Armed with momentum going into halftime, the Missouri women’s basketball team used a 15-0 second half run to put away the Kansas Jayhawks by a score of 66-52 Wednesday night.
The victory brought the Tigers’ conference record to 2-4 and their overall record to 10-10. Missouri now sits ninth in the Big 12 standings with 10 games remaining, including a road test at Iowa State Saturday. Coach Robin Pingeton said she was impressed by the intensity the team showed against the Jayhawks.
“I’m proud of the effort from start to finish,” Pingeton said. “We’ve really been talking a lot about trying to get consistency, understanding that it’s a 40 minute game. We’ve been so close in so many games, and as a player you feel like you’re playing so hard, but as a coach you feel like there’s always more in their tanks.”
Missouri completed 14-4 at end the first half to take a 30-27 lead at halftime. RaeShara Brown hit a jump shot with just over seven minutes left in the game, sparking a 15-0 run to widen Missouri’s lead to 63-47 with two minutes remaining in the half. Pingeton said Missouri’s 21 takeaways were the key to those long scoring streaks.
“I felt tonight we were very quick to lose balls, and I thought it was contagious,” Pingeton said. “It really set the tone tonight. From there, I really think these girls are trying hard to make a commitment to staying together and making the next play, the most important play. And I felt like we did that tonight.”
Kansas’ shooters went cold in the second half, going only 34.8 percent from the field. Jayhawks coach Bonnie Hendrickson gave the Missouri defense credit after the game.
“They sagged, and didn’t guard kids that they didn’t think could make shots,” Hendrickson said. “It’s similar to how (Missouri coach) Robin (Pingeton)’s group guarded us last year in the NIT. And they’ve been good on film, not just tonight. They’ve played people well, and their focus and concentration and attention to detail has been better.”
Missouri snapped a four-game losing streak with the win, and is now 9-2 when leading at halftime. Brown, who led the team with 22 points, said that the victory could be a season-changer for the Tigers.
“The way you approach the next game can determine whether you continue down the same road or if you change it,” Brown said. “And I think we had the mindset tonight that we wanted to change how things were going. We had some tough losses coming in, but we pushed those to the backburner and we learned from them.”
Pingeton attributed much of the success Wednesday night to the team’s work ethic, saying Monday the team had its “best practice in the nine months” Pingeton has been at Missouri. She said the team would celebrate the win for only one night before moving onto Iowa State.
“Again, I’m very, very proud of them, but a long way from being satisfied,” Pingeton said. “This is a great win, let’s save this effort and that same kind of focus and resiliency for the next game. It needs to get more consistent. I want more, I’m not satisfied and I don’t think they are either.”