The seniors of the Missouri women’s basketball team didn’t want to go out quietly. Junior forward Bri Kulas apparently didn’t want them to, either.
Kulas gave Missouri a career effort, scoring 26 points and grabbing 12 rebounds as Missouri beat No. 14 South Carolina 65-58 on Senior Night at Mizzou Arena on Thursday.
The win was more than sentimental, though, as Missouri ended a five-game losing streak, giving it 16 victories on the season, a number that is believed to guarantee the Tigers a spot in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament.
“I’m just really proud of our entire team,” coach Robin Pingeton said. “I think when you go through challenging times like that, which are part of the process when you’re building a program, but when you go through those challenging times it’s easy to waiver, and this is a group of young ladies that hasn’t wavered. I’m very proud of their resiliency.”
Missouri guard Sydney Crafton, the only senior to play four years with the program, was pleased to finally get back in the winners column, especially in her last game at Mizzou Arena.
“What more can you ask for? We won on Senior Night,” Crafton said. “It was just a great night.”
The Tigers averaged more than 25 3-point attempts going into Thursday’s game, four more attempts per game than anyone else in the Southeastern Conference. Missouri attempted just seven shots from outside Thursday night, focusing more on inside scoring.
“We knew that they were going to come out aggressive and play us hard,” Kulas said. “They weren’t really in help defense, they were more man-to-man, like, close up on us, so we were just looking to attack.”
Pingeton said they knew the Gamecocks played aggressive defense and that Missouri worked with the scout team to try to adapt to South Carolina’s style of play.
Attacking worked well for Kulas, as she was able to draw fouls and get to the line. She went 10 of 13 from the free throw line, a season high in both makes and attempts.
Playing in their final games at Mizzou Arena, Crafton and guard Liene Priede both scored in double digits, notching 11 and 10 points, respectively. Senior Liz Smith also added eight points and five rebounds.
“You always want to send your seniors out on a good note, but we’re not ready to talk about the end yet,” said Pingeton. “We’re looking forward to another opportunity at Alabama, and then starting our conference tournament, which is the third segment of our season.”
Despite sitting on 15 wins since Missouri’s 80-63 win over Tennessee Feb. 3, Pingeton said there hasn’t been much talk amongst the team about how a win could bolster its postseason chances.
“A few times here or there we’ve said we can’t play for win No. 16, we’ve got to play to be our absolute best on each given night,” Pingeton said.
Pingeton said she was more excited about her team’s response to the adversity of a five-game losing streak than any WNIT bid.
“I can assure you the furthest thing from my mind tonight is postseason,” she said.