Jan. 26, 2011
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COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri women's basketball team (9-10, 1-4 Big 12) hosts Border Showdown foe Kansas on Wednesday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. at Mizzou Arena. All fans who wear gold will receive $2 admission and the first 500 fans will receive a free t-shirt. The Jawhawks hold a 42-36 advantage in the all-time series and won both matchups last season, a 72-59 defeat on Jan. 17 and a 61-59 loss on Jan. 30.
UP NEXT
Missouri travels to Ames, Iowa, on Saturday, Jan. 29 to face the No. 20 Iowa State Cyclones at 2 p.m. The Tigers then returns home to Mizzou Arena host consecutive games against Nebraska on Wednesday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. and Kansas State on Saturday, Feb. 5 at 2 p.m.
SCOUTING KANSAS
The Jayhawks enter Wednesday's matcup with a 14-5 overall record and are 1-4 in Big 12 Conference play. Kansas started the year a perfect 8-0 before falling to Michigan. The team then reeled off five more wins in a row for a 13-1 nonconference mark. Kansas' lone Big 12 win was a 68-58 victory at Colorado on Jan. 16.
Sophomore Carolyn Davis leads the Jayhawks with 18.0 ppg. while shooing 64.2 percent from the floor and pulls down a team second best 8.2 rpg. Classmate Monica Engelman posts 12.4 ppg. and junior Aishah Sutherland adds 10.6 ppg. and a team high 8.9 rpg. Freshman Keena Mays dishes out 4.8 apg.
Head Coach Bonnie Henrickson is in her seventh season at Kansas and has a 110-100 record with the team.
LAST TIME OUT
The University of Missouri women's basketball team fell to the Colorado Buffaloes 58-48 on Saturday afternoon in Boulder, Colo.
Senior RaeShara Brown led the Tigers with 13 points, six assists and also had nine rebounds and two steals. She was joined in double figures by senior Shakara Jones, who had 12. Junior Christine Flores grabbed 10 rebounds and senior Jasmyn Otote notched nine points and four steals.
BORDER SHOWDOWN
Wednesday's game against the Jayhawks marks the seventh sporting event between MU and KU of the 2010-11 academic year in the annual M&I Bank Border Showdown, where winner earns points toward the Border Showdown trophy. The winner of tonight's game will earn 1.5 points toward its school's total. Missouri currently holds a 9.0-3.5 lead over Kansas in the standings.
The Tigers have claimed the trophy six times, including the past four years (2002-03, 2004-05, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10) while Kansas has won twice (2003-04 and 2005-06).
LAST YEAR AGAINST THE JAYHAWKS
In two games against Kansas a year ago, senior RaeShara Brown was Mizzou's leading scorer with 13.5 ppg. During the two contests, Brown shot 50.0 percent (10-20) from the field, 50.0 percent (2-4) from behind the arc and 71.4 percent (5-7) from the free throw line. The guard also averaged 3.5 rpg. and 2.5 apg.
In the first meeting on Jan. 17, 2010, Brown scored a team high 15 points. She had 12 in the rematch on Jan. 30.
Senior Shakara Jones narrowly missed a double-double in the Jan. 30 game, with nine points and nine rebounds.
TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE
Against Colorado on Jan. 22 the Tigers dug themselves into a 21-11 hole with just over nine minutes to go in the first half.
Mizzou responded with a 16-2 run in the last 6:05 of the first half to enter the break leading 27-23. During the final 6:05, the Tigers made 7-of-8 shots from the floor and got six points apiece from seniors Shakara Jones and Jasmyn Otote.
Things played out simularly in the second half, as the Buffs came well early in the frame and took a 41-32 advantage with 11 minutes left in the game.
Missouri again began to chip away at the deficit, getting within one, 44-43, when senior RaeShara Brown made one of two free throws. However, Colorado held on to its lead this time, to preserve the Buffs win.
BROWN CLOSING IN ON STEALS RECORD
With two steals against Colorado on Jan. 19, senior RaeShara Brown now has 239 in her career to rank third all-time at Missouri. She needs just nine to tie former Tiger great Joni Davis as MU's all-time steals leader and is three away from tying Kerensa Barr for second 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.
OTOTE BACK IN BUSINESS
Senior Jasmyn Otote is averaging 9.2 ppg. in MU's conference games so far, while shooting 46.4 percent from the three-point line in those five games.
