Dec. 29, 2010
Complete Release in PDF Format 
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri women's basketball team (7-4) returns to Mizzou Arena in the midst of a six-game homestand to host the UAB Blazers (7-4) Wednesday, Dec. 29 at 7 p.m. at Mizzou Arena. The Tigers hold a 1-0 lead in the all-time series, claiming a 74-58 victory over the Blazers on Dec. 13, 1985 in Columbia.
UP NEXT
Mizzou hosts No. 25 Florida State at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 2 at Mizzou Arena. The Tigers then close out their non-conference schedule as they travel to Cincinnati, Ohio, to face the No. 4 Xavier Musketeers on Wednesday, Jan. 5 at 6 p.m. CST.
SCOUTING UAB
The Blazers enter Mizzou Arena sporting a 7-4 record on the season. The team had won five games in a row before losing to Illinois State in overtime, 63-58, on Dec. 21 in the Caribbean Classic. UAB averages 58.7 ppg. while giving up just 54.3 ppg., and shoots 38 percent from the floor.
Sophomore Jala Harris leads the Blazers with 15.5 ppg. and 3.2 apg. Sophomore Amber Jones adds 9.9 ppg. while junior Meagan Brown pulls down a team high 6.4 ppg.
Head Coach Audra Smith is in her seventh season at UAB and has an 87-103 record with the team.
LAST TIME OUT
The University of Missouri women's basketball team earned a 68-65 win over the UC Riverside Highlanders Dec. 21 at Mizzou Arena. Senior Shakara Jones became the 28th player in MU history to reach 1,000 points during the contest.
The Tigers led by 10, 65-55, with 1:26 remaining in the game but the Highlanders used a layup from Brittany Waddell and four free throws from Tre'Shonti Nottingham for a 65-61 game with 48 seconds left. After Christine Flores hit one-of-two freebies, Nottingham hit a layup to bring the Highlanders within three, 66-63, with 16 seconds on the clock. RaeShara Brown then hit two free throws after getting fouled but Nottingham again answered with a layup with just three seconds left in the game. UC Riverside was able to steal Mizzou's inbounds play but could not get a shot off to preserve Missouri's 68-65 victory.
JONES REACHES POINTS MILESTONE
Senior Shakara Jones became the 28th player in MU history to reach 1,000 points when the forward accomplished the feat against UC Riverside on Dec. 21. She scored 13 points in the contest to finish the game with1,005 career points.
Jones is averaging 8.9 ppg. in 2010-11 after posting marks of 10.5 ppg. as a freshman, 10.3 ppg. as a sophomore and 9.1 ppg. as a junior.
BROWN DOING IT ALL
Senior RaeShara Brown is one of the Big 12's most versatile players, as she is one of only two players who rank in the top-10 in the conference in points (16.5), rebounds (7.3), assists (4.3) and steals (2.7), numbers that are all team highs.
Brown and Colorado's Chucky Jeffery are the only league players to find themselves among the Big 12's best in each of those categories. Below is a breakdown of their numbers:
| Brown | Jeffery | |
| Points/Game | 16.5 | 15.9 |
| % of Team Total Points | 27% | 24% |
| Rebounds/Game | 7.3 | 9.1 |
| % of Team Total Rebounds | 19% | 22% |
| Assists/Game | 4.3 | 5.1 |
| % of Team Total Assists | 35% | 36% |
| Steals/Game | 2.7 | 3.2 |
| % of Team Total Steals | 42% | 35% |
BROWN INCHES CLOSER TO STEALS MARK
With one steal against UC Riverside on Dec. 21, senior RaeShara Brown has now compiled 221 steals in her career and needs just 27 to tie former Tiger great Joni Davis as MU's all-time steals leader. Her 221 steals rank fourth in the Tiger record book, and she needs just one more to tie Carla Yancey for third on the list.
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.
FOURS ARE WILD
The Tigers have had four players reach double figures in the last three games, starting with Mizzou's game against UMKC on Dec. 11. Before the game with the `Roos, Missouri had not had four players score in double figures during the first eight games of the season.
Five different players have contributed to the double digit scoring:
12/11/10 - UMKC: Brock, Brown, Crafton, Flores
12/19/10 - NJIT: Brock, Brown, Flores, Jones
12/21/10 - UC Riverside: Brown, Crafton, Flores, Jones
The last time MU had at least four players in double figures three consecutive games was the 2006-07 season, when the Tigers actually accomlished the feat four games in a row:
11/21/06 - Stanford: Brooks, Hollins, Johnson, Riddle
11/24/06 - Alabama: Brooks, Hollins, Riddle, Savant
11/25/06 - Saint Mary's: Brooks, Hardiek, Hollins, Savant
12/2/06 - Creighton: Brooks, Jackson, Riddle, Savant
FLORES LEADS THE CHARGE
Junior Christine Flores was Mizzou's offensive star in the team's 68-65 win over UC Riverside on Dec. 21. The forward scored a game high 21 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor and a perfect 4-of-4 shooting from behind the arc. The four three-pointers also set a new single game high for her.
Additionally, Flores had game highs of eight rebounds and four assists against the Highlanders.
