boards. Brown also hit double figures with 13 points to go along with three steals.

Carter scored a game high 30 points for Memphis. LaToya Bullard added 15.

LAST TIME OUT
Missouri held off a late charge to earn a 68-66 exhibition victory over the Oklahoma City University Stars Sunday afternoon at Mizzou Arena. Senior RaeShara Brown led the Tigers with 23 points.

With Mizzou leading 68-66 and 7.4 seconds on the clock, Brown missed two free throws to give the Stars one last chance for the win. Oklahoma City raced down the floor but Donica Cosby's three-point attempt rimmed out to preserve Missouri's win.

A free throw from sophomore Sydney Crafton gave Mizzou its biggest lead of the second half, 59-48, with 7:19 on the clock. But the Stars came storming back with a 16-7 run over the next 7:39 to trim Missouri's lead to 66-64 after Tiffany Goldwire hit a free throw with 40 seconds remaining.

The Tigers let their shot clock tick down before Brown drove into the lane and nailed a jumper with 13 seconds left for a 68-64 game. The Stars came right back and used a jumper from Jeffries to again trim Missouri's lead back to two, 68-66.

Brown also paced the Tigers with five assists to go along with seven rebounds and three steals. Jones and Flores joined Brown in double figures with 14 and 11 points, respectively. The pair and Crafton all led the team with eight boards.

MCFERRIN HAS MU ROOTS
Memphis Head Coach Melissa McFerrin will coach against her alma mater on Friday. McFerrin, a native of Cassville, Mo., was a four-year letterwinner at Missouri from 1980-83.

Over her four-year career the Tigers posted a record of 90-40. Her senior season, McFerrin and her teammates posted a 25-6 record, won the Big Eight Conference Tournament and ended the season with a No. 15 national ranking. Over the course of the season McFerrin averaged 10.9 ppg.

PINGETON DEBUTS AT MU
The Tigers are under new leadership in 2010-11 as Head Coach Robin Pingeton will make her regular season Missouri debut Friday against Memphis. Pingeton was hired to lead the Tiger program on April 8, 2010 after seven successful years at the head coach at Illinois State.

With the Redbirds, Pingeton amassed a 144-81 (.640) record and brought the Redbird program back to national prominence. During her tenure, she led the school to three straight Missouri Valley Conference Regular Season titles, two State Farm Missouri Valley Tournament championships, a school-best four straight 20-win seasons, two NCAA Tournament berths and three WNIT appearances en route to Missouri Valley Coach of the Year honors in 2004 and 2010. Over the past three seasons, Pingeton compiled an 81-23 (.779) mark to put together the best three-year span in Illinois State history.

BROWN, FLORES LEAD OFFENSIVE CHARGE
Senior RaeShara Brown and junior Christine Flores led the Tigers' offensive charge in the team's two exhibition game victories. Brown averaged a team high 19.0 ppg. in the contests while Flores was right behind her at 18.0 ppg.

Brown posted a game high 23 points against Oklahoma City, to go with seven rebounds and five assists. Over the two games, she averaged 8.5 rpg., 5.5 apg. and 2.5 spg.

Flores was Mizzou's main offensive option against Missouri Western, tallying 25 points, including two three-pointers. The forward averaged 7.0 rpg.

Another bright spot was the rebounding of sophomore Sydney Crafton. The guard grabbed eight boards against Oklahoma City and seven against Missouri Western to finish exhibition play with a team second best 7.5 rpg.

JONES NEARING POINTS MILESTONE
Senior Shakara Jones enters the 2010-11 season with 907 points in her career, just 93 shy of the millennium mark. Assuming the forward accomplishes the feat this season, she will become just the 28th player in Mizzou history to score at least 1,000 points.

Jones has a 10.0 ppg. average in her three-year career, after posting marks of 10.5 ppg. as a freshman, 10.3 ppg. as a sophomore and 9.1 ppg. as a junior.

BROWN SETS SIGHT ON STEALS MARK
Junior RaeShara Brown has compiled 191 steals in three-year career and needs just 58 to move past former Tiger great Joni Davis and stand alone as MU's all-time steals leader. Her 191 steals currently rank eighth in the Tiger record book.

Brown has led the Big 12 in steals the last two seasons, after outputs of 88 a year ago and 79 during her sophomore season. The totals rank third and eighth on Mizzou's single-season list.

MILLS, GEE RETURN TO THE COURT
Redshirt junior Bekah Mills and junior Bailey Gee return to the court this year after recovering from knee injuries suffered last season.

Mills missed the 2007-08 and 2009-10 seasons to ACL injuries, suffering her last injury in the preseason last year. She played all but one game as a redshirt freshman in 2008-09 and posted 5.9 ppg., 3.2 rpg. and 2.2 apg.

Gee tore her ACL in January 2010 after seeing action in eight games to start the year. She averaged 4.5 ppg. in 8.6 mpg. before the injury.

FRESH FACES
Missouri added four newcomers, including two Missouri natives, to its roster in 2010-11: freshmen Maggie Flynn, Tori Niemann, Paige Spietz and Kishaun Williams.

