When Missouri women’s basketball battled Vanderbilt February 2, 2023, it was “Thursday” to over 99.9% of people on planet Earth. According to Haley Frank, however, it was “Throw a Punch Thursday” for Missouri. While no real-life fistfights ensued between the Tigers and Commodores, Missouri threw a lethal hypothetical punch in a dominant 17-point, 86-69 win over Vanderbilt. The win snapped a six-game losing streak for the Tigers.
“I thought everybody really stepped up,” Missouri coach Robin Pingeton said after the game. “I thought they were locked in.
The first quarter saw Missouri play arguably its best ten minutes of basketball all season. Haley Frank was everywhere on both ends of the floor, scoring eight points, grabbing four rebounds and taking a charge. Missouri effectively passed its way around Vanderbilt’s trap-heavy defense, which created a bevy of open looks.
“I thought we were really intentional about our ball movement and played with great pace,” Pingeton said. “We didn’t force anything. We let the game come to us.”
The second quarter was more of the same. Lauren Hansen chipped in seven points, and effective ball movement combined with timely cutting propelled the Tigers to a 43-27 halftime lead. Frank seemed happy with the team’s offensive connectivity after the game.
“It’s really fun when we play like that,” Frank said. “I thought everyone played really unselfishly.”
The Tigers came out of halftime blistering hot. The third quarter saw Missouri shoot 10 of 12 from the field and 5 of 6 from downtown, which propelled the Tigers to a 22-point lead at the end of the third quarter. It was the first time the Tigers held a 20-point lead in a game since their victory over Jackson State all the way back on December 11. Although Vanderbilt clawed back a bit in the fourth quarter, the deficit was too much to overcome, and Missouri walked out of Mizzou Arena with its first win in 28 days.
Frank led the Tigers in scoring with 25 points. Hansen scored 22, and Sara Rose-Smith dropped a career-high 16 points without a single miss from the field. Rose-Smith also knocked down two threes, which tied a single-game career-high.
“All of my coaches have been getting on me about making sure that my shot looks the same every time,” Rose-Smith said. “Getting in extra shots this week has really helped with my confidence. That’s something I need to keep up with for the remainder of the season.”
Missouri registered its highest percentage from the field (56.9%) since shooting 59.6% against Alabama last January. The Tigers also registered their highest percentage from three-point range (50%) since they shot 50% against Mississippi State last February. Thursday also marked just the second time since the 2017-18 season that Missouri shot at least 56% from the field, 50% from three and 81% from the free throw line in a game.
When asked how much Missouri needed a game like this, Pingeton kept her response short and sweet
“Desperately.”
Missouri will host Alabama in its next game Sunday at 4 p.m. Vanderbilt’s faces Georgia Sunday at noon, when the Commodores will look to avoid embarking on another losing streak after recently ending a seven-game slide against Texas A&M.