Feb. 2, 2010
Complete Release in PDF Format 
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri women's basketball team hits the road to face the No. 10/12 Texas A&M Aggies at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 3 in College Station, Texas. Texas A&M holds a 10-5 edge in the all-time series, including a 62-56 victory over the Tigers on Jan. 10, 2009 at Mizzou Arena.
UP NEXT
The Tigers return to Mizzou Arena for a clash with No. 19/22 Iowa State on Sunday, Feb. 7 at 3 p.m. The contest with the Cyclones will be televised live on FSN with Brent Stover on play-by-play duties and Brenda VanLengen serving as the color analyst. Mizzou then travels to Manhattan, Kan., for a contest against Kansas State on Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. The contest will be televised live on Fox Sports Kansas City.
SCOUTING TEXAS A&M
The Aggies enter their matchup with the Tigers with a 15-4 overall mark and a 3-3 record in Big 12 Conference play. After running off to a 14-1 record, the Aggies have dropped three of four games in league action, including a 67-63 loss at home to Oklahoma State on Jan. 31.
Texas A&M averages 78.5 ppg. while allowing just 60.4 ppg. to its opponents. The team shoots 46.8 percent from the field and 38.6 percent from behind the arc.
Junior Danielle Adams lead the Aggies at 15.9 ppg. and 5.6 rpg. on 47.6 percent shooting from the floor. Senior Tanisha Smith posts 15.5 ppg. while redshirt sophomore Tyra White adds 11.1 ppg. Junior Sydney Colson dishes out a team high 4.7 apg.
Head Coach Gary Blair is in his seventh season at the helm of the Aggies and has a 144-70 record with the team.
LAST TIME VS. THE AGGIES
Missouri ran off a 17-4 late second half run but could not get past No. 3/6 Texas A&M as the Aggies slipped past the Tigers 62-56 in the Big 12 Conference opener Jan. 10, 2009 at Mizzou Arena.
Shakara Jones led the Tigers with 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting while Jessra Johnson had 13 points after making all nine of her free throw attempts. Alyssa Hollins pulled down a team high six rebounds.
LAST TIME OUT
Senior Amanda Hanneman missed a potential game-winning three-pointer with one second remaining as the University of Missouri women's basketball team fell to the Kansas Jayhawks 61-59 Saturday afternoon at Mizzou Arena.
Trailing 42-33 with 14:25 left in the contest, Mizzou used an 11-2 run over the next five minutes to knot the score at 44-44 with 9:30 on the clock. Hanneman started the run with a three-pointer and junior Shakara Jones hit two free throws for the game's first tie of the night.
Kansas used a jumper and a three to go back up five, 49-44, but the Tigers battled back until Hanneman sank another three with 4:06 remaining to again tie the game, this time at 55-55.
With 1:47 on the clock, Kansas' Nicollette Smith made a layup for a 61-57 Jayhawk lead but Johnson found sophomore Christine Flores for a layup with 1:01 left for a 61-59 game.
After the Jayhawks failed to score on their ensuing possession, Johnson missed a jumper with five seconds remaining that would have tied the game. Kansas touched the ball before it fell out of bounds giving the Tigers one more opportunity but Hanneman's three at the buzzer rimmed out.
Senior Jessra Johnson led the way with 16 points and four assists. She was joined in double figures by junior RaeShara Brown, who scored 12 points, and Hanneman, who added 10. Jones narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.
The Jayhawks took the lead early, eventually building a 12-point advantage, 26-14, with 6:22 remaining in the first half. Mizzou's offense came alive with a three-pointer from Brown and two free throws from Hanneman to cut Kansas' lead to seven, 26-19, with 4:23 on the clock.
After a layup from KU's Sade Morris gave the visiting team a 30-21 advantage, the Tigers scored the final five points of the first frame, including five points from Johnson, for a 30-26 Kansas halftime lead.
BOTH TEAMS TAKE CARE OF THE BALL
Wednesday's clash of the Tigers and Aggies pits the Big 12's leaders in turnover margin. Texas A&M leads to league with a +6.1 turnover margin, as the team averages 16.1 turnovers a game while forcing 22.2. Missouri has a +5.2 turnover margin as the squad turns the ball over just 14.7 times per game while forcing opponents to commit 19.8.
More amazing is the gap between the Aggies and Tigers and the rest of the league. Oklahoma State ranks third in turnover margin with just +3.2.
Missouri ranks third in turnovers forced per game, behind Texas A&M and Texas Tech, and fourth in turnovers per game, behind Oklahoma State, Iowa State and Kansas State. Conversely, Texas A&M ranks first in turnovers forced but fifth in turnovers.
SECOND HALF SQUAD
In six of seven Big 12 Conference games, Missouri has scored more points in the second half than the first half. The team's one exception was the game with Kansas State on Jan. 13.
In those six games, the Tigers have scored 217 points in the second half compared to 140 points in the first frame.
BROWN CLIMBING UP THE CHARTS
Junior RaeShara Brown is climbing the career and single season steals charts in her junior season with the Tigers.
The guard, who leads the Big 12 with 3.3 spg., has 65 steals so far this year, needs just 10 more to tie for 10th on the MU single season list. Brown already owns the seventh-best total is Tiger history, as she swiped 79 a season ago.
Additionally, Brown stands just four steals away from tying Cindy Kiser (1977-80) for 10th place on Mizzou's all-time list. Just 80 steals away from Joni Davis' career record of 248, Brown seems destined to overtake the Tiger great sometime next season.
HANNEMAN STRONG AGAINST COWGIRLS
Senior Amanda Hanneman was Mizzou's offensive spark plug in the team's 75-60 loss to No. 15 Oklahoma State on Jan. 26. She scored a team high 19 points, while shooting 7-of-11 from the floor and 5-of-8 from behind the arc.
After making two treys in the first half, Hanneman nailed all three of her attempts in the second. The senior now has a team high 42 three-pointers so far this year, which ranks fifth in the Big 12.
JOHNSON DOUBLES UP
Senior Jessra Johnson scored 13 points and ripped down 10 rebounds to record her first double-double of the season against Oklahoma State on Jan. 26. The forward now has 12 double-doubles in her career, with six in her sophomore season and five last year.
Johnson came within one rebound of recording four other double-doubles this year: Memphis (22 pts, 9 rbs), Florida State (16 pts, 9 rbs), Ball State (18 pts, 9 rbs) and Bradley (17 pts, 9 rbs).
TIGERS GET OFFENSIVE ON THE BOARDS
Missouri grabbed 21 offensive rebounds (compared to 23 defensive rebounds) in the team's game with Oklahoma State on Jan. 26. So far this year the team has recorded at least 17 offensive boards in nine games.
The total is also a major reason Mizzou leads the Big 12 with 15.5 offensive rebounds per game.
Amazingly, the Tigers are strong on the offensive glass despite the fact no Mizzou player ranks among the league's top 10 offensive rebounders.
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 BIG AGAINST OU AND BU
Senior Jessra Johnson played arguably her best basketball of the season in Mizzou's two games against Baylor and Oklahoma. 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 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 10TH NATIONALLY IN STEALS
Junior RaeShara Brown leads the Big 12 and ranks 10th nationally with 65 steals on the year for an average of 3.3 spg. Most recently she grabbed one at Oklahoma State.
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.
