Dec. 3, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri women’s basketball team (2-4) returns to the court on Wednesday, Dec. 3 for a nonconference contest against the Mid-American Conference foe Toledo (2-4) at 6:30 p.m. at Mizzou Arean. Mizzou leads the all-time series 1-0 with a 68-38 win over the Rockets on Dec. 5, 1993.
Up Next
Mizzou next hits the court on Tuesday, Dec. 9 in a contest with Bradley at 6:30 p.m. at Mizzou Arena. The game with the Braves will be televised live on the Mizzou Sports Network with Beau Baehman on play-by-play and former Iowa State Cyclone Anne O’Neil providing color commentary. The Tigers then return to Mizzou Arena on Sunday, Dec. 14 in a 2 p.m. game against UT Martin.
Scouting Toledo
After winning its first two games of the year, Toledo enters Mizzou Arena on a four-game losing streak. The Rockets (2-4) have wins over Arizona (64-63) and Hawaii (67-61) but lost to Loyola Marymount (81-74), Cincinnati (60-59), Cleveland State (68-63) and IPFW (72-60). The Rockets average 64.5 ppg. and shot 40.2 percent from the field but have given up 67.5 ppg. to their opponents.
Freshman point guard Naama Shafir leads the squad with 18.3 ppg. on 50 percent shooting from the floor, to go along with 3.3 apg. Junior forward Tanika Mays also averages double figures with 12.0 ppg. and a team high 7.0 rpg. and 2.2 spg.
Head Coach Tricia Cullop is in her first year at the helm of Toledo after eights seasons as the head coach of Evansville.
Hollins joins 1,000-point club
A jumper with 12:37 left in regulation against Holy Cross on Nov. 29 gave senior Alyssa Hollins the 999th and 1,000th points in her career, making the guard the 26th player in Mizzou history to record 1,000 points.
Hollins erupted for 27 points against the Crusaders and added 10 more against Northwestern on Nov. 30 to up her career total to 1,018. She is just 10 points away from tying Amanda Lassister for 25th-place on the all-time list.
The last Tiger to reach the 1,000-point plateau was EeTisha Riddle (04-07), who accomplished the feat against in the 2007 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship againstTexas on March 6, 2007.
Tigers split pair of games at Northwestern
Competing in the DoubleTree White Invitational over the weekend, the Tigers posted a 1-1 record with a 69-63 victory over host Northwestern on Sunday and a 94-93 triple overtime loss to Holy Cross on Saturday.
After junior Jessra Johnson converted a three-point play with 20 seconds left in the third overtime against the Crusaders for a 93-92 Tiger lead, Holy Cross’ Briana McFadden hit a layup with eight seconds on the clock. Missouri drove the length of the court in the final seconds but a jumper from senior Alyssa Hollins bounced off the rim to seal the Crusader victory.
Hollins, who led the Tigers with 27 points, scored the 1,000th point in her career during the contest. Sophomore Shakara Jones and Johnson added 22 and 21, respectively, while sophomore RaeShara Brown grabbed a personal best 12 rebounds.
The game was only the second three overtime contest in Missouri history, joining a 118-111 loss to Kansas on Jan. 29, 1983. Missouri also dished out 31 assists and Hollins tied a Tiger single game record with seven three-pointers in the contest.
Down 59-48 to Northwestern with 8:56 left in the contest, the Tigers came storming back with an 11-0 run, including five consecutive points by Hollins, for a 59-59 after a layup from Jones with 4:55 on the clock. A free throw from Johnson at the 2:50 mark gave the Tigers the lead, 60-59 and Johnson then sank a long jumper as the shot clock expired for a three-point Mizzou advantage, 62-59, with 2:14 remaining in the contest.
Northwestern responded with a basket but sophomore Jasmyn Otote nailed a three-pointer with 1:32 left to give the Tigers a 65-61 lead. Northwestern got a basket from Amy Jaeschke to get within two, 65-63, at the 1:05 mark but the Tigers used two free throws apiece from junior Toy Richbow and Hollins to secure the 69-63 victory.
Johnson led Missouri with 19 points and nine rebounds and Hollins scored 10.
Mizzou dishes out the assists
Against Holy Cross on Nov. 29, Mizzou was credited with an impressive 31 assists on its 37 field goals. The total was the most since Nov. 11, 1984, when Missouri dished out a team record 41 in a contest with Cleveland State.
Eight different Tigers posted at least one assist against the Crusaders, led by a career high tying seven from junior Toy Richbow. Sophomore Jasmyn Otote also had a personal best with five and senior Alyssa Hollins and redshirt freshman Bekah Mills also had five to tie career bests.
