Feb. 25, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format 
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri women's basketball team (12-15, 4-9) returns home to Mizzou Arena to host the Colorado Buffaloes (13-13, 4-9) on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 4 p.m. During halftime, former head coach Joanne Rutherford and other former players will be honored on the court. The Buffs hold a 41-27 edge in the all-time series, including a 58-48 win over the Tigers on Jan. 22 in Boulder.
UP NEXT
Mizzou travels to Waco, Texas, to face the No. 3 Baylor Bears on Wednesday, March 2 at 7 p.m. The team then hosts the regular season finale on Saturday, March 5 against the Iowa State Cyclones at 4 p.m. at Mizzou Arena.
SCOUTING COLORADO
The Buffs enter Saturday's matchup with a 13-13 overall record and a 4-9 mark in Big 12 playThe team is coming off a 73-68 upset of No. 16/15 Oklahoma on Wednesday. The Buffs led by six at halftime but the Sooners cut it to one, 58-57, with 6:02 remaining. However the Buffs hit 7-of-9 free throws down the stretch to hold on for the upset.
Senior Brittany Spears leads the team with 17.1 ppg., while also pulling down 8.0 rpg. Sophomore Chucky Jeffrey joins Spears in double figures with 13.6 ppg., and team highs with 8.2 rpg., 4.2 apg. and 2.7 spg.
Head Coach Linda Lappe is in her first season at Colorado and has a 13-13 record with the team.
LAST TIME OUT
The University of Missouri women's basketball team suffered a 76-34 loss to the Nebraska Cornhuskers Tuesday night in Lincoln, Neb.
Senior RaeShara Brown and sophomore Trenee Thornton led the Tigers with nine points apiece. Sophomore Sydney Crafton grabbed a team high seven rebounds.
LAST TIME AGAINST THE BUFFS
Missouri fell to the Colorado Buffaloes 58-48 on Jan. 22 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 nabbed four steals.
The Tigers erased a 10-point first half deficit to enter the break with a 27-23 lead. However, Colorado came roaring back with a 15-4 run to go on top 38-31 early in the second.
Mizzou managed to get within one, 44-43, but the Buffs scored the next eight points and never looked back en route to the 58-48 win.
PINGETON AND LAPPE MAKING THEIR MARK
Robin Pingeton and Colorado Head Coach Linda Lappe are two of 35 first year Division I head coaches this season. They are also two of the most successful in their inauguaral year at their new schools.
Both Pingeton and Lappe have recorded two wins over ranked opponents this season. Pingeton's Tigers have wins over No. 12 Georgetown and No. 22 Texas, while Lappe's Buffs have wins over No. 15 Oklahoma and No. 16 Iowa State.
Only one other coach in his/her first year at a school has recorded a win over a ranked opponent so far this season: Houston's Todd Buchanan, whose team defeated then-No. 21 Nebraska on Dec. 18.
BROWN DOING IT ALL
Senior RaeShara Brown leads the Tigers in most statistical catergories, including points, rebounds (tied with sophomore Sydney Crafton), assists, steals and minutes played.
Overall, she accounts for at least 15 percent of Mizzou's points, rebounds, assists and steals, with most contributions much larger. Below is a breakdown:
| Big 12 | Overall | |
| Points | 30.6% | 28.2% |
| Rebounds | 14.4% | 15.8% |
| Assists | 37.8% | 38.7% |
| Steals | 41.5% | 41.2% |
Additionally, Brown has contributed just about half of Missouri's made field goals this season, when combining both field goals made and assists:
| Overall | 160 FGM + 121 Asts = 281 FG |
| 281 FG / 590 total team FG = 47.6% | |
| Big 12 | 84 FGM + 51 Asts = 135 FG |
| 135 FG / 270 total team FG = 5 |
BROWN MU'S ALL-TIME STEALS LEADER
Senior RaeShara Brown broke Missouri's all-time steals record in the Tigers' contest against Oklahoma on Feb. 12. Brown, who entered the game tied with former Tiger great Joni Davis at 248, broke the record after stealing the ball away from Danielle Robinson with 18:49 remaining in the game. After two steals against Nebraska, she upped her career total to 259.
