Jan. 25, 2010
Complete Release in PDF Format 
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri women's basketball travels to Stillwater, Okla., on Tuesday, Jan. 26 for a 7 p.m. contest against the No. 15/17 Oklahoma State Cowgirls at Gallagher-Iba Arena. The Tigers hold a 28-22 edge in the all-time series but the Cowgirls claimed a 68-60 win in Columbia on Jan. 28, 2009.
UP NEXT
Mizzou returns home to "Pack the Zou" against Kansas on Saturday, Jan. 30 in the Heart of the Tiger event. All tickets for the game are just $1 and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to heart health research. The first 500 fans will also receive a free T-shirt.
SCOUTING OKLAHOMA STATE
No. 12/17 Oklahoma State enters its game with the Tigers with a 16-3 overall mark and a 4-1 mark in Big 12 play. The team has a 12-1 record in its last 13 games, with the lone loss a 77-63 road defeat at the hands of Texas. The Cowgirls are 2-3 against teams in the top-25, with wins over No. 19 Georgia Tech (70-64) and No. 5 Baylor (78-65) and losses to No. 5 Ohio State (93-72), No. 25 Michigan State (93-90, 2OT) and No. 20 Texas (77-63).
The Cowgirls average 76.2 ppg. on 42.6 percent shooting from the floor, while allowing opponents just 63.2 ppg. on 36.9 percent shooting from the field. The team also grabs 42.1 rpg. and turns the ball over just 13.2 times per game, fewest in the Big 12.
Senior Andrea Riley leads the Big 12 and is second in the nation with 25.9 ppg. The guard also leads the league and ranks third nationally in assists with 7.6 apg. Fellow senior Tegan Cunningham averages 17.4 ppg., which ranks seventh in the Big 12), on 49.8 percent shooting from the floor. Junior Precious Robinson grabs a team high 8.2 rpg.
Head Coach Kurt Budke is in his sixth season at the helm of the Cowgirls and has a 86-60 record with the team.
LAST TIME VS. THE COWGIRLS
Missouri remained close for most of the second half but suffered a 68-60 defeat to Oklahoma State on Wednesday, Jan. 28 at Mizzou Arena.
Alyssa Hollins paced Mizzou with 17 points while Shakara Jones joined Hollins in double figures with 15. Jessra Johnson pulled down 10 rebounds and Bekah Mills recorded four assists and a career high four blocks.
LAST TIME OUT
Missouri women's basketball team pulled off an upset of No. 10 Baylor, 70-62, Saturday afternoon at Mizzou Arena for the first Tiger win over a top-10 team since Missouri knocked off No. 4 and defending national champion Baylor 64-61 on Jan. 4, 2006.
Senior Jessra Johnson led four players in double figures with a game high 19 points. Sophomore Christine Flores narrowly missed a double-double with 15 points, on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor, and a game high nine rebounds. Junior Jasmyn Otote knocked down four three-pointer for a career high 12 points, all in the first half, and senior Amanda Hanneman added 10 points.
The Bears opened the game on an 11-0 run before senior Amanda Hanneman got the Tigers on the board with a jumper 4:38 into the game. Missouri gradually chipped away at Baylor's lead, thanks to two layups from Flores and two three-pointers from Otote for a 17-16 Bear lead with 10:00 remaining in the half.
Baylor increased its lead to seven, 24-17, but a 9-0 run on three straight treys for the Tigers, including two more from Otote, gave the home team its first lead of the day, 26-24, with 3:27 on the clock. The teams stayed close the rest of the half and the Tigers took a 31-30 lead into the break thanks to two free throws from Flores with 41 seconds left.
A 10-5 Baylor run to open the second half gave the visiting team a four-point advantage, 40-36, with 15:18 on the clock. Missouri responded with a 12-0, started with a layup from junior RaeShara Brown and a three-point play from Flores as the Tigers retook the lead, 41-40, with 14:18 remaining.
Trailing 55-47, Baylor's offense came alive as the visiting team used a 13-6 run of its own to cut Missouri's lead to one, 61-60, with 4:39 on the clock.
Johnson then scored five straight points for Mizzou, then grabbed a steal that lead to a layup from Brown as the Tigers increased their lead to 68-60, with 2:28 remaining.
TIGERS CLAIM TOP-1O VICTORY
Missouri's 70-62 win over No. 10 Baylor marked the first time in four years the team beat a team ranked in the top-10. Mizzou's last victory was a 64-61 win over No. 4 and defending national champion Baylor on Jan. 4, 2006.
The win also marks the fifth consecutive season the Tigers earned a victory over a ranked team:
2009-10 MU 70, #10 BU 62 (1/23/10)
2008-09 MU 52, #14 KSU 43 (2/18/09)
2007-08 MU 70, #11 OU 64, OT (3/11/08)
2006-07 MU 65, #19 NU 53 (2/17/07)
2005-06 MU 64, #4 BU 61 (1/4/06)
OTOTE KEYS FIRST HALF ATTACK
When junior Jasmyn Otote entered the Tigers' game against Baylor, Mizzou trailed 11-2. The guard made her presence felt right away, grabbing a rebound and then hitting a three-pointer to pull Mizzou with four, 15-11.
Otote then grabbed another rebound and hit another three two minutes later to cut Baylor's lead to 17-16. After two steals by the junior, Otote then hit her third three of the game to again pull Mizzou within one, 24-23.
