Lauren Hansen’s 17 2nd half points fueled the Missouri Tigers to a 65-47 win over the visiting Western Kentucky Lady Toppers.
A slow start from both teams led to a 6-5 Topper lead by the 1st quarter media break. Haley Troup came out of the break with her hands on fire, hitting three shots from beyond the arc to propel the Tigers to a 20-13 1st quarter lead.
“[I was] trying to come out and find my shot, and be aggressive,” Troup said. “Sometimes you just see one go in and then you kind of get in a rhythm and it feels good.”
Troup finished the game with 13 points, 3-for-3 from beyond the arc and had four makes at the charity stripe.
Western Kentucky’s Jaylin Foster and Teres Faustino combined for 11 points in the 2nd quarter, narrowing the deficit to 33-26 at the end of the first half.
Mizzou’s Sara-Rose Smith came off the bench for the Tigers and made her impact known on the glass with eight first half rebounds, one being offensive.
Coach Robin Pingeton pointed out Smith’s impact on the first half, stating “[Smith’s] got a great motor, she’s got some great athleticism.”
Smith finished the game with 12 total rebounds, leading all players.
“They came out with some good energy after halftime,”Pingeton said. A silent Lauren Hansen jump started the offense in the 2nd half, scoring the team’s first 8 points in the 3rd quarter.
“Lauren did what Lauren needs to do,” said Pingeton. Hansen was the key contributor in the 2nd half for the Missouri Tigers as she finished the 3rd quarter with 13 points, and the game with 17.
Hansen’s 3rd quarter and the Tiger’s stellar defense helped give breathing room between the Tigers and the Lady Toppers. Freshman Ashton Judd played the entire 4th quarter, holding the Tigers’ second unit together with five 4th quarter points, topping off the 65-47 win for Missouri over Western Kentucky.
6th-year senior Haley Troup said it’s “been really encouraging to see how hard she [Judd] plays, and how committed she is to the team and the culture.”
The Tigers improved on their turnover numbers from the previous game against Southeast Missouri State by only posting 16 in Monday’s game. Turnovers continue to prove to be the Tigers’ biggest issue on the season.
“We still have to do a better job taking care of the ball, but overall I thought we had a much better effort tonight,” said Pingeton.
Missouri will be without their starting point guard Mama Dembele for the foreseeable future, after Coach Pingeton confirmed Dembele broke her nose in Sunday’s game against SEMO. Surgery is looking likely, but no official decision has been made yet. No timetable on Dembele’s return was given.
After the last three games in the last four days, the Tigers have two days off until the Skyhawks from the University of Tennessee at Martin come to Mizzou Arena on Thursday.
“Tomorrow’s a day off, it’s a recovery day, and we just have to go out and win the day,” said Coach Pingeton. The Tigers will look to further their 2022 campaign.