The Missouri women’s basketball team had seven days to digest their first loss of the season on their way back home from the Bahamas. A matchup with the Saint Louis Billikens (2-8) Wednesday night gave the Tigers a chance to right the ship. They would do just that, as they defeated the Billikens 82-52 to improve to 7-1 on the season. They also moved to a perfect five wins and zero losses at Mizzou Arena.
“We know we’ve got players that can knock down shots and it was good to see them finally fall for us tonight,” head coach Robin Pingeton said.
The first quarter was exactly the start that the Tigers needed, as they jumped out to an early 11-8 lead. It was a combination of three pointers that jump-started the offense, as Lauren Hansen made two of them and Hayley Frank made three in the first ten minutes. As a team, Missouri shot 50% from the field and took a 22-14 lead into the second quarter.
The second quarter saw a much slower start on the offensive side, as it was over two minutes of scoreless basketball until Haley Troup knocked down a three for her first points of the game. Soon after Sara Linthacum hit her first bucket as well, which at the time extended the Tigers’ lead to 13 points. The offense started rolling from there, as Missouri continued a 13-0 run from the first quarter. The Tigers didn’t allow a Saint Louis basket until under five minutes to go in the second quarter. When it was all said and done, the Tigers headed into the locker room up 37-19.
“I have amazing shooters on this team, so why would I go and take a bad shot when they can hit those shots. Same thing just being unselfish and just deciding what’s best for the team and making that decision,” guard Mama Dembele said.
Coming back from the break, the hosting Missouri squad continued to control the game. They hit their first five shots of the second half, with two of them coming by Jayla Kelly, who scored her first seven points of the game in the third quarter. Saint Louis added some intrigue by going on a 10-0 scoring run, with Kennedy Calhoun scoring five points for the Billikens in the process. Still, the Tigers coasted their way to a 63-37 lead with just ten minutes left to play.
The final quarter saw the most evenly matched stretch of the night. Kelly was one once again one of the main contributors for the Tigers, as she scored four points in the quarter before leaving with an injury. When the clock hit triple zeros Missouri earned its seventh win of the season. It was only the second time that the Tigers scored more than eighty points in a game all season.
“When we can attack in transition and really play downhill, especially off misses, that’s huge for us and I think that’s when we’re at our best offensively,” Pingeton said.
Hansen led all scorers with 24 points, shooting 9-of-17 in the game. Frank and Kelly were both in double digits, contributing 14 points and 11 points respectively. As a team, Missouri shot 48% from the field, and perhaps even more encouraging, shot 52% from three. Briana Johns led Saint Louis with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
“It’s great when everyone gets in that scoring column. I mean everybody worked so hard, and we’re going to need everyone,” Pingeton said.
The Tigers will next travel to Tempe, Arizona to play in the Arizona State Classic. They’ll play UMass on December 3, followed by Arizona State on December 4.