The starting shooting guard showed that practice makes perfect. By playing shooting games in her free time, Franklin has picked up her scoring in her final season and now averages 9.9 points per game, third on the team. The Mexico, Mo. native hopes to continue her scoring in her final game at the Hearnes Center against Colorado.

"I think it’s going to be a great feeling coming out here and walking in front of our fans for the last time," Franklin said. "It’s also going to be sad, it’s going to be emotional, but once that’s over we have to come and play."

Putting emotions aside is nothing new to Franklin. Her face is always determined, focused on the task at hand; doing whatever it takes to help her teammates.

She is the only Tiger on the team to have played for former coach Joann Rutherford, who coached Missouri from 1976 to 1998. Franklin had to deal with the transition to coach Cindy Stein’s style of play, but thinks she has developed an all-around game.

"The transition was tough at first," Franklin said. "Once we got coach Stein to come in she told us how the program was going to be run and if we didn’t like it then go on. We’ve obviously come out and improved every year coach Stein has been here and let’s hope to continue that success."

Stein stressed the importance of team defense and rebounding. Franklin, who broke the school scoring record when she averaged 17.6 points as a senior at Mexico High, knew she had to work on these aspects of her game.

"She’s improved her rebounding and she’s improved her ball handling," Stein said. "What keeps Tracy on the floor is her defense. Defensively we’ve relied on her a lot to stop some kids and help in certain situations."

Franklin’s defense was key in the 69-55 win over Kansas on Saturday, grabbing seven rebounds and making a steal after being held to two points.

"She played 38 minutes against KU, was not having a great offensive game but at the same time we’re afraid to take her off the court because she’s playing such great defense," Stein added. "She’s able to pick up other areas of her game, depending on what’s going good and what’s not."

With an improved defensive presence combined with her strong shooting touch, Franklin is having a career year when it matters most.

"She’s stepped up big in her role, looking to be more of an offensive threat," said Bright, who along with Franklin invented the game "Pencils." In the game if the shooter misses a shot, she loses five pencils and Bright is currently down by 40 pencils.

"Last year we had Helm and Amy Monsees and they were our seniors, they were our leaders," said Franklin. "I think I’ve gone off that. I saw how they were such good leaders and that’s how I wanted to play when I was on the court."