On Saturday afternoon, Mizzou Arena opened up for Tiger fans to come in and watch the Women’s basketball team take on the NIU Huskies. Just down the street at Faurot Field, the MSHSAA championships were taking place but here, we would see the 8-3 Tigers take on an out of conference, 3-3 Husky team.
This game would emphasize full court defense and shooting from the three point line often for the Tigers as they pressed for the majority of the game and shot lights out from the field, ending the game with an overall three point percentage of 50% and knocking down 14 of 28 total threes.
Compared to the Tigers last game on Thursday where the Tiger shot 9/25 and 36% from three in a showing of struggling defense to scrape past the SMU Mustangs 68-61, Saturday showed improvements in all areas in a huge 94-55 win for the Tigers.
Tons of Tigers had a chance to shine with performances from Ashton Judd, Grace Slaughter, Laniah Randle and Angelique Ngalakulondi helping the Tigers with their big win over the Huskies.
Ashton Judd was of the best players on the court today, proving effective on all sides of the game. Judd had a fantastic night from three, going 4/7 on the night and had a total of 16 points. Additionally, she also tagged on nine rebounds, nearly getting a double-double and helped on the defensive end to force turnovers from the Huskies, even getting a steal of her own. However, Judd wasn’t the player who the Tigers coach felt a need to key on and praise for her playing.
Coach Robin Pingeton spoke postgame about how her team played and highlighted Angelique Ngalakulondi, who had nine points and ten rebounds in an effective night for the six foot four forward. Coach Pingeton said after the game that she thinks Ngalakulondi has “ got the ability to be an elite level rebounder” and she was excited to see her get going after the frustrations she’s had to go through.
Coach Pingeton added, “ She’s a strong young lady, she’s explosive, she’s powerful. Just trying to understand how to post without using too much of her upper body and still being aggressive and physical and using her athleticism. It’s been a little bit frustrating at times for her but at the same time… we knew it was just gonna be a matter of time for her.”
This win for the Tigers moved their overall record to 9-3 on the season and their fourth straight win. They have won all of their games in December up to date and look forward to continuing this hot streak after their eight-day break before another game.
Looking ahead, the Tigers will face three more out of conference teams all in the month of December before moving to conference play. The first one coming up will be the Lipscomb Bison on Dec. 15 back in the Hearnes Center. After that the Tigers will have two more games at home with Oral Roberts and Jackson State all coming to town in the month of December.
Editor’s Note: The above game took place on Dec. 7, 2024. Since then, the Missouri Tigers beat Lipscomb, lost to Oral Roberts, and beat Jackson State. They will start conference play against South Carolina on Jan. 2. The Tiger’s current record stands at 11-4.