THREES FALL IN AGAINST UC RIVERSIDE
The Tigers made a season high eight three-pointers against UC Riverside on Dec. 21, with four different players hitting at least one. The team's previous single game high was seven, which MU recorded at Northwestern and against UMKC. Five of the team's three's game in the first half.
Missouri also shot a season high 36.4 percent (8-22) from behind the arc, besting the previous high of 31.3 percent (5-16) against Georgetown.
Junior Christine Flores led the way with a perfect 4-of-4 shooting from behind the arc.
FLORES BLOCKING UP THE LIST
Junior Christine Flores enters Wednesday's contest with 85 blocks in her career, just one shy of tying Debra Walker for 10th-place on Missouri's all-time block list.
Flores has 25 blocks so far this year to rank third in the Big 12 with 2.27 bpg. She has at least one block in all but two games.
Last year Flores posted 39 blocks to tie for 10th on MU's single-season list.
BROWN NEARING ASSISTS TOP-10
Senior RaeShara Brown enters Mizzou's game against UAB with 244 assists in her career. She needs just six assists to tie former Tiger Toy Richbow for 10th on MU's all-time list with 250 and seven more to tie Sandie Prophete for ninth (251).
Brown is averaging 4.3 apg. on the season. If she continues on her current pace, she should end her career with about 330 assists, which would rank fourth in Tiger history.
BLOCKS AWAY
The Tigers rank third in the Big 12 with 5.3 bpg., sitting behind just national leader Baylor and Texas.
The Tigers posted a season high 12 blocks against UT Martin on Dec. 7, five more than the previous best of seven recorded at Eastern Illinois. The total was just two shy of the team's single-game blocks record of 14, set against Iowa State during the 1983-84 season.
On an individual level, sophomore Christine Flores' seven blocks against the Skyhawks tied the program single-game record. Flores also tied the mark last season against Murray State on Dec. 13 to tie former Tigers Amanda Lassiter and Stretch James, who recorded seven against Western Kentucky on Dec. 4, 1999 and Southwest Missouri State on Dec. 10, 2003, respectively.
PINGETON FIVE AWAY FROM 350
Head Coach Robin Pingeton enters Wednesday's contest with a career head coaching record of 345-161 and needs just five more wins to reach the 350 mark. Her 345 wins have come at both the NCAA Division I and NAIA Division II level. Pingeton compiled 194 wins at St. Ambrose (NAIA), 144 at Illinois State and seven so far at Missouri.
TIGERS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SIZE
In MU's 72-37 win over NJIT on Dec. 19, the Tigers used an incredible 52-8 points in the paint advantage. Mizzou's total was the most points the team has scored in the paint all season, while NJIT's total was the fewest a Tiger opponent has posted in the paint this year.
Overall, Missouri has outscored its opponents in the paint in eight of 11 games this year, with an average margin of 32-20. The only three contests Mizzou was outscored or tied in the paint were Tennessee (42-22), Georgetown (22-18) and UC Riverside (30-30).
MU DEFENSE STEPPING UP
Missouri has held five opponents to shoot less than 30 percent from the floor so far this year: UT Martin (18.6), NJIT (23.3), Memphis (24.2), Ball State (27.9) and UMKC (28.3).
The 18.6 percent UT Martin shot against the Tigers marked Mizzou's lowest shooting percentage by an opponent since the same Skyhawks shot 14.6 percent against the Tigers on Dec. 14, 2008.
BROCK UPPING HER PLAY
Junior BreAnna Brock entered the Dec. 11 game against UMKC with zero double figure scoring outputs in 33 career games. She responded with 12 point against the Kangaroos in her first career start. Next time out, Brock did even better as the forward scored a career high 14 points on Dec. 19 against NJIT.
During that two game stretch, Brock averaged 13.0 ppg. and shot 81.3 percent (13-16) from the field. She's also grabbed 6.0 rpg.
MIZZOU HITS ITS SHOTS AGAINST UMKC
The Tigers had their most efficient game of the season from an offensive standpoint against UMKC on Dec. 11. Mizzou shot a season high 48.3 percent from the field on 29-of-60 shooting. The 29 field goals also marked a season high for the club. The squad also shot a season best 33.3 percent (7-21) from behind the arc.
Before the game with the `Roos, Mizzou's previous best shooting percentage of the year was 44.4 percent (16-36) in the team's 54-45 upset of Georgetown on Nov. 26.
So far this season, Missouri is shooting 42.8 percent from the floor. Through 11 games a year ago, the Tigers were shooting just 40.1 percent from the field.
DEFENSE UP TO PAR
Missouri had possibly its best all-around defensive effort against UT Martin on Dec. 7. The Tigers held the Skyhawks to just 30 points on 18.6 percent (11-59) shooting from the floor. Both were lows for Missouri opponents this season.
The defense was especially impressive in the first half, when UT Martin made just 5-of-31 shots from the field to shoot 16.1 percent. Additionally, the Skyhawks had just five points on the board more than 16 minutes into the game.
The 18.6 percent UT Martin shot was the lowest opponent field goal percentage since Mizzou held the same Skyhawks to 14.6 percent (7-48) shooting on Dec. 14, 2008.