ATHLETICS

Women's Basketball Aims for
Sixth-Straight Post-Season Berth

For the Tigers in 2004-05, the adage has flipped: The more things stay the same, the more things change.

Many things remained consistent for Mizzou entering this season. Head Coach Cindy Stein, who recently signed a two-year extension that will keep her in TigerTown through 2008, is back for a seventh season on the sidelines. She's led her team to consistently high levels that have enabled the program to advance to postseason competition in each of the last five seasons to tie a school record, and Stein and her staff once again assembled a stellar recruiting class.

Yet that's also where the similarities end. Six newcomers, brought in to replace a standout five-member senior class from 2003-04, joined eight returners to comprise a young yet talented squad. In the biggest change of all, the team is the first women’s basketball team to compete in the crown jewel of the MU Sports Park, the $75 million Mizzou Sports Arena.

New locker rooms, strength and conditioning and sports medicine facilities, and playing surfaces welcome the players and coaching staff for 2004-05, yet the new digs do nothing to change the goals set every year for the program: win the Big 12 Conference, advance to the NCAA Tournament, and compete for a national title.

TIGER VETERANS

With the departure of a quintet of seniors - including WNBA Draftee and Honorable Mention All-American Evan Unrau, and All-Big 12 Honorable Mention standout Stretch James - the mantle of veteran leadership falls in part on this year's lone returning senior, center Megan Roney (Independence, Mo. / Truman HS). Roney made the transition from role player to post presence last season, doubling her scoring output and also displaying an extended shooting range; Roney, in fact, had the best 3-point field-goal percentage on the squad last season (9-of-21, 42.9 percent). The coaching staff will look for Roney to display a touch that will match the 9-of-12 shooting she posted in the Big 12 Tournament to rank among the leaders in Dallas.

The other returning starter, junior point guard LaToya Bond (Urbana, Ill. / Urbana HS), has fully healed from a broken foot suffered in the middle of last season, and will be counted on to lead a young Tiger offense. Bond stepped up admirably last season to take over the reins at the point before being sidelined prior to the start of the Big 12 schedule. She returned to the lineup to start the last seven games of the season and quickly showed why she will be an integral part of Mizzou's success this season. Bond is the Tigers' leading returning scorer (10.2 ppg).

Junior center Christelle N'Garsanet (Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire / Illinois Central College) and sophomore center EeTisha Riddle (O'Fallon, Ill. / O'Fallon HS) will both battle for starting spots in the post. Both players showed signs toward the end of the 2003-04 season that they would be in position to take over that role. N'Garsanet is the most improved player on the squad entering 2004-05, and will try to impart her infectious positive attitude on the team. She will be counted upon to utilize her quickness offensively around the basket, and to use her athleticism on defense to swat away shots. Riddle made her first career start in MU's heartbreaking double-OT loss to Kansas State, and scored the winning bucket on a back-door layup in a crucial game at Nebraska. The team will rely upon Riddle's tenacity around the basket, especially on the boards.

For four years, Unrau did a phenomenal job of punishing opponents from both inside and outside at forward, and two returners will compete for playing time at that position this season. Junior Cherice Mack (St. Charles, Mo. / St. Charles HS) has a year of experience on sophomore Carlynn Savant (Euless, Texas / Trinity HS), yet both have their strengths. Mack is a versatile athlete who is an excellent defender, while Savant has range that extends well past the 3-point line.

Sophomore Blair Hardiek (Effingham, Ill. / Effingham HS) took over the point early on in Bond's absence last season, and showed that she has the talent to either penetrate and dish the ball, or pull up for the outside shot. She'll figure in the battle for playing time on the perimeter.

Sophomore Kacey McFarland (Neosho, Mo. / Neosho HS) walked onto the team just after the start of last season. With the Tigers' relatively thin numbers inside this season, her growth as a player will be a necessary component of the team's success.

TIGER NEWCOMERS

Stein's six newcomers come from several different sources: high school, junior college, a Big 12 rival and from right across the street.

Among the incoming freshmen, guards Kassie Drew (Anna, Ill. / Anna-Jonesboro HS) and Crystal Howard (Omaha, Neb. / Central HS) expected to compete immediately for playing time on the perimeter. Both are multiple all-state honorees and able to play both guard positions. Howard can both slash and shoot the three, while Drew is one of the best sharpshooters in Illinois prep history.

At 6-foot-4, Brittany Mannings (St. Louis, Mo. / Duchesne HS) gives the Tigers a true center for the first time in several years. She possesses the ability to alter shots, and already has plenty of experience playing in Columbia from her three appearances in the state tournament on the Hearnes Center floor.

The lone junior-college signee for 2004, forward Tonya Morris (Plano, Texas / East HS / Eastern Oklahoma JC) will immediately battle Mack and Savant for playing time at forward. Morris is a strong defender who has the ability to create scoring opportunities for herself and others.

Coach Stein will get two additions on the perimeter after the season starts. Guard Shea Swoboda (Kansas City, Mo. / Winnetonka HS), a forward on Mizzou's soccer team, will join the basketball squad following the conclusion of MU's season in November. She has worked out with the basketball team over winter break the last several years to stay in shape for soccer season and to help out when the team's practice players have gone home over break. The four-year soccer starter and two-time team captain will add needed leadership once she joins the team.

In late December, following the conclusion of the fall semester, sophomore guard Tiffany Brooks (Leavenworth, Kan. / Leavenworth HS / Kansas State) will become eligible following her mid-season transfer last winter from Kansas State. Brooks, who has been practicing since January 2004, fits well into Stein's style and will contribute right away to the Tigers' depth outside.

THE SCHEDULE

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. 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 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.

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, and its home contest with Nebraska, will be shown statewide by the Mizzou Sports Network. Additional broadcast exposures are will come on FOX Sports Net when the Tigers reach the quarterfinals and beyond of the Big 12 Conference women's basketball tournament. And for the second straight year, all 63 games of the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship Tournament will be aired by ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Pay-Per-View. Throw in opponent third-tier TV appearances at SMS, Texas Tech and Colorado, and the Tigers will receive plenty of exposure on the airwaves.

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Last Update: November 15, 2007