Brown 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.
PINGETON EARNS 350TH VICTORY
Head Coach Robin Pingeton claimed her 350th career head coaching victory in Missouri's win over Oklahoma State on Feb. 16. In her 16th season as a head coach, she has a career record of 350-172 coming at both the NCAA Division I and NAIA Division II level.
Pingeton compiled 194 wins at St. Ambrose (NAIA), 144 at Illinois State and 12 so far at Missouri.
THORNTON PROVIDING KEY DEPTH
Sophomore Trenee Thornton has upped her scoring in recent games, thanks in part to increased minutes. She has scored in eight of the last nine games and averaged 6.3 ppg. during those contests. Additionally, she has averaged 9.3 ppg. in the past two games. In the first 16 games she played this year before the Colorado contest, Thornton averaged just 0.9 ppg.
She has also 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 23.7 mpg. in the Tigers' 13 conference games.
BROWN APPROACHING 1,000 POINTS
Senior RaeShara Brown enters Tuesday's game with 961 points in her career, just 39 shy of 1,000. If she reaches the milestone this season, she will become the second player this year (joining Shakara Jones) and the 29th player in MU history to reach the mark.
Almost half of her 961 career points have come in her senior season, as she has compiled 446 so far this year. Her point total in 2010-11 is 46.9 percent of her career total after posting 33 points as a freshman, 181 as a sophomore and 292 as a junior.
TOUGH ROAD
The Tigers enter Tuedsay's game with a 12-15 overall record despite playing one of the nation's toughest schedules to this point. As of Feb. 25, Mizzou's strength of schedule (SOS) ranks ninth in the nation by RealTimeRPI.com.
Missouri's SOS trails just Duke, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Baylor, Connecticut, Stanford, Ohio State and Rutgers.
Below is a list of Big 12 teams' SOS, along with Ratings Percent Index (RPI), based on wins and losses and SOS.
| SOS | RPI | |
| Texas A&M | 2 | 6 |
| Baylor | 4 | 4 |
| Missouri | 9 | 76 |
| Texas | 17 | 37 |
| Nebraska | 25 | 93 |
| Oklahoma | 26 | 20 |
| Texas Tech | 28 | 24 |
| Iowa State | 34 | 34 |
| Kansas State | 66 | 43 |
| Colorado | 67 | 138 |
| Oklahoma State | 72 | 106 |
| Kansas | 75 | 70 |
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 1,168 career points after notching two points against Nebraska to rank 20th all-time. She needs 19 more points to pass LaToya Bond (02-05) and move into 19th.
Jones is averaging 9.7 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 three on Feb. 22 against Nebraska, she ranks sixth on the list with 318. She needs five more to tie Joni Davis for fifth on the list.
Additionally, Brown now has 121 assists so far this season. She needs just three more to tie Kerensa Barr's 124 assists in 2001-02 for the 10th-best single-season total in MU history.
FLORES BLOCKING UP THE LIST
Junior Christine Flores stands in eighth-place on MU's all-time blocks list with 111 after notching a block against Nebraska on Feb. 22. She needs five more to tie Stretch James (03-04) for seventh on the list.
Flores has 51 blocks so far this year, which ranks seventh on MU's single-season list. She needs two more to tie Mary Brueggestrass (82-83) for sixth on the list with 53.
GEE AND BROWN EARN ACADEMIC HONORS
Junior Bailey Gee and senior RaeShara Brown were among 46 student-athletes named to the 2011 Academic All-Big 12 Women's Basketball Team, the league office announced on Feb. 15.
Gee, a junior, earned a spot on the first team while Brown, a senior, was named to the second team. Gee was honored for the first time in her career while Brown was named to the first team during her sophomore and junior seasons.