Feb. 1, 2014
Arena: Colonial Life Arena (18,000)
Live Scoring: www.GamecocksOnline.com
Radio: KTGR 100.5 FM, 103.1 FM and 1580 AM
Live Video: www.GamecocksOnline.com
MU Head Coach: Robin Pingeton
(St. Ambrose `90) 5-58 at MU (4th season)
USC Head Coach: Dawn Staley
(Virginia, `92) 111-68 at USC (6th season)
MIZZOU HEADS OUT TO SOUTH CAROLINA SUNDAY
The Tigers head out for the first of two consecutive road games on Sunday, facing No. 7 South Carolina on before heading to No. 14 LSU Thursday (Feb. 6). Mizzou is 1-1 against the Gamecocks in series history, the Tigers upset then-No. 14 South Carolina in Mizzou Arena last season, 65-68 on Feb. 28. This will be Missouri's first trip to Colonial Life Arena as the Tigers faced the Gamecocks for the first time in 2001 at the Duke Classic in Durham, N.C.
UP NEXT
Mizzou continues its road stretch at LSU on Thursday, facing the Lady Tigers for the second time this season. The Tigers are 2-4 against LSU, including an 87-68 loss in mid-January. Mizzou has not made the trip to Baton Rouge since 1988. The Tigers came home with a 67-51 win over the Lady Tigers that year.
SCOUTING SOUTH CAROLINA
With a 19-2 record this season, the Gamecocks are ranked among the top-10 teams in the nation. South Carolina has a 7-1 record in SEC play so far, dropping its only contest to Texas A&M in overtime. Most recently, South Carolina topped Ole Miss, 99-70 in Columbia. The Gamecocks are led by Tiffany Mitchell, who averages 15.3 points per game this season. Freshman Alaina Coates is also among team leaders as she averages 12.3 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. She was named SEC Freshman of the Week two consecutive week and three times total this season.
LAST TIME OUT
• Missouri upset No. 16/18 Vanderbilt, 59-54 on Thursday, led by the Tiger bench, which accounted for more than half of Missouri's points in the contest.
• With 15 points on the night Bri Kulas has now led the Tigers in scoring in 13 of their 21 games.
• The Commodores entered the game second in the SEC in field goal percentage shooting 48.2% on the season and shooting over 37% in every game, Missouri held them to only 22.2 percent, a season-low. The 22.2% that the Commodores shot is the second lowest percentage the Tigers have held a team to this season.
• At the half, Missouri held a 13 point advantage, their largest halftime lead during conference play.
QUICK HITS
• Vanderbilt (#16/18) was the fifth ranked opponent in the last six games for the Tigers this season. Last season Missouri faced six total ranked teams during conference play, that number will increase this year with No. 7 South Carolina, No. 14 LSU and No. 10 Tennessee still left on the schedule. This is the first time in Coach Pingeton's career at Missouri that the Tigers have faced four consecutive ranked teams, they played three consecutive in her first season with Missouri.
• The Tigers' win over No. 16 Vanderbilt marks Mizzou's second win over a ranked opponent this season. Mizzou has earned two or more wins over ranked opponents in three of Head Coach Robin Pingeton's four years at MU. Should the Tigers top No. 7 South Carolina, it will be the first time since the 2010-11 season that the Tigers have earned three top-25 wins. Prior to that, the last time Mizzou picked up three top-25 wins was the 2000-01 season.
• With an 11-2 record in the non-conference, the Tigers gained momentum leading to conference play. In Tiger victories this season, Mizzou is holding its opponents to just 59.3 points per game with an average scoring margin of +17.5 points. Mizzou averages 5.0 blocks per game in winning contests and also outrebounds opponents by almost seven rebounds per game. Proving that the Tigers unselfish strategy works, the Tigers average 18.2 assists six victory, eight more than opponents.
