COLUMBIA, Mo. – The University of Missouri Department of Intercollegiate Athletics has received its ninth, seven-figure gift toward the new south end zone facility at Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field which is scheduled to open ahead of the 2019 football season. An anonymous donor made a $2 million gift toward the project, which is currently being designed by the Kansas City-based architecture firm Populous, last Friday.

“With the Board of Curators approving Populous as the facility’s architect and the continued generosity of our donors, there continues to be tremendous momentum for this facility which is so important to the long-term future of Mizzou Athletics, and in particular our football program” said Mizzou Director of Athletics Jim Sterk. “We are so grateful for the donors who continue to come forward with transformational gifts to help make this a reality for our student-athletes, staff and fans.”

This gift marks the project’s ninth, seven-figure gift in the past eight months, which is a fiscal year record for Mizzou Athletics (the previous high was six such gifts). To date, more than $46 million has been secured in private donations for the new facility.

“We’re really excited to continue the momentum from our donors, and coming on the heels of the Board’s action last week, this is great news,” said Mizzou Head Football Coach Barry Odom. “We are very grateful to the Board of Curators for their support of this project, and I’m looking forward to working with the Populous team as we design a facility that will be one of the best in the country.”

Populous was approved last Thursday by the University of Missouri Board of Curators as the architect for the $96.7 million project, which is scheduled to be completed by 2019. Recognized as one of the nation’s premier sports architect firms, Kansas City-based Populous has completed major football projects since 2012 for Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Kansas State and Colorado while designing the three newest on-campus FBS stadiums in Minnesota’s TCF Bank Stadium, Baylor’s McLane Stadium and Colorado State’s Sonny Lubick Field, which debuts in 2017.

The Mizzou project will include a four-story football team facility in the south end zone at Memorial Stadium/Farout Field as well as new premium seating opportunities for Tiger football fans.

In addition to providing a new state-of-the-art home for Mizzou Football and creating new revenue streams for Mizzou Athletics through premium seating opportunities, the new facility will also have an impact on the Central Missouri economy, as a recent study conducted by Plano, Texas-based Convention, Sports and Leisure projects a $700 million regional impact from the project along with 1,200 new jobs.

— Mizzou Athletics —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Women’s Basketball (17-9, 7-5) beat Arkansas, 67-56, on Sunday night, earning its fourth consecutive home win. With the victory, Mizzou clinched its fifth consecutive winning season for the first time since 1985-1990.

The Tigers completed their first season sweep over the Razorbacks since joining the SEC. Mizzou is now 13-1 at home during the 2016-17 campaign and have seven conference victories overall for the third straight season.

Mizzou scorched the nets Sunday, shooting 59.1 percent from 3-point range, its best performance from deep in conference play, as the Tigers claimed their ninth double-digit win this season. Mizzou made at least 10 triples as a team for the fourth time in 2016-17 and the third time against an SEC opponent.

Redshirt senior Lindsey Cunningham (Columbia, Mo.) poured in a career-high 21 points to lead Mizzou and added six rebounds. She made a career-high five three-pointers, shooting 5-of-5 from beyond the arc. She’s now put together three perfect games this season from three-point range.

Freshman Amber Smith (Shreveport, La.) tallied 11 points and a career-high 10 rebounds to seal her first career double-double. Mizzou improved to 5-0 this season when Smith reaches double digits.

Sophomore Sophie Cunningham (Columbia, Mo.) contributed 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists. She has scored at least 10 points in eight of the Tigers’ 12 conference games.

The Razorbacks took an early lead in the first quarter, but Mizzou catapulted in front with hot-shooting from beyond the arc. Mizzou drained six three-pointers, with five different Tigers making at least one, in the first period of play to take a 20-16 lead through 10 minutes of action.

Mizzou hit three more treys to begin the second quarter as the Tigers’ first nine field goals of the game all came from three-point range. After the Cunningham sisters knocked down a triple each on back-to-back possessions, the Tigers owned a 10-point advantage. Mizzou ended the opening half on a 16-6 run and entered the break up 41-25.

Arkansas clawed back to within 11 midway through the third quarter but the Tigers seized momentum back behind the efforts of Smith. The freshman got an offensive rebound and putback on two consecutive possessions to push Mizzou back up 17. Lindsey Cunningham hit another three-pointer to beat the buzzer at the end of the frame and the Tigers entered the final quarter with a 55-38 lead.

Sophie Cunningham sealed the victory with eight points in the fourth quarter. She’s scored in double figures in four consecutive games.

Mizzou finished the night shooting 16-of-20 (80 percent) from the free throw line. The Tigers have now shot 70 percent or better from the charity stripe 23 times in 26 contests.

