Feb. 4, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri women's basketball team (11-11, 3-5 Big 12) hosts the Kansas State Wildcats (15-5, 5-2) on Saturday, Feb. 5 at 2 p.m. in the annual "Pack the Zou" and Heart of the Tiger events. Admission is just $2, with $1 of every ticket sold donated to heart health research. Additionally, the first 500 fans will receive free long sleeve t-shirts.
Kansas State holds a 43-35 advantage in the all-time series, including a 66-63 victory over the Tigers on Jan. 19 in Manhattan, Man.
UP NEXT
Missouri returns to the court on Saturday, Feb. 12 when the Tigers travel to Norman, Okla., to face the No. 13/11 Oklahoma Sooners at 2 p.m.
SCOUTING KANSAS STATE
The Wildcats enter Mizzou Arena sporting a 15-5 overall record and a 5-2 mark in Big 12 Conference play. Kansas State is riding a four-game winning streak, dating back to the team's 66-63 win over the Tigers on Jan. 19. Since then, the Wildcats have reeled off victories over Nebraska (64-37), Colorado (72-59) and Kansas (65-60).
Sophomore Brittany Chambers leads the team with 14.9 ppg. and 50 three-point field goals on the year, while ranking second with 5.9 rpg. Junior Jalana Childs averages 12.0 ppg. and sophomore Taelor Karr adds 10.6 ppg. Junior Branshea Brown pulls down a team high 6.0 rpg.
Head Coach Deb Patterson is in her 15th season at Kansas State and has a 294-169 record with the team.
LAST TIME AGAINST KANSAS STATE
Senior RaeShara Brown scored a career high 33 points but the University of Missouri women's basketball team suffered a 66-63 defeat to the Kansas State Wildcats on Jan. 19.
Brown shot 12-of-19 from the field to score her 33 points, Mizzou's first 30-point outing since EeTisha Riddle notched 31 against Wyoming during the 2006-07 season. The guard also recorded four assists and four steals. Senior Shakara Jones notched 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting, while junior Christine Flores had 11 points.
LAST TIME OUT
The University of Missouri women's basketball team withstood a furious second half comeback by the Nebraska Cornhuskers but held on to earn a 76-69 victory on Wednesday night at Mizzou Arena.
Missouri led by 17, 39-22, at the half but the Huskers used nine three-pointers in the second frame to claw back. With the Tigers on top 59-50, Nebraska reeled off a 10-0, capped by a three from Husker Jordan Hooper, run to take its first lead of the second half, 61-60, with 4:17 remaining in the game.
A layup from senior Shakara Jones gave the lead back to Missouri with 3:38 on the clock. Fellow senior RaeShara Brown then took the game over offensively, scoring Mizzou's next 12 points to keep the Huskers at bay. Another three from Hooper brought Nebraska within four, 73-69, with 21 seconds remaining but Missouri hit three-of-four free throws in the waning seconds to hold on for the win.
Brown scored 22 of her team high 25 points in the second half, to go along seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. Sophomore Sydney Crafton notched her second career double-double with a career high 19 points, 17 of which came in the opening frame, and a personal best tying 12 rebounds. Jones joined the duo in double figures with 11.
BROWN CLOSING IN ON STEALS RECORD
With three steals against Nebraska on Feb. 2, senior RaeShara Brown now has 245 in her career to rank second all-time at Missouri. She needs just three to tie former Tiger great Joni Davis as MU's all-time steals leader.
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 ONE AWAY FROM 350
Head Coach Robin Pingeton enters Saturday's contest with a career head coaching record of 349-168 and needs just three more wins to reach the 350 mark. Her 349 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 11 so far at Missouri.
CRAFTON HAS CAREER GAME AGAINST NU
Sophomore Sydney Crafton was on her game in MU's win over the Huskers on Feb. 2. The guard recorded her second career double-double with a career high 19 points and a personal best tying 12 rebounds.
Crafton scored 17 of her points in the first 20 minutes on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor. The first half output bettered her previous career high of 16 points, which she posted against UAB on Dec. 29.
She previously recorded 12 rebounds against Georgia Tech on Nov. 27.
BROWN LEADS MU DOWN THE STRETCH
Senior RaeShara Brown was unstoppable in the final minutes of Missouri's win over Nebraska on Feb. 2. The guard scored 22 of her team high 25 points in the second half, including 12 straight points for the Tigers with less than three minutes remaining.
With Mizzou holding a slim 61-80 lead, Brown started her points spree from a jumper and 2:57 left in the game. During the stretch, which included two shot clock buzzer beaters and four free throws, Missouri increased its lead to seven points, 73-66, and 29 seconds remaining.
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 five games, committing just 12.6 turnovers during the span.The team committed just 12 turnovers in consecutive games against Kansas State on Jan. 19 and Colorado on Jan. 22, 15 against Kansas on Jan. 26, 14 at Iowa State on Jan. 29 and a season low 10 against Nebraska on Feb. 2.
TOUGH ROAD
The Tigers enter Saturday's game with a 11-11 overall record despite playing one of the nation's toughest schedules to this point. As of Feb. 4, Mizzou's strength of schedule (SOS) ranks ninth in the nation by RealTimeRPI.com.
Missouri's SOS trails just Duke, Ohio State, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Connecticut, Stanford, Baylor and Michigan. It is ahead of such perenial powers as, Notre Dame (15) and Michigan State (62).
THORNTON PROVIDING KEY DEPTH
Sophomore Trenee Thornton has upped her scoring in recent games, thanks in part to increased minutes. Over the past four games, the guard has averaged 5.8 ppg. after outputs of seven points (Nebraska), six (Kansas) and five (Colorado and Iowa State). 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 20.6 mpg. in the Tigers' eight 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 1,131 career points after notching 11 points against Nebraska to rank 22nd all-time. She needs five more points to pass Daina Supstiks (78-81) and move into 21st.
Jones is averaging 10.2 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 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 Feb. 2 against Nebraska, she stands in seventh-place on the list with 304. She needs 11 more to tie Natalie Bright for sixth on the list.
Brown is averaging 4.9 apg. on the season. If she continues on her current pace, she should end her career with about 349 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 107 after a two-block performance against Nebraska on Feb. 2. She needs just one more to tie Joni Davis for eighth on the list.
Flores has 47 blocks so far this year, which ranks seventh on MU's single-season list. She needs six more to tie Mary Brueggestrass (82-83) for sixth on the list with 53.