Amazingly, Otote was in the midst of a 0-27 three-point field goal shooting slump going into the conference opener against Texas on Jan. 8. She missed her first three-point shot attempt of the game but sank a three as the shot clock expired with 5:09 remaining in the first half to end the 0-28 stretch. Otote hit four of the eight threes she took for the remainder of the game
Including that game, Otote has made 13 of her 28 three-point attempts in Big 12 play. Her 46.4 percent shooting from behind the arc ranks her fifth among Big 12 players in league games. Additionally, she ranks tied for third in threes per game in conference contests, at 2.6.
REIGNING IN THE TURNOVERS
The Tigers entered the Jan. 19 game averaging 18.5 turnovers per game, including outputs of 26 and 27 against Texas Tech and Texas A&M on Jan. 12 and 15, respectively.
Missouri has managed to hold on to the ball in its last two games, as the team committed just 12 turnovers in consecutive games against Kansas State on Jan. 19 and Colorado on Jan. 22. The 12 turnovers tie for the second fewest all season, behind just the 11 Mizzou committed at Northwestern on Dec. 5.
BROWN UNSTOPPABLE
Senior RaeShara Brown was nearly unstoppable in MU's game at Kansas State on Jan. 19. The guard scored a career high 33 points on 12-of-19 shooting from the floor and 4-of-7 shooting from behind the arc.
Brown hit her first five shots against the Wildcats and scored 13 of the Tigers first 15 points. Overall, she had 18 of Mizzou's 28 points in the first half (64.3 percent) and 33 of the team's 63 total points (52.4 percent).
The total was the first 30-point outing for a Mizzou player since EeTisha Riddle notched 31 points against Wyoming in the WNIT on March 18, 2007.
Additionally, the 33 points were the most by a Tiger since LaToya Bond posted 34 points against Western Michigan on Dec. 29, 2005.
BIG THREE LEAD THE TIGERS
The trio of seniors RaeShara Brown and Shakara Jones and junior Christine Flores combined to score 57 of Mizzou's 63 total points against Kansas State on Jan. 19 to post 90.5 percent of the Tigers' offense during the game. It marked the first time the trio accumulated over 90 percent of the team's total offense this season, although the three have topped 80 percent three other times.
TOUGH ROAD
The Tigers enter Saturday's game with a 9-10 overall record despite playing one of the nation's toughest schedules to this point. As of Jan. 24, Mizzou's strength of schedule (SOS) ranks eighth in the nation by RealTimeRPI.com.
Missouri's SOS trails just Duke, Stanford, Tennessee, Ohio state, Michigan, Texas A&M and Connecticut. It is ahead of such perenial powers as Baylor (11), Notre Dame (17) and Michigan State (73).
THORNTON PROVIDING KEY DEPTH
Sophomore Trenee Thornton stepped into Mizzou's starting lineup on Kansas State and provided a steady presence at the point guard position. The guard missed all six of her shots but dished out three assists and committed no turnovers in a career high 30 minutes of action. Thornton also earned the start at Colorado and scored a career high five points, dished out an assist and did not have a turnover in 20 minutes.
She has seen her playing time jump dramatically since Big 12 play started. She averaged 9.9 mpg. in Mizzou's 14 non-conference contests and has played 22.0 mpg. in the Tigers' four conference games.
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 now stands at 1,093 career points after notching 12 points against Colorado to rank 23rd all-time. She needs five more points to pass Cindy Kiser (77-80) and move into 22nd.
Jones is averaging 9.8 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 NOW IN ASSISTS TOP-10
Senior RaeShara Brown's entered Mizzou career top-10 assists list after dishing out 12 against UAB on Dec. 29. After recording six on Jan. 19 against Kansas State, she stands in ninth-place on the list with 285. She needs three more to tie Julie Helm for eighth on the list.
Brown is averaging 4.6 apg. on the season. If she continues on her current pace, she should end her career with about 340 assists, which would rank fourth in Tiger history.
FLORES BLOCKING UP THE LIST
Junior Christine Flores stands in ninth-place on MU's all-time blocks list with 103 after a two-block performance against Colorado on Jan. 22. She needs five more to tie Joni Davis for eighth on the list.
Flores has 43 blocks so far this year to rank third in the Big 12 with 2.4 bpg. Her 43 blocks also rank ninth on MU's single-season list. She is two away from tying for eighth on the list with Stretch Games (02-03).