Flynn, who hails from Troy, Mo., comes to the Tigers after playing prep ball at Troy Buchanan High School. She recorded 1,334 points, 792 rebounds and 389 blocks in her prep career and holds Troy Buchanan records in career field goals made (529), blocks (389) and blocks in a game (13). Flynn earned spots on the 2009 and 2010 all-state teams and was the 2009 and 2010 Lincoln County Player of the Year.

Canton, Mo., native Tori Neimann helped Canton High School to a 25-7 record as a senior after averaging 23.2 ppg., 11.0 apg. and 3.5 spg. Neimann was an all-state first team selection as as senior and junior and earned a spot on the second team as a sophomore. She compiled averages of 19.2 ppg. and 9.1 rpg. in her career.

Spietz, a native of Brimfield, Ill., earned Associated Press, Illinois Basketball Coaches Association, Chicago Sun-Times, Illinois Basketball Services and Champaign News-Gazette all-state first team honors in 2010. She averaged 17.8 ppg. 8.3 rpg. and 2.1 apg. as a senior and 19.1 ppg. and 7.8 rpg. in her career.

Williams comes to the Tigers after playing her prep basketball at Captial High School in her hometown of Baton Rouge, La. The guard averaged 18.0 ppg., 8.0 rpg., 5.0 apg. and 5.0 spg. in her four-year career. As a senior year ago, Williams helped lead Capital to a 28-4 record after posting 22.0 ppg., 10.0 rpg., 5.0 apg. and 5.0 spg.

TIGERS INK TWO SIGNEES
Two prep standouts have signed National Letters of Intent to enroll at the University of Missouri and play basketball, Head Coach Robin Pingeton announced. The signing class includes Bree Fowler, a 5-10 wing from Kansas City, Mo., and Kyley Simmons, a 5-7 guard from Council Bluffs, Iowa.

A native of Kansas City, Bree Fowler plays for Coach Melissa Krog Savaiinaea at Staley High School. She helped the Lady Falcons to a 20-8 record a year ago and advance to the Class 4A quarterfinals in only the program's second season. Fowler averaged 13.0 points and 5.0 rebounds as a junior, en route to spots on the Missouri Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association Class 4A All-State second team, Kansas City Star All-Northland Conference first team, in addition to all-district first team accolades in 2010. Fowler played at Oak Park High School as a freshman and is a member of the Missouri Valley Blazers club team.

As a junior last season under Coach Chris Hanafan, Simmons helped lead Lewis Central High School to an 18-5 and an appearance in the regional finals. The point guard averaged 16.5 points and led Class 4A in assists (6.2) steals (4.7) during the 2009-10 season. Her efforts earned Simmons spots on the Iowa Newspaper Association Class 4A All-State second team and Iowa Girls Coaches Association All-State third team. Additionally, Simmons is a two-time All-Hawkeye Ten Conference first team honoree. She also holds Lewis Central records for points in a game (34), steals in a game (12), assists in a game (11) and points in a season (380). Simmons plays club basketball for the Cornhusker Shooting Stars Bison/Judds team. HOME AWAY FROM HOME IN NOVEMBER

After two home exhibition contests at home, the Tigers hit the road for seven straight games away from Mizzou Arena to open the 2010-11 season. Missouri opens the year with away games at Memphis and Eastern Illinois, neutral site games against Tennessee, Georgetown and Georgia Tech in the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands and two more road contests at Ball State and Northwestern before hosting a home game.

The Tigers finally open the home slate on Tuesday, Dec. 7 as the team hosts UT Martin at 7 p.m.

TIGERS FACE TOUGH SLATE IN 2010-11
Mizzou faces a demanding schedule in 2010-11, a slate scattered with teams that made the postseason a year ago.

Overall, the Tigers will play two of last year's Final Four participants, Baylor and Oklahoma, two more teams who advanced to the Elite Eight, Florida State and Xavier, and nine other teams that earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament field. Mizzou also faces four schools that competed in the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) a year ago. Overall, 20 of Mizzou's 30 regular season contests come against teams that reached the postseason in 2010-11.

Additionally, Missouri has 10 games scheduled against teams ranked in the top-20 of the preseason AP poll: Baylor (No. 2), Tennessee (No. 4), Xavier (No. 5), Texas A&M (No. 8), Oklahoma (No. 10), Georgetown (No. 13), Texas (No. 17), Florida State (No. 18) and Iowa State (No. 20).

MIZZOU TO PLAY IN PARADISE JAM
The Tigers end the month of November by traveling to St. Thomas, U.S.V.I., to play in the Reef Division of the 11th annual Paradise Jam, held at the University of the Virgin Islands' U.V. I. Sports and Fitness Center in Charlotte Amalie.

Mizzou opens play on Thursday, Nov. 25 against No. 4 Tennessee, followed by games against No. 13 Georgetown and Georgia Tech on Friday, Nov. 26 and Saturday, Nov. 27, respectively.