Rare triple overtime game for Tigers
Saturday’s triple overtime contest against Holy Cross, a 94-93 loss, was only the second such game in Mizzou’s 34-plus year history. The only other triple overtime game was a 118-111 loss at Kansas on Jan. 29, 1983.
Johnson makes all-tournament team
In the DoubleTree White Invitational on Nov. 29-30, junior Jessra Johnson shot 8-of-14 from the field to post 19 points and nine boards in a come-from-behind win over host Northwestern and recorded 21 points, nine rebounds and three steals in a triple overtime loss to Holy Cross. The forward averaged 20.0 ppg. and 9.0 rpg. in the two games to earn all-tournament team honors.
So far this year Johnson, who has scored in double figures each game this year, leads the team in scoring (16.3), rebounding (8.5), steals (2.7) and blocks (1.2).
Another record for Hollins
Senior Alyssa Hollins set yet another three-point field goal record in Missouri’s game against Holy Cross on Saturday. The guard made seven treys in the contest to tie former Tiger Julie Helm for the single game record. Helm made her seven threes against Texas Tech on March 1, 1997.
She also set a program mark with 16 three-point field goal attempts in the game, breaking her old record of 13 set against Arkansas on Nov. 28, 2007.
Hollins holds both the single season and career three-pointer records as well. Last season she made 90 threes to smash Amanda Lassiter’s old mark of 65 and became the all-time three-point field goal leader, passing Carlynn Savant’s record of 142. Her record currently stands at 181.
Bombs away
Led by Hollins’ 16 three-point attempts against the Crusaders on Saturday, the Tigers launched 32 threes to break the program’s previous three-point field goal attempt record of 27, set against Iowa State on Feb. 20, 2002. The total was also six more than Missouri’s season high last year, when the squad attempted 26 in games with Arkansas (Nov. 28) and Marshall (Dec. 28).
Jones shooting lights out
Sophomore Shakara Jones has shot lights out in the first six games. The forward, who has shot at least 50 percent from the field in every game this year, leads the squad and is fifth in the Big 12 in field goal percentage at 56.4 (31-55). Against Holy Cross on Nov. 29 she made 10-of-15 shots from the floor for a season high 22 points.
Jones is currently third on the team with 12.0 ppg. and 5.2 rpg.
Otote on the rise
After scoring just three points in two games prior to Saturday, sophomore Jasymn Otote notched seven against Holy Cross and eight against Northwestern over the weekend.
The guard made 3-of-5 shots against the Crusaders and dished out a career high five assists in the contest. One day later, Otote again made three field goals, including two threes, to post eight points. She is shooting .583 (7-13) from the floor so far this year and has made four of her nine three-point field goal attempts.
Brown a beast on the boards
At 5-8 sophomore RaeShara Brown is Mizzou’s second shortest player yet aftersix games, the guard is second on the team and tied for 12th in the Big 12 with 7.5 rpg. Brown’s biggest night on the boards this year was an impressive 12 rebound outing, including four on the offensive end, against Holy Cross on Nov. 29.
Additionally, Brown has started all six games and is playing a team fourth best 28.2 mpg. this season. So far this year, she has recorded 45 rebounds, on more than she posted all of last season.
Mills finally hits the court
Redshirt-freshman Bekah Mills finally hit the court in a Mizzou uniform in Missouri’s exhibition contest with Southwest Baptist on Nov. 7. The El Dorado, Kan., native missed all of last season due to a knee injury suffered during the preseason.
In her second official game with Mizzou, Mills dished out a team season high five assists in 23 minutes. Three days later, Mills posted eight points on 3-of-6 shooting from the floor in Mizzou’s win over Western Illinois.
Tigers sign prep recruit for 2009-10
Kansas City prep star Trenee Thornton signed a National Letter of Intent to enroll at the University of Missouri and play basketball, Head Coach Cindy Stein announced on Monday. Thornton will suit up as a Tiger for the 2009-10 season.
“We are so excited to have such an outstanding young lady in Trenee Thornton,” Stein said. “She brings good court sense and savvy and the ability to play any of the guard spots. She can create her own opportunities and get the ball to who you need to. Trenee prides herself on her defense and will be able to fit in well into the style of defense that we want to play.”
Thornton averaged 19.4 ppg., 5.6 rpg., 4.2 apg., 3.8 spg. as a junior for Central High School in Kansas City, Mo. She earned Interscholastic League Most Valuable Player honors following the season, to go along with all-district, all-metro and all-state honors. Over her career, Thornton has averaged 14.6 ppg.
