Dec. 4, 2010
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri women's basketball team (3-3) travels to Evanston, Ill., for a matchup with the Northwestern Wildcats (6-1) on Sunday, Dec. 5 at 5 p.m. CT as part of the Big Ten/Big 12 Challenge. The contest will be televised nationally on the Big Ten Network, with Dave Eanet calling the action and Vera Jones serving as color analyst. The Tigers own a 3-0 record in the all-time series with the Wildcats. In the last meeting, Mizzou picked up a 69-63 victory on Nov. 30, 2009 in Evanston, Ill.
UP NEXT
After a month on the road, Missouri finally opens the home portion of its 2010-11 schedule on Tuesday, Dec. 7 with a game against UT Martin at 7 p.m. at Mizzou Arena. The Tigers then return to Mizzou Arena on Saturday, Dec. 11 for a game with UMKC at Noon. Both contests will be televised live on the Mizzou Sports Network, which can be found on Fox Sports Midwest in mid-Missouri and Metro Sports in Kansas City.
SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN
Northwestern owns a 6-1 record on the season. The team suffered its lone loss of the year at Georgia Tech on Wednesday, with the Yellow Jackets picking up a 67-63 victory. The Wildcats have wins over Dartmouth (66-37), LSU (71-62), Western Kentucky (61-54), Chicago State (75-73), Saint Mary's (78-57) and BYU (65-64).
Senior Amy Jaeschke paces the Wildcats and ranks second in the Big Ten with 22.1 ppg. while shooting 55.8 percent from the field. She also grabs a team high 8.9 rpg. Three other players average double figures, with Brittany Orban, Kendall Hackney and Beth Marshall averaging 12.4, 11.9 and 11.4 ppg., respectively.
Head Coach Joe McKeown is in his third season at Northwestern and has a 31-39 record with the team.
LAST MEETING
Missouri overcame an 11-point second half deficit to record a 69-63 victory over host Northwestern in the DoubleTree White Invitational on Nov. 30, 2008, in Evanston, Ill.
Down 59-48 with 8:56 left in the contest, the Tigers came storming back with an 11-0 run, including five consecutive points by Alyssa Hollins, for a 59-59 score after a layup from Jones with 4:55 on the clock.
A free throw from Jessra Johnson at the 2:50 mark gave the Tigers the lead, 60-59, and Johnson then sank a long jumper as the shot clock expired for a three-point Mizzou advantage, 62-59, with 2:14 remaining in the contest. Northwestern responded with a basket but Jasmyn Otote nailed a three-pointer with 1:32 left to give the Tigers a 65-61 lead.
Northwestern got a basket from Amy Jaeschke to get within two, 65-63, at the 1:05 mark but the Tigers used two free throws apiece from Toy Richbow and Hollins to secure the 69-63 victory.
Johnson led Missouri with 19 points and nine rebounds and Hollins scored 10.
LAST TIME OUT
Missouri earned a 56-45 win over the Ball State Cardinals Wednesday night in Muncie, Ind.
Christine Flores led the Tigers with 13 points to go along with eight rebounds. RaeShara Brown had 12 points, four steals and tied her career high with eight assists and Shakara Jones added 10 points and nine rebounds. Additionally, Jasmyn Otote had nine points and a career best nine rebounds and Sydney Crafton had eight points and nine boards.
BROWN INCHES CLOSER TO STEALS MARK
With four steals at Ball State on Dec. 1, senior RaeShara Brown has compiled 204 steals in her career and needs just 44 to tie former Tiger great Joni Davis as MU's all-time steals leader. Her 204 steals currently tie Amy Fordham for fifth in the Tiger record book, and she needs five more to tie Sarah Campbell for fourth 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.
JONES NEARS POINTS MILESTONE
Senior Shakara Jones is sitting on 950 points in her career, just 50 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.
BALANCED ATTACK AGAINST BALL STATE
Against Ball State on Dec. 1 Missouri had five players score at least eight points and four players grab at least eight rebounds. Additionally, five players were very close to recording double-doubles.
Christine Flores: 13 points (team high), 9 rebounds
RaeShara Brown: 12 points, 8 assists (tied career high)
Shakara Jones: 10 points, 9 rebounds
Jasmyn Otote: 9 points, 9 rebounds (career high)
Sydney Crafton: 8 points, 9 rebounds
BROWN DOING IT ALL
Senior RaeShara Brown currently leads the Tigers in four major statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists and steals.
The 5-8 guard is averaging 15.8 ppg. and pulling down 7.8 rpg. Additionally, Brown dishes out a team high 4.8 apg. and is nabbing 2.2 spg. She leads all Big 12 players with 36.5 mpg.
