Jan. 1, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri women's basketball team (8-4) concludes a six-game homestand as the team hosts the No. 23 Florida State Seminoles Sunday, Jan. 2 at 2 p.m. All tickets are just $1 in celebration of the new year. The Tigers hold a 2-1 advantage in the all-time series but suffered a 73-66 loss to the Seminoles in the last meeting on Nov. 29, 2009 in Tallahassee, Fla.
UP NEXT
Mizzou travels to Cincinnati, Ohio, to face the No. 4 Xavier Musketeers on Wednesday, Jan. 5 at 6 p.m. CST in the team's final non-conference game of the season. The Tigers then open Big 12 Conference play against the Texas Longhorns.
SCOUTING FLORIDA STATE
The Seminoles enter Mizzou Arena ranked 23rd in the nation with a 11-3 record. In its last outing, Florida State recorded a 92-44 win over Stetson. Two of the squad's three losses came at the hands of ranked foes: No. 25 Michigan State (72-64) and No. 1 UConn (93-62).
Junior Cierra Bravard paces the Seminoles with 13.9 ppg. and 7.9 rpg, while shooting 54.3 percent from the field. Three other players also averaged double digits: freshman Natasha Howard (12.2), redshirt sophomore Alexa Deluzio (11.2) and senior Courtney Ward (10.7).
Head Coach Sue Semrau is in her 14th season at Florida State and has a 245-169 record with the team.
LAST TIME OUT
The University of Missouri women's basketball team shot a season high 54 percent, including 69 percent in the first half, en route to an 82-73 victory over the UAB Blazers Wednesday night at Mizzou Arena.
Senior RaeShara Brown posted her fourth double-double of the season and her career with 13 points and a career high 12 assists. Junior Christine Flores scored a game high 28 points to tie her personal best, to go along with seven rebounds and three blocks. Senior Shakara Jones had a season high 17 points and four assists and sophomore Sydney Crafton notched a career high 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field.
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.
MIZZOU SHOOTS AND SCORES
Missouri's shooting percentage of 54 percent against UAB, a season high, continued a trend of good shooting from the field in recent games.
In their last four games, the Tigers have shot an impressive 48 percent (110-229) from the floor. Comparatively, Mizzou shot 41.3 percent (176-426) from the field in its first eight games of the year.
So far this year, Missouri has shot at least 40 percent in 10 of 12 games. Last year, the Tigers shot 40 percent or more in just 14 of the team's 30 total contests.
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.
Over the past two games, Flores is averaging 24.5 ppg. on 60 percent (15-25) shooting from the floor and 83.3 percent (5-6) shooting from behind the arc.
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 1,022 career points.
Jones is averaging 8.9 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 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 ARE WILD
The Tigers have had four players reach double figures in the last four games, starting with Mizzou's game against UMKC on Dec. 11. Before the game with the `Roos, Missouri had not had four players score in double figures during the first eight games of the season.
Five different players have 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 blocked three shots against UAB to move into 10th-place on MU's alltime list with 88. She needs 13 to tie Jessra Johnson for ninth on the list.
Flores has 28 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. The guard blew past Toy Richbow (250) and Sandie Prophete (251) and now ranks ninth with 256. She needs 22 more to tie Julie Helm for eighth 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 348 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, is averaging 11.6 ppg. in the last five contests. In comparision, she averaged 6.7 ppg. in Mizzou's first seven games.
Crafton has started the last nine games since Bekah Mills was lost for the year to a knee injury. She's averaging 8.8 ppg. and 5.9 rpg. in 28.3 mpg., while shooting 47.8 percent from the floor and
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 eight games, Jones is averaging 11.5 ppg. while shooting 50.7 percent from the floor. She has reached double figures in six of those eight games, including the last three.
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 9.6 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 346-161 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.