Just 30 seconds later, Otote knocked down her fourth trey of the first half as Missouri gained its first lead of the game, 26-24, with 3:27 left in frame.
Otote finished the game with four three-pointers for a career high 12 points, all scored in the first half.
JOHNSON EXCELLED IN BIG GAMES
Senior Jessra Johnson played arguably her best basketball of the season in Mizzou's two games last week. The forward averaged a team high 18.5 ppg. in the Tigers' showdowns with No. 10 Baylor and No. 13 Oklahoma.
Against the Sooners on Jan. 20, Johnson scored a team high 18 points and seven rebounds while shooting 8-of-17 from the floor.
Three days later, Johnson led Mizzou's upset charge against the Bears with a game high 19 points. She shot 6-of-12 from the floor and 6-of-7 from the free throw line.
TIGER DEFENSE STEPS UP
Missouri's defense stepped up big in last week's two games against ranked foes. In the team's narrow 62-61 loss to No. 13 Oklahoma on Jan. 20. The Tigers forced the Sooners to commit 23 turnovers (14 in the first half). Missouri managed to grab 11 steals, including five from junior RaeShara Brown.
Against No. 10 Baylor on Jan. 23, Mizzou forced the Bears to commit 20 turnovers, helped along by nine Tiger steals. Missouri was able to score 24 points off the Baylor turnovers.
Missouri averaged just 12.0 turnovers in the two games and forced 21.5 turnovers from its opponents for a +9.5 turnover margin.
BROWN SIXTH NATIONALLY IN STEALS
Junior RaeShara Brown leads the Big 12 and ranks sixth nationally with 62 steals on the year for an average of 3.4 spg. Most recently the guard swiped three steals against Baylor on Jan. 23.
If she keeps on her current pace, Brown will have an excellent chance to break Amanda Lassiter's single-season steals record of 98.
Brown led the conference in steals last year with 2.7 spg. and 79 total on the year, which is the seventh best single-season total in Tiger history.
FLORES RISES TO CHALLENGE
Sophomore Christine Flores rose to the challenge of facing freshman sensation Brittney Griner of Baylor on Jan. 23. The forward posted 15 points and a game high nine rebounds as she narrowly missed her fourth career double-double in the contest.
Flores was especially successful in the second half, when Griner played all 20 minutes. She was 4-of-5 from the floor and grabbed six rebounds during the second frame as the Tigers pulled away from the Bears to secure the victory.
GEE SUFFERS SEASON-ENDING INJURY
Sophomore guard Bailey Gee suffered a season-ending injury on Feb. 19 when she tore the anterior cruciate ligament of her right knee.
Gee played in eight games before the injury, averaging 4.5 ppg. and shooting 62.5 percent from the field in 8.6 mpg. She is the second Mizzou player to injure her ACL this year, as redshirt freshman Bekah Mills suffered the injury during preseason practice.
FLORES STRONG OF LATE
Sophomore Christine Flores has been the Tigers' biggest scoring threat for the last month and a half of the season. Since the game against Ball State on Dec. 5, the forward has averaged a team best 12.6 ppg. and 6.2 rpg., while shooting 50 percent from the field and 75 percent from the free throw line.
During the stretch Flores reached double figures in nine games and scored at least 16 points four times. She has notched a career high 19 points twice, against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Dec. 21 and against No. 14 Xavier on Jan. 5.
She also has all three of her career double-doubles during the stretch. Flores recorded her first with 16 points and 12 rebounds against Murray State. A 19 point, 14 rebound output in the next game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff was her second of the season. Most recently, she had 10 points and 10 rebounds against Colorado in the Big 12 opener.
Flores, who averaged just 2.0 ppg. the first five games this year, has upped her season scoring average to 9.7 ppg. on 49.2 percent shooting from the field.
OFFENSIVE QUESTIONS ANSWERED
One question entering the 2009-10 season was where the offensive production would come from. Senior Jessra Johnson and junior Shakara Jones were Mizzou's two dependable scorers after averaging double figures the past two season but the question remained who else would step up.
Now the answer is evident: everyone. Nine different Tigers (RaeShara Brown - eight times; Christine Flores - nine; Bailey Gee - one; Amanda Hanneman - eight; Jessra Johnson - 10; Shakara Jones - eight; Jasmyn Otote - one; Marissa Scott - one; Toy Richbow - one) have reached double figures so far this season.
Additionally, the Tigers have five players averaging at least 9.3 ppg.: Johnson - 12.9; Jones - 10.4; Hanneman - 9.9; Brown - 9.7; Flores - 9.4.
JOHNSON REACHES MILESTONE
With a layup to start scoring in the second of Missouri's game against Bradley on Dec. 5 senior Jessra Johnson etched her name in the MU record book. The basket marked the 999th and 1,000th points in her Tiger career, making her the 27th player in Missouri history to score at least 1,000 points.
Johnson entered the 2009-10 season with 902 points in her career, just 98 shy of the century mark. She posted 19 points against Baylor to put her career total to 1,108, which ranks 21st in MU history.
Johnson should also end her tiger career ranked in the top-10 in career rebounds as well. Currently sitting on 615 in her career, she needs 54 rebounds to pass Nikki Smith (1992-95) and move into 10th place on the all-time list.
