Hanneman is outside threat

Senior hits six 3-pointers in win.

By David Briggs

Monday, November 16, 2009

Missouri women’s basketball Coach Cindy Stein will sign off on an open 3-pointer for everyone except her centers.

Hanneman

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

Missouri 74, Northern Iowa 57

“Our kids have a green light,” she said, “when they have a good look.”

Amanda Hanneman, however, is an exception.

“She’s got the green light when she touches it,” Stein said.

So when the senior guard missed all but the far corner of the backboard on her first shot, neither coach nor player wavered during the Tigers’ 74-57 season-opening victory over Northern Iowa last night at Mizzou Arena.

Two possessions later, Hanneman released a sky-scraping 3 from the wing. Swish. Then another one, and another. Same result.

Missouri’s new go-to option couldn’t miss, and neither could her teammates. Hanneman hit five straight 3-pointers and didn’t stop shooting until the crowd of 1,246 met her final exit with a standing ovation. She finished with six 3s and a career-high 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting.

“You can’t determine how you’re going to shoot off the first shot,” Hanneman said. “You’ve got to keep shooting, no matter what. I’m not going to let one shot, even if didn’t hit the rim, change that.”

It wasn’t always this way. Last year, when the Tigers (1-0) timidly deferred to senior Alyssa Hollins and shot a Big 12-worst 28.3 percent from beyond the arc, Hanneman’s first shot very well could have been her last.

But if Panthers Coach Tanya Warren watched film of last year’s Tigers, it would have been of little help.

Stein’s former assistant coach focused on slowing MU inside. Her team did. Forwards Jessra Johnson and Shakara Jones, the Tigers’ only returning double-digit scorers, combined for 14 points on 5-of-21 shooting.

Missouri relied on two players who averaged a combined 3.7 points a game last year for half of its scoring. Senior forward Marissa Scott, who hit her only 3 but mostly scrapped for put-backs, finished with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting, while Hanneman bettered her 20-point exhibition outburst.

“Amanda Hanneman had a fantastic game,” Stein said. “She’s showing what she’s very capable of doing. When she misses a shot, I’m usually very surprised because she doesn’t miss a whole lot in practice.”

Northern Iowa posed a deceptively stiff opening challenge. The Panthers went 11-19 last year but finished 9-9 in the Missouri Valley Conference and returned all five starters. The league’s coaches picked them to finish fourth.

Hanneman no doubt caused a wave of double-takes around the Big 12. Unlike last year, when Hanneman endured two foot surgeries and Missouri dropped its home opener to South Dakota State, she helped to promptly douse any suspense.

The Tigers opened a 26-5 lead — UNI didn’t score its second field goal until more than 11 minutes had passed — with a volley of 3s that continued throughout the night. Missouri hit eight of its first 15 3-point attempts. Hanneman, Scott, RaeShara Brown and Jasmyn Otote connected during the stretch.

The Tigers finished 9 of 24 from 3-point range and shot 41.4 percent overall.

In constant motion running off screen after screen, Hanneman let fly her high-arching shot with or without a hand in her face. She also didn’t hesitate to drive, capping her night with a running 10-foot bank shot.

When she checked out with 27 seconds to play, many in the crowd stood and cheered.

“I didn’t even know that,” she said. “To find that out is crazy. I never thought that would happen to me. I’m very overwhelmed.”

Reach David Briggs at dbriggs@columbiatribune.com.

This article was published on page B1 of the Monday, November 16, 2009 edition of The Columbia Daily Tribune.

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