Missouri hadn’t seen an opponent in over two weeks, and facing off against ranked rival Missouri State wasn’t necessarily their first choice in an opponent to help them ease back into the flow of things.
The Tigers couldn’t come back against the No. 20 Lady Bears Monday night, losing 72-58.
Missouri State pulled ahead in the first quarter and never looked back. They were lethal from beyond the arc, hitting five in the first half.
Missouri’s star sophomore had a quiet first half. Aijha Blackwell didn’t score her first points until she scored a left handed layup at the beginning of the second half. But the guard got things going and finished with 10 points to go along with six rebounds.
“I feel like we’ve got a lot of different kids that can put some points on the board,” head coach Robin Pingeton said. “The more we can space out, share the ball, and get more rhythm shots, the better.”
Missouri showed plenty of rust for a team