Columbia, MO––The UC Riverside Women's Basketball takes its four-game winning streak to the "Show Me' state Monday, as they prepare to do battle with the SEC's Missouri Tigers at 5 pm PT inside Mizzou Arena.
The Highlanders won in dramatic fashion on Saturday, when senior point guard Simone DeCoud broke a, 72-72, tie with a three-pointer with just 0.5 to play to give UCR a, 75-72, victory over Loyola Marymount (box score / recap).
DeCoud's dagger helped to hold off a comeback attempt from the Lions, who trailed by as many as 19 points in the first half. It also secured the 299th victory of Head Coach John Margaritis' 19-year career.
Réjane Vérin, who had 16 points and a season-high three blocks against LMU, leads the team in points (16.6), rebounds (7.1), assists (4.5), and blocks (1.4) per game. Should Vérin continue her stellar all-around play, she will be the first player in the Division I history to the program to lead the team statistically in the categories mentioned for a full season.
Lauren Holt, who averages 10.9 points per contest, has poured in 16.5 points a game over the first two games of the Highlanders' six game tour, which will see them head to KU Wednesday, before closing out the year with two games in the Florida Gulf Coast Classic.
DeCoud completes UC Riverside's trio of players averaging double digits with 12.9 a game. She is also second on the team pulling down 6.4 boards a night, and is averaging 14.0 points a game during the current four-game winning streak.
The Highlanders are 17th in the nation in assists averaging 18.4 assists per game, and 30th in the nation in assist to turnover ratio at 1.23. The UCR defense registered season-highs of nine steals, and eight blocks in their last outing, which helped to offset the season-high 72 points they allowed Saturday.
Missouri enters the week with a three-game winning streak, and is 7-0 at home this season. In the AP preseason poll, they were ranked #24, but have since fell out of the top 25.
They picked up a home victory, 80-69, over UT Martin Saturday. In the win they were led by Sierra Michaelis and Sophie Cunnigham, with 23 and 21 points respectively.
Mizzou shoots 78.0 percent from the charity stripe, good enough for 14th in the NCAA. Cunningham leads three players averaging double figures with 15.6 a game. She is joined by Cierra Porter at 14.4, and Michaelis, who was recently named SEC Co-Player of the Week, at 12.3 per contest.
In the only between the schools in 2010, UC Riverside's late rally came short in a, 68-65, defeat in Columbia (box score / recap).
The team will spend the night Columbia after Monday's game, then head to Lawrence, KS to take on the Kansas Jayhawks on Wednesday in a 5 pm PT tip.
Kansas is coming off a, 75-51, victory over the University of Arizona on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse. The Wednesday night affair with the Highlanders is the final non-conference game for the Jayhawks before they begin Big-12 play.
KU is led by McKenzie Calvert's 13.9 a game, followed by Jessica Washington with 11.4 points per game.
The only between the clubs meeting was seven years ago, nearly to the day of the this year's match-up, December 20, 2009 in Lawrence, where the Highlanders fell to a then #22 ranked Jayhawk team 75-60 (box score / recap).
