Jan. 4, 2011

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COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri women's basketball team (8-5) closes out its non-conference schedule with a trip to Cincinatti, Ohio, to face the No. 9 Xavier Musketeers on Wednesday, Jan. 5 at 7 p.m. ET (6 p.m. CT). The Musketeers hold a 1-0 edge in the all-time series after picking up a 68-60 win over the Tigers on Jan. 5, 2010.

UP NEXT
Mizzou opens Big 12 Conference play on Saturday, Jan. 8 against the No. 22 Texas Longhorns at 4 p.m. at Mizzou Arena. The Tigers then travel to Lubbock, Texas, on Wednesday, Jan. 12 for a matchup with the Texas Tech Red Raiders at 7 p.m..

SCOUTING XAVIER
The Musketeers won their first 10 games of the season before dropping their last two contests to top-10 foes (Duke, 46-45; Stanford, 89-52). The team averages 71.4 ppg. while shooting 45.8 percent from the floor on the season. Xavier outrebounds its opponents 43.3-34.5 for a +8.8 margin and dishes out 16.4 apg.

Xavier is led by the senior duo of Amber Harris and Ta'Shia Phillips, both of whom average a double-double. Harris leads the team with 20.0 ppg., on 55.6 percent shooting, and 10.3 rpg. Phillips averages 13.3 ppg., on 55.2 percent shooting, and a team high 12.6 rpg.

Head Coach Kevin McGuff is in his ninth season at Xavier and has a 195-72 record with the team.

LAST TIME OUT
Missouri suffered a 75-43 loss at the hands of the No. 23 Florida State Seminoles Sunday afternoon at Mizzou Arena.

Junior Christine Flores paced the Tigers with 16 points, while senior RaeShara Brown had 10 points and four assists. Sophomore Sydney Crafton grabbed a game high eight rebounds.

Missouri, which shot just 26.4 percent from the field, was outscored 36-12 in the paint during the contest.

FLORES EN FUEGO
Junior Christine Flores has been Mizzou's best offensive performer over the last few contests.

In the past three contests, Flores has averaged a team high 21.7 ppg. in games against UC Riverside, UAB and Florida State. She also shot 51.3 percent from the floor (20-39) 66.7 percent from behind the arc (6-9) and 73.1 percent from the free throw line (19-26).

Flores ranks second on the team with 15.6 ppg. and is shooting 50.0 percent (71-142) from the floor, 44.8 percent (13-29) from the three-point line, and 76.2 percent (48-63), from the foul line on the season.

She has reached double figures in all but one game this season, a contest against Tennessee. Flores played 24 minutes against the Lady Vols but injured herself in the first half and played sparingly after.

THREES STARTING TO DROP
Over the last three games, Missouri's three-point field goal shooting has improved tremendously. The Tigers have shot 35.7 percent (20-56) from behind the arc in games against UC Riverside, UAB and Florida State.

Prior to those three games, Mizzou shot just 24.0 percent (41-171) from the three-point line over its first 10 games of the year.

Additionally, three of the Tigers' top four three-point shooting percentages have come in the last three games: 41.7 v. UAB, 36.4 v. UC Riverside and 31.8 v. Florida State.

BROWN DISHES UP A STORM
Senior RaeShara Brown dished out a career high 12 assists against UAB on Dec. 29. The total, best in the Big 12 this season, was the most for a Tiger player in almost 17 years, when Amy Fordham had 13 against Texas Tech on March 16, 1994.

Brown also had 13 points in the game to record her fourth career double-double. Her 13 points and 12 rebounds marked the first points-assists double-double for Missouri in almost 19 years, when Fordham had 11 points and 11 assists against Oklahoma on Feb. 8, 1992.

TIGERS DON'T MISS AGAINST UAB
In the first half against UAB on Dec. 29, Missouri made 18-of-26 shots from the field for a shooting percentage of 69.2 percent, by far the single-half high of the season.

Before the game with the Blazers, Mizzou's top single-half shooting percentage was 50 percent, which the Tigers accomplished in the second half against UMKC (14-28) and the first half against UC Riverside (15-30).

Overall, Missouri shot a season high 54 percent from the floor against UAB, besting its old high of 48.3 percent (29-60) against UMKC.

BEST FIRST HALF OUTING SINCE 2006-07
The Tigers shot a remarkable 69.2 percent in the first half against UAB on Dec. 29, as the team made 18-of-26 shots from the field in the opening 20 minutes.

The shooting percentage was the best for Missouri in exactly four years. Against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Dec. 29, 2006, the Tigers shot 74.2 percent in the second half, making 23-of-31 shots from the floor.

FLORES BURIES UAB INSIDE
Junior Christine Flores was Mizzou's standout on the offensive end against UAB, as the forward tied a career high with 28 points during the contest. She made 9-of-16 shots from the field and 9-of-10 shots from the free throw line for the game.

Flores was especially big in the opening frame, as she scored 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting during the first 20 minutes of the contest.

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 1,027 career points.

Jones is averaging 9.2 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 INCHES CLOSER TO STEALS MARK
With two steals against UAB on Dec. 29, senior RaeShara Brown moved past Carla Yancey and into third-place on the all-time steals list with 223. She needs just 25 to tie former Tiger great Joni Davis as MU's all-time steals leader and is 19 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.

FOURS WILD
The Tigers had four players reach double figures in a four-game stretch from Dec. 11-29. Before the game against UMKC on Dec. 11, Missouri had not had four players score in double figures during the first eight games of the season.

Five different players 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
12/29/10 - UAB: Brown, Crafton, Flores, Jones

The last time MU had at least four players in double figures four consecutive games was the 2006-07 season:

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 BLOCKING UP THE LIST
Junior Christine Flores stands in 10th-place on MU's all-time blocks list with 90 after two blocks against Florida State on Jan. 2. She needs 11 to tie Jessra Johnson for ninth on the list.

Flores has 30 blocks so far this year to rank third in the Big 12 with 2.3 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 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 four on Jan. 2 against Florida State, she now ranks eighth on the list with 260. She needs 18 more to tie Julie Helm for eighth on the list.

Brown is averaging 4.8 apg. on the season. If she continues on her current pace, she should end her career with about 347 assists, which would rank fourth in Tiger history.

CRAFTON COMES ALIVE OFFENSIVELY
Sophomore Sydney Crafton has become one of the Tigers' main offensive weapons this season. The guard, who scored a career high 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting against UAB on Dec. 29, has reached double figures five times this season, including four of the last six contests.

Crafton has started the last 10 games since Bekah Mills was lost for the year to a knee injury. She's averaging 8.5 ppg. and 6.1 rpg. in 28.8 mpg., while shooting 45.5 percent from the floor

Her play this season is impressive considering as a freshman last year, Crafton played a total of 23 minutes in six games, scoring seven points.

JONES BACK ON HER GAME
One of Mizzou's primary offensive stars since she stepped on campus four years ago, senior Shakara Jones did not assert herself offensively the first four games of the year. During the stretch, she averaged just 5.8 ppg. despite shooting 52.6 percent from the field.

In her last nine games, Jones is averaging 10.9 ppg. and reached double figures in six of those nine games.

Against UAB on Dec. 29, Jones scored a season high 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field.

On the season, Jones is averaing 9.2 ppg. and shooting 51.1 percent from the field.

PINGETON FOUR AWAY FROM 350
Head Coach Robin Pingeton enters Sunday's contest with a career head coaching record of 346-162 and needs just four more wins to reach the 350 mark. Her 346 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 eight so far at Missouri.