CRAFTON ALL OVER THE BOARDS
Sophomore Sydney Crafton has been all over the boards in Mizzou's past two games. Against Georgia Tech on Nov. 27, the 5-10 guard pulled down a career and game high 12 rebounds. In Missouri's next outing at Ball State, Crafton responded with nine rebounds, which tied the team high.
The 12 rebounds was triple her previous personal best of four, which she posted against both Eastern Illinois and Tennessee.
The mark was the third best invididual output of the year for Missouri, behind Shakara Jones' 14 and Christine Flores' 13, both recorded against Memphis on Nov. 12.
DOUBLE DIGIT REBOUND STREAK SNAPPED
For the first time this season, Missouri did not have a player record 10 or more rebounds against Ball State on Dec. 1. The Tigers had entered the game with at least one player recording double digit rebounds in the team's first five games.
For a while it looked like the streak would remain intact, as four different Tigers were close to the mark in the game's final minutes. In the end, however, three players finished one shy with nine rebounds (Sydney Crafton, Shakara Jones and Jasmyn Otote), while Christine Flores had eight in the contest.
Four different Mizzou players have reached the double digit rebound mark so far this year: Senior Shakara Jones and Junior Christine Flores had 14 and 13 rebounds, respectively, in the season opener against Memphis on No. 12. Senior RaeShara Brown took over with outputs of 11, 10 and 11 rebounds against Eastern Illinois, Tennessee and Georgetown, while sophomore Sydney Crafton kept the streak alive with 12 rebounds against Georgia Tech on Nov. 27.
BROWN NAMED TO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Senior RaeShara Brown was named to the Paradise Jam Reef Division All-Tournament Team after averaging 16.7 ppg. and 8.3 rpg. in the Tigers' two contests.
The 5-8 guard posted double-doubles against No. 4 Tennessee (18 points, 10 rebounds) and No. 12 Georgetown (17 points, 11 rebounds), while scoring 15 points against Georgia Tech.
She was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Alex Montgomery (Georgia Tech), Meighan Simmons (Tennessee), Glory Johnson (Tennessee) and Monica McNutt (Georgetown). The MVP was Sugar Rogers (Georgetown).
TIGERS UPSET NO. 12 GEORGETOWN
Missouri earned its first win of the season over a ranked opponent with a 54-45 victory over No. 12 Georgetown on Friday, Nov. 26.
Senior RaeShara Brown had 17 points and 11 rebounds to record her third consecutive double-double. Junior Christine Flores and senior Jasmyn Otote both had 12 points, which tied Otote's career high.
Leading 39-38 with 7:48 left, Missouri scored 10 straight points on four free throws by Flores and back-to-back three-pointers by Otote to take an 11-point lead with just over five minutes left.
Georgetown tried to rally, scoring the next seven points to cut its deficit to 49-45 on Adria Crawford's two free throws with 1:06 left.
The Tigers hit five of their six free throws, including four by Brown, in the final 63 seconds to seal the win.
MIZZOU CAN PULL THE UPSET
The Tigers' 54-45 victory over No. 12 Georgetown marked the sixth consecutive season Missouri has beaten a ranked opponent.
Mizzou started the streak with a 65-61 win over defending national champion and No. 4 Baylor on Jan. 4, 2006.
2010-11: MU 54, #12 Georgetown 45 (11/26/10)
2009-10: MU 70, #10 Baylor 62 (1/23/10)
2008-09: MU 52, #14 Kansas State 43 (2/18/09)
2007-08: MU 70, #11 Oklahoma 64 (3/11/08)
2006-07: MU 65, #19 Nebraska 53 (2/17/07)
2005-06: MU 65, #4 Baylor 61 (1/4/06)
OTOTE KEY TO BEATING RANKED FOES?
Jasmyn Otote might be the key for Missouri to knock off top-25 teams. In each Mizzou's last two upsets over ranked squads, the guard has scored a career high 12 points.
Otote first set her personal best after sinking four three-pointers against No. 10 Baylor on Jan. 23, 2010. The Duncanville, Texas, native tied her career high against Georgetown on Nov. 26 as she hit three second half treys and three free throws to score 12 points.
BROWN A DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE
RaeShara Brown entered her senior season without any double-doubles in her career. She has made up for lost time as the guard posted three consecutive double-doubles in Mizzou's second, third and fourth games of the season. She currently ranks tied for fourth in the Big 12 with three double-doubles on the season.
MILLS SUFFERS ACL INJURY
Redshirt-junior Bekah Mills suffered a season-ending knee injury when she tore the anterior cruciate ligament of her left knee in the first half against No. 4 Tennessee on Nov. 25. Mills had started Mizzou's first three games at point guard.
This marks Mills' fourth total ACL injury but the first on her left knee. She was forced to miss the 2007-08 and 2009-10 seasons due to the injuries.