When the final buzzer ended the Missouri women’s basketball team’s win over Iowa State on Saturday, senior RaeShara Brown could hardly contain her excitement. The guard raced across the court to embrace fellow senior Jasmyn Otote, sharing the moment with her closest teammate in the final home game of their careers.
“Not everybody gets to come play college ball with their best friend,” Brown said after the game, before pausing to fight back tears. “Me and Jaz have been through a lot. To be able to go out like that, it was an amazing feeling, and I had to let her know that.”
Senior night is usually an emotional affair, but Saturday night’s 49-48 victory over Iowa State was an emotional roller coaster from start to finish. After the seniors were honored at midcourt before tip-off, the Tigers battled the Cyclones in a back-and-forth affair that came down to the last play of the game. Junior Christine Flores said the underclassmen fought hard for the seniors that night.
“We want to give this to them,” Flores said. “It feels good for everybody, but I can’t imagine being a senior and going out like this. It’s something special, and we wanted to give that to them.”
The night had added importance for Brown. With a layup in the first half, Brown became the 29th player in Missouri women’s basketball history to reach 1,000 points in a career. After the game, she admitted she had a hard time fighting back emotions during the game.
“I was fighting emotions coming through that tunnel when they were calling my name,” Brown said. “Coach (Pingeton) almost made me break down, I had to hold it together then. After the game, I got into it a little more with Jaz and Coach P. I guess there’s more emotion left, so we’ll have to see how that goes.”
Brown wasn’t the only senior who played well in the final game, as Shakara Jones and Otote both combined for 13 points on the night. Coach Robin Pingeton called Otote “unselfish,” and Brown expressed praise for her best friend’s performance.
“It’s not easy when you’re supposed to be a shooter and you have hard nights shooting the ball,” Brown said. “She does so many other intangible things for our team. She made some great, great plays on defense tonight, and I couldn’t be more happy for her to come out and contribute the way she did today.
In what has been an up-and-down year for the rebuilding Tigers, Pingeton said senior night was a big stepping stone for her team.
“For our program today, where we’re at, this is so much bigger than the box score,” Pingeton said. “This is about our seniors laying the foundation for the future of our program as we try to continue to climb our way out of the trenches. I couldn’t be more proud of the way that our senior class has led this team.”
A matchup with Texas awaits the Tigers on Tuesday in the opening round of the Big 12 tournament. Brown said that she’s happy with her senior season, no matter how it ends.
“I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” Brown said. “The wins and losses, when you get older, you’ll forget about them. You won’t remember this game or this game but what you will remember is the relationship you built with the people on your team, and I can take that with me forever. I’m not disappointed in this year at all, and I loved every minute of it.”
