Jan. 28, 2011
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COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri women's basketball team (10-10, 2-4 Big 12) travels to Ames, Iowa, to face the No. 23/20 Iowa State Cylcones on Saturday, Jan. 29 at 2 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum. Missouri holds a 45-25 advantage in the all-time series and but the Cyclones have claimed the last seven games in the series.
UP NEXT
Missouri 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. The contest against the Huskers on Wednesday will recognize National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Before the game, Mizzou female student-athletes from other sports will sign autographs on the north concourse.
SCOUTING IOWA STATE
The Cylcones enter Saturday's matcup sporting a 14-5 overall record and a 2-3 mark in Big 12 Conference play. Iowa State is coming off an impressive 85-66 win at Nebraska on Wednesday. The Cylcones average 65.4 ppg., while shooting 43.7 percent from the field and a league best 38.1 percent from behind the arc.
Senior Kelsey Bolte leads the squad with 17.7 ppg. The guard is shooting 49.0 percent from the floor, 47.9 percent from the three-point line, and grabs 5.0 rpg. After Bolte, Iowa State has four players who average at least 7.9 ppg., led by sophomore Anna Prins 9.9. Sophomore Chelsea Poppens paces the team with 6.9 rpg. and junior Lauren Mansfield dishes out 6.2 apg.
Head Coach Bill Fennelly is in his 16th season at Iowa State and has a 346-154 record with the team.
LAST TIME OUT
The University of Missouri women's basketball team used a 15-0 second half run to propel the team to a convincing 66-52 victory over Border Showdown foe Kansas Wednesday night at Mizzou Arena.
With Missouri clinging to a 48-47 lead with just over seven minutes left in the contest, senior RaeShara Brown nailed a jumper to kick off a 15-0 Tiger run over the next four and a half minutes. Senior Jasmyn Otote, junior BreAnna Brock and sophomore Sydney Crafton all scored during the stretch, as Mizzou stretched its advantage to 63-47 with 2:52 remaining in the game.
Kansas never managed to get closer than 13 points in the final minutes, as Missouri held on for the 66-52 victory.
Brown scored a game high 22 points and dished out six assists to lead the Tigers. She was joined in double figures by Brock, who had 12 points and eight rebounds, and senior Shakara Jones, who added 11 points and eight boards.
FAMILIAR FOE FOR PINGETON
Missouri Head Coach Robin Pingeton is familiar with Iowa State and Ames after working on Cyclone Head Coach Bill Fennelly's staff for three seasons. Pingeton served as an assistant coach during the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons and was the associate head coach during the 2002-03 season.
During her time in Ames, the Cyclones went 66-33, made two NCAA Tournament appearances and won the 2001 Big 12 Tournament title.
GAME OF RUNS
Missouri used to key scoring runs against Kansas to put away the Jayhawks and earn the 66-52 victory on Jan. 26.
The Tigers trailed 25-18 in the first half when a jumper from Junior BreAnna Brock jumpstarted a 12-0 run for Mizzou. Missouri grabbed a 30-25 lead thanks to the scoring spree, as senior RaeShara Brown had sixpoints in the run, while Brock had four.
In the second half, Mizzou led by as many as eight before Kansas battled back to pull within one, 48-47, with 7:57 remaining in the game. The Tigers again found their offensive rythmyn and reeled off 15 consecutive points to take a 63-47 advantage with 2:52 left.
Brown again led Missouri with six points during the stretch, while Brock had four, senior Jasmyn Otote had three and sophomore Sydney Crafton added two.
BROCK INTEGRAL TO BEATING JAYHAWKS
Junior BreAnna Brock played a key role in MU's win over Kansas on Jan. 26. The forward was a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor, grabbed eight rebounds, dished out an assist and nabbed a steal.
For the season, Brock is averaging 3.8 ppg. and 3.5 rpg. while shooting 50.7 percent from the field in 10.9 mpg. In Big 12 games, her output has increased to 5.3 ppg., 5.2 rpg. and 17.2 mpg. She's shooting an even 50 percent from the floor in conference contests.
BROWN CLOSING IN ON STEALS RECORD
With two steals against Kansas on Jan. 26, senior RaeShara Brown now has 241 in her career to rank third all-time at Missouri. She needs just seven to tie former Tiger great Joni Davis as MU's all-time steals leader and is one 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 8.7 ppg. in MU's conference games so far, while shooting 42.9 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 fourth among Big 12 players in league games. Additionally, she ranks tied for fourth in threes per game in conference contests, at 2.5.
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 three games, as the team committed just 12 turnovers in consecutive games against Kansas State on Jan. 19 and Colorado on Jan. 22 and 15 against Kansas on Jan. 26. 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.
TOUGH ROAD
The Tigers enter Saturday's game with a 10-10 overall record despite playing one of the nation's toughest schedules to this point. As of Jan. 28, Mizzou's strength of schedule (SOS) ranks eighth in the nation by RealTimeRPI.com.
Missouri's SOS trails just Tennessee, Stanford, Duke, Ohio State, Texas A&M, Michigan and Connecticut. It is ahead of such perenial powers as Baylor (12), Notre Dame (18) and Michigan State (68).
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. Thornton also earned the start at Colorado and scored a then-career high five points, dished out an assist and did not have a turnover in 20 minutes. Against Kansas on Jan. 26, she notched a career high six points and grabbed three rebounds.
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 21.8 mpg. in the Tigers' four conference games.
PINGETON TWO AWAY FROM 350
Head Coach Robin Pingeton enters Saturday's contest with a career head coaching record of 348-167 and needs just three more wins to reach the 350 mark. Her 348 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 10 so far at Missouri.
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 1,104 career points after notching 11 points against Kansas to rank 22nd all-time. She needs 36 more points to pass Daina Supstiks (78-81) and move into 21st.
Jones is averaging 9.9 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 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. 26 against Kansas, she stands in eighth-place on the list with 291. She needs eight more to tie Erika Martin for seventh 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 342 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 105 after a two-block performance against Kansas on Jan. 26. She needs three more to tie Joni Davis for eighth on the list.
Flores has 45 blocks so far this year, which ranks tied for eighth on MU's single-season list with Stretch James (02-03). She needs one more to tie Mary Brueggestrass (82-83) for seventh on the list with 46.