The Missouri women’s basketball team faced plenty of questions at the beginning of last season: How was new coach Robin Pingeton going to turn around the program? How would the Tigers survive in an incredibly competitive conference? How would the team that hadn’t reached the NCAA tournament since 2006 rebuild?
By the end of the season, the Tigers showed that they had laid the foundation for a successful program, but there was still plenty of room for improvement with a 12-15 season record.
“Building a program in the Big 12 today is a lot different than even building a program eight or 10 years ago,” Pingeton said during her media day interview. “The game just continues to elevate and it gets tougher and tougher. We are not looking for a quick fix. I am all about laying a foundation, laying a base for a program we can be proud of.”
The team looks to continue to rebuild with three returning starters, including center Christine Flores, who led the team in scoring last year with 13.0 points per game. Flores also represented the United States in the Pan-American Games last week. She, along with three other seniors on the team, will provide solid leadership core for the team.
Missouri hopes a couple of junior transfer students will make an immediate impact on the team. Center Liz Smith was her team’s MVP at Johnson County Community College, led her team in scoring with 12.8 points per game and helped her team finish fifth in the NJCAA tournament.
“What really attracted me to this school was the coaching staff,” Smith said. “They are very family-oriented. They are all about the team and getting better and that is something that you don’t see everywhere.”
Guard Liene Priede, from Independence Community College, played for the Latvian National Women’s team this year. The team will look to her as an offensive workhorse this season.
“Liene Priede brings a lot of strength to the table offensively,” Pingeton said. “She is a very good scorer and she can shoot the three. She has a very high basketball I.Q. She can create shots for herself and for her teammates.”
The Tigers will also have three incoming freshmen suiting up this year, and each showed she will be beneficial to the team during Tuesday’s exhibition game against Truman State. The most notable performance came from guard Bree Fowler, who scored 12 points and made two free throws. The three rookies played for a total of 60 minutes during the exhibition.
Fowler, a Kansas City native, reveled in the opportunity of playing for Missouri.
“It was very exciting,” Fowler said. “I had a large fan base and I was so excited because I got to be with my team, obviously, and they’re my family so it was awesome to be all together and have people watching me play. I was just having fun.”
The Tigers begin their season Nov. 11 at Texas-San Antonio, and will hold their first regular season game against North Florida on Nov. 20 at Mizzou Arena.