• As the team, the Tigers aim for 80-percent free-throw shooting during practices and in games. Mizzou is now shooting 77-percent from the line this season, just under its season goal. That mark leads the SEC (just ahead of Thursday's opponent - Vanderbilt) and checks in at No. 11 nationally. Seven players are shooting 70-percent or better and Mizzou's leader in total free throws - Bri Kulas - is arguably the team's top shooter from the line, checking in at 84-percent (89-of-106).
• Speaking of free throws, Mizzou is very good from the free throw line in unfamiliar territory, shooting 84-percent from the charity stripe on the road. Kulas plays a big part of that percentage as she is shooting 89-percent from the line in road games this season (32-of-36).
• Under fourth-year head coach Robin Pingeton, Mizzou is continuing to play great team basketball. That is evidenced by Mizzou's 16.4 assists per game (third in the SEC and 35th nationally) and its 1.0 assist/turnover ratio, which ranks third in the SEC and just outside the top-50 nationally.
• In road games this season, the Tigers are sticking together. Mizzou assists on 67.6-percent of its field goals. In fact, that has been a trend under the direction of head coach Robin Pingeton. Last season, Mizzou assisted on 64.4-percent of its field goals - up from 61.7-percent in 2011-12 and just 53.2-percent in 2010-11, Pingeton's first year. The team checks in at 64.8-percent this season, ahead of last season's pace and 11-percent higher than in her first season as the team continues to buy into her team-first coaching style.
• This season the Tigers are averaging 4.2 blocks per game, a number that is much improved from last season when the Tigers averaged 2.3 blocks per game. Freshman Jordan Frericks is dominating in this category, she leads the team with 33 blocks on the season, good for an average of 1.57 per game (fifth-best in the SEC).
• Staying on the topic of blocks, Mizzou has 85 blocks as a team this season, 13 more than it had all of last year (72). In fact, Frericks' 33 blocks are the most by a Tiger since Christine Flores (who was drafted in the WNBA draft) had 93 during her senior season in 2011-12.
• The Tiger staff is stressing a defensive mindset this season, and Missouri's numbers are showing it. The Tigers are amongst leaders in the SEC: second in defensive rebounding at 29.5 per game and the Tigers are fourth in the league in defensive rebounding percentage at 69.9-percent.
• Speaking of rebounding, the Tigers are very good after the break this season, outrebounding opponents by 4.1 in the second half of games as the team averages 21.6 rebounds in the second half this season.
• n SEC play, Kulas is averaging a league-best 21 points per game and she is fifth in rebounding at 8.4 per contest. She is the only player in the conference to rank in the top-five in both of those statistical categories. Kulas also ranks in the league's top-five in 3-point FG% (first, .500), 3-point FG made (fourth, 2.3) and defensive rebounds (first, 6.6 per game) during league play as she is putting together an All-SEC-type season.
• Staying on the topic of Kulas, she is in elite company this season. She joins Tennessee's Meighan Simmons as the only players in the SEC to score 10 or more field goals in at least four games this season. Simmons was an All-American last season and the SEC Co-Player of the Year and the Preseason Player of the Year in the league and Kulas is averaging more points, more rebounds and shooting at a higher clip (both inside and outside the arc) than Simmons this season.
MOVIN' ON UP
• Head Coach Robin Pingeton challenges her team to continue to lay the foundation of a successful program at Mizzou. Evidence of improvements are clearly visible from year to year.
• As a team, the Tigers are shooting at a 42.3 percent clip from the field and 38.1 percent from three-point range, improving from last season's 41.6 percent and 33.7 percent efforts.
• After making just five threes all of last season, sophomore Morgan Stock has used her efficiency from long range to earn a starting role. Stock has drilled 43 threes thus far, including a clutch trey in the final moments of the Tigers' win over Vanderbilt. She is also cashing in from the charity stripe, knocking down 92.3 percent of her free throws. Stock has helped Missouri shoot a scorching 77 percent from the line as a team, compared to last year's 68.4 percent.