Mama Dembele’s career defensive performance helps the Tigers push back into the win column.
After a tough defeat at the hands of Saint Louis on Sunday, Missouri women’s basketball rebounded with an 83-72 win against North Alabama on Tuesday.
The Tigers started the game off slow, leading just 15-12 late in the first quarter. However, the Tigers found their groove with a 14-0 run.
This scoring streak was catalyzed by a myriad of steals from graduate Mama Dembele. The fourth-year starter racked up a career-high 10 steals, the most by a Tiger in a single game since 1999, to go along with 12 points for her second straight double-double.
“I always wanted to be in the passing lane,” Dembele said. “I know I have to set this tone on defense, and I feel like that’s how it starts.”
Missouri was a defensive presence all game, forcing Northern Alabama into 22 turnovers that led to 29 points for the Tigers. The Lions only shot 32% from beyond the arc; this was a drastic improvement for Missouri’s three-point defense as they allowed SLU to shoot 53% from downtown. However, head coach Robin Pingeton spoke of a dire need to improve defensively going forward.
“It’s not anywhere close to where it needs to be,” Pingeton said. “We’ve got to be a lot more assertive.”
The Lions scratched their way back into the game, cutting the lead back to 10 at the half after a 7-0 run late. Freshman guard Chloe Siegel led North Alabama in scoring with 15 points including four three-pointers.
While the Lions kept it close down the stretch, Missouri held on to win its third game of the year by double-digits. It was a big scoring game for graduate forward Hayley Frank, who tied a career high with 29 points.
According to Pingeton, Frank’s early-season struggles could be attributed to an injury as well as an upper-respiratory virus that she’s been playing through.
“She doesn’t give herself enough grace,” Pingeton said. “{She} was an incredible leader for us, {the fact} that she was kind of battling through some of that stuff.”
Missouri used their height advantage to create plenty of rebounding and finishing opportunities close to the basket. North Alabama only had one player in their starting five over six feet tall, while the Tigers had four. Missouri dominated close to the basket with a 50-24 advantage in points in the paint as well as a 49-30 advantage in rebounding.
“[It] felt like we did a better job in that second half trusting more of our screening action,which allowed some really good looks around the basket,” Pingeton said.
Sophomore guard Ashton Judd led the team in rebounds with 12 alongside 10 points for her second double-double of the season.
Coming out of the Saint Louis loss, fouling less was a major point of emphasis according to Pingeton. After committing 29 fouls against the Billikens, Missouri got that number down to 17. However, Dembele, Judd and Frank remained in foul trouble with four apiece.
“Those little ticky tack fouls continue to add up,” Pingeton said.
Missouri will have five days off before concluding this two-game homestand on Monday, Nov. 20 against Southern Indiana at 7 p.m.
“I know [with] a break we’ll be good,” Pingeton said.
Edited by Quentin Corpuel | qcorpuel@themaneater.com
Copy edited by Sterling Sewell | ssewell@themaneater.com