Mizzou Opens Exhibition Play Sunday

Missouri takes on Central Missouri at 1 p.m. at Mizzou Arena

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Nov. 6, 2009

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COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri women’s basketball team hits the court for the first time Sunday, Nov. 8 with a 1 p.m. exhibition contest against the University of Central Missouri Jennies at Mizzou Arena. The Tigers are 16-1 in exhibition play under Head Coach Cindy Stein and have won nine games in a row. Mizzou and Central Missouri met for an exhibition contest on Nov. 12, 2004, when the Tigers came away with a 71-52 victory.

Up Next
The Tigers officially tip-off the 2009-10 season on Sunday, Nov. 15 with a home game against the University of Northern Iowa Panthers at 5 p.m. at Mizzou Arena. Missouri has an all-time record of 27-8 in both season openers and home season openers. Mizzou then returns to the court on Wednesday, Nov. 18 for a 6:30 p.m. contest with the Memphis Tigers at Mizzou Arena.

Scouting Central Missouri
The Central Missouri Jennies are coming off a 17-11 season in 2008-09. A member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA), the Jennies were picked to finish fourth in both the coaches’ and media polls prior to this season.

UCM returns four starters from last year’s squad, led by leading scorer Rebecca Roberts. A junior center, Roberts averaged 12.1 ppg. and 6.3 rpg. last season. 2008 MIAA Freshman of the Year Kara Fleming also returns after a sophomore campaign where she averaged 11.3 ppg. and 5.0 apg.

Head Coach Dave Slifer is in his sixth year at the helm of the Jennies and sports a 90-57 with the squad.

Johnson Nearing Century Mark
Senior Jessra Johnson enters the 2009-10 season with 902 points in her career, just 98 shy of the century mark. Assuming the forward accomplishes the feat this season, she will become just the 27th player in Mizzou history to score at least 1,000 points.

Johnson should also end her tiger career ranked in the top-10 in career rebounds as well. Currently sitting on 520 in her career, she needs 159 rebounds to pass Nikki Smith (1992-95) and move into 10th place on the all-time list.

Injury Bug Hits Mills, Again
Redshirt sophomore point guard Bekah Mills is forced to the sideline for the second time in three years after suffering an ACL injury during preseason practice. Mills also injured her right knee in 2007-08 and was forced to redshirt the season.

Last year during her redshirt freshman campaign, Mills started 24 of 29 games for the Tigers. She averaged 23 minutes per contest to go along with 5.9 ppg. 3.2 rpg. and 2.2 apg. Mills was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Week on Dec. 15 after averaging 14.5 ppg. and shooting 72.7 percent from the field in games against Bradley and UT Martin.

Head of the Class
For the first time in three years Missouri has a senior class of more than one player. After a seven-member senior class in 2006-07, the Tigers lost just one player in each of the past two seasons. The 2009-10 edition of the Tigers has four seniors on the roster: Amanda Hanneman, Jessra Johnson, Toy Richbow and Marissa Scott. With a total of four seniors and juniors on its roster, Missouri is one of the most experienced teams in the Big 12 this season.

Brown on the Defensive
Junior guard RaeShara Brown emerged as one of the Big 12 Conference’s finest defensive players in 2008-09. The Little Rock, Ark., native swiped 79 steals in 30 games for an average of 2.6 spg., tops in the league. In just conference action Brown upped her steals numbers to 2.94 spg., tops in the league by .44. Her 79 steals stand as the seventh-best single-season total in program history.

Tigers Add In-State Products
Missouri added two Missouri natives to its roster in 2009-10, freshman guards Sydney Crafton and Trenee Thornton.

Crafton, who hails from nearby Jefferson City, played prep ball at Jefferson City High School under coach Doug Light. A three-time Missouri Basketball Coaches Association (MBCA) All-State and All-District selection, Crafton scored 1,311 points in her prep career, good for third place in school history. She averaged 18.1 ppg., 5.8 rpg., 2.7 apg. and 2.1 spg. as a senior with the Jay Birds.

Kansas City native Trenee Thornton joins the Tigers from Central High School, where she was coached by Karen Jamison. A four-time all-conference honoree, Thornton helped Central to a 22-5 record as a senior by averaging 18.0 ppg., 7.6 apg. and 3.0 spg.

New year, familiar faces
After relying on underclassmen the past few seasons, the Tigers return 12 members of last year’s squad. 
• Senior Jessra Johnson started 25 games last season and led the team with 6.9 rpg. and was second on the squad with 13.0 ppg.
• Junior Shakara Jones has started since she came to Mizzou and averaged 10.3 ppg., 4.3 rpg. and shot 50.4 percent from the floor a season ago.
• Senior Toy Richbow returns to the starting lineup this year after coming off the bench most of last season. Richbow, who started 28 of 31 games as a sophomore, gives the Tigers an experienced point guard despite the loss of Bekah Mills.
• Junior RaeShara Brown started 28 of Mizzou’s 30 games last year as she became one of the conference’s top defensive players. Brown averaged a league-leading 2.6 spg. to go along with 6.0 ppg. a season ago.
• Finally healthy after an injury-plagued career, senior Amanda Hanneman will be looked on to add a scoring punch this season. A sharpshooter from behind the arc, Hanneman shot 41.4 percent from three as a sophomore in 2007-08.
• Senior Marissa Scott has started 25 of 57 games over the past two seasons. An unselfish player who plays great defense, Scott should see her numbers rise as a senior.
• Junior Jasmyn Otote is also a sharpshooter from the three-point line. After playing in only 16 games as a sophomore, Otote has entered this season in the best shape of her career and looks to make an important impact this year.

Tigers picked 12th in Preseason Big 12 Poll
Mizzou was picked 12th in the Preseason Coaches Poll, released by the conference on Oct. 15. Baylor was selected to win the title, followed by Kansas and Texas.

Team (First place votes)
1. Baylor (7) 109
2. Kansas (3) 106
    Texas (3) 106
4. Texas A&M (1) 87
5. Oklahoma 86
6. Nebraska 80
7. Iowa State 59
8. Kansas State 44
9. Oklahoma State 41
10. Texas Tech 38
11. Colorado 22
12. Missouri 15


 

 

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