Mizzou heads to Gainesville, Fla., next to take on Florida on Thursday. Tip is set for 6 p.m. CT

— MU Athletics —

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Jordan Barnett matched his career best in scoring just three days after he achieved it as Missouri defeated Vanderbilt 72-52 on Saturday.

Barnett scored a career-high 23 points in a 76-73 loss at Texas A&M on Wednesday and did it again in Mizzou’s win on Saturday.

“It was really fun,” Barnett said. “Not just from the standpoint of me scoring, but, I know I played as hard as a I could. We played extremely hard and it seemed like we forced them to lay down and we took over. It feels really good to be able to win in that fashion.”

Barnett also hauled in nine rebounds, and has now scored 69 points in the Tigers’ last four games.

“I’m really proud of him because I’ve been hard on him,” Missouri coach Kim Anderson said. “He’s finally being more aggressive for longer. I think he tended, in the past, to defer to other people, and he’s a very talented basketball player. I think he took advantage of his opportunities tonight.”

Kevin Puryear had 13 points and eight rebounds, Terrence Phillips added 12 points and Russell Woods pitched in 10 points for Missouri (7-17, 2-10 Southeastern Conference).

“We knew that he was coming in very hot,” Vanderbilt coach Bryce Drew said of Barnett. “He makes 3s in a variety of ways, he gets to the rim and we knew the scouting report coming in. Unfortunately, he hit some tough shots with guys in his face, so you’ve really got to credit him.”

Missouri led 35-29 at halftime after shooting 50 percent from 3-point range in the first half. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Puryear sparked an early 11-0 run that lasted 3:14 and gave the Tigers a seven-point lead, its largest of the half.

Luke Kornet led the way for Vanderbilt with 11 points and five rebounds. Matthew Fisher-Davis, who entered the game averaging 15.6 points per game, scored just eight on 1 of 5 shooting. Nolan Cressler, Riley LaChance and Clevon Brown each added eight.

The Commodores (12-13, 5-7) entered the game leading the SEC in 3-pointers made, but struggled from distance, shooting just 21.4 percent, including 1-for-15 in the second half.

“We feed off the three-point shot,” Drew said. “We win games by it and we lose games by it. It’s just how this team is built. I thought we had some really good looks, especially in that second half. When you miss and you don’t get any easy baskets.it’s hard to work your way back into the game.”

Phillips was knocked to the ground as the first half expired and had to be restrained by teammates and referees while Vanderbilt made its way to the locker room. After both teams had left the floor, Jordan Geist and Jeff Roberson received technical fouls. The Tigers were involved in a similar halftime skirmish in a 71-66 loss at Georgia on Jan. 7. Phillips finished with 12 points and six rebounds.

The Tigers continued their hot shooting in the second half, led by Puryear and Barnett, who combined to shoot 8-for-11 from 3-point range. With its offense clicking, Missouri played perhaps its best defensive half of the season, holding the Commodores without a field goal for the final 12:13.

“When (Vanderbilt) made a run, we fought back,” Anderson said. “I think that says a lot about our guys and our defense and just the way that we were able to play.”

BIG PICTURE

Vanderbilt: The Commodores average over 10 made 3-pointers per game and shoot 39.1 percent as a team, but made only six against Missouri, shooting 18 percent below their season average. …Fisher-Davis had been held to single-digit scoring five times this season prior to this game, most recently on Jan. 24 in a 71-70 home loss to Arkansas. …Vanderbilt outscored Missouri 22-18 in the paint…. The Commodores have never won in Mizzou Arena, falling to 0-5 all time.

Missouri: The Tigers outrebounded Vanderbilt 43-25, their largest rebounding margin in conference play this season. …Missouri scored 21 second-chance points to Vanderbilt’s four. …Missouri’s bench outscored Vanderbilt’s 28-20…

ANDERSON’S 300TH WIN

Saturday’s win marks Anderson’s 300th career victory as a head coach. He is 26-61 in his third season at Missouri, having won 274 games and a Division-II national championship at Central Missouri.

“We care a lot about Coach Anderson,” Puryear said. “This means a lot for everybody on the inside. We continue to fight every day and we’re in this together, so for us to win in that fashion to get him his 300th win was big for all of us.”

After the game, Puryear handed Anderson the game ball courtside in front of a home crowd of over 10,000.

“From the time I got here until the time I got to 300, it took a long time to get it,” Anderson said. “And that’s disappointing, but it’s a special moment. It is special to be able to win 300 games. I guess not everybody gets to do it.”

UP NEXT

Vanderbilt: Hosts Texas A&M Thursday. The Commodores won the last meeting 68-54 on Jan. 31 in College Station.

Missouri: Hosts Alabama Wednesday. The Tigers have not beaten Alabama since Jan. 18, 2014, a 68-47 win in Mizzou Arena.

— Associated Press —