Sept. 21, 2004

COLUMBIA, Mo. - As the University of Missouri women's basketball team prepares to move into the sparkling new Paige Sports Arena this fall, as well as begin a quest for a school-record sixth consecutive postseason berth, it will be challenged by perhaps the toughest schedule in Tiger history.

A total of 15 teams that reached postseason play last year, including a staggering 11 NCAA Tournament participants, appear on Mizzou's 2004-05 schedule, released today by Head Coach Cindy Stein. In all, the Tigers could end up playing 19 of their scheduled 28 regular-season games - or more than 67 percent - against postseason squads from a year ago.

The Tigers will open the Paige Sports Arena with an exhibition game against Central Missouri State on Friday, Nov. 12, before officially opening its 31st season of play in Iowa City, Iowa, at the KCRG TV-9 Hawkeye Challenge. On Friday, Nov. 19, the Tigers open tournament play against Northern Illinois before facing either Southern Illinois or the host Hawkeyes on Saturday.

The following weekend, the team will celebrate Thanksgiving in Albuquerque, N.M., at the Airport University Inn Thanksgiving Tournament at the University of New Mexico. Missouri plays the host Lobos on Friday, Nov. 26, before closing the holiday weekend against either Gonzaga or Providence.

MU's Nov. 30 home opener will come in the fifth game of the season against Evansville. The date is the latest start to the home schedule since 1993 (Dec. 3), and is the latest since the 1979-80 squad also opened its home schedule in its fifth game.

Tiger fans who are unable to visit the finest on-campus facility in the country in person will still have the best access - via the Big 12 Conference's contract with FSN, as well as over the statewide Mizzou Sports Network - to the team in school history.

MU will appear on FSN and its 20 regional sports channels a total of four times in the regular season. That not only ties Mizzou with Baylor, Texas and Texas Tech for the most appearances among the league's schools this year, it also is the most the Tigers have appeared on FSN in a single season. In addition, the Tigers' games at Kansas State and Kansas, along with a third game to be announced, will be shown statewide by MSN.

The marquee non-conference game will take place at Paige Sports Arena on Saturday, Dec. 18, against Stanford, the team that eliminated the Tigers from last season's NCAA Tournament. The game will be televised nationally by FSN at 4 p.m.

The Big 12 Conference sent seven teams, including Mizzou, to the NCAA Tournament last year. Of the six league NCAA opponents from a year ago, MU will play Colorado and Kansas State in the traditional home-and-home format of the Northern schools, along with Iowa State, Kansas and Nebraska. The Tigers will also play at Baylor, Oklahoma and Texas Tech - all NCAA Tournament schools from a year ago - and host perennial power Texas (another NCAA foe in another FSN telecast), Oklahoma State and Texas A&M.

State Farm will be the presenting sponsor of the 26th Tiger Classic the weekend of Friday-Saturday, Dec. 3-4. UMKC and NCAA participant Eastern Michigan will match up in the opening game, with the Tigers hosting Mississippi Valley State in the first-round nightcap. The consolation and championship games will take place on Saturday.

On the non-conference side of postseason opponents, MU will play at New Mexico on Nov. 26 and at SMS on Dec. 8, and could potentially play at Iowa in the second round of the Hawkeyes' tournament on Nov. 20. In addition, the Tigers could face Eastern Michigan in the championship of the State Farm Tiger Classic on Dec. 4.

For season or single-game ticket information, please call 1-800-CAT-PAWS (573-884-PAWS in Mid-Missouri). As a reminder, fans who have purchased the KMIZ-ZOU Spirit Pass or the MU Student All-Sports Pass gain free admission to all Mizzou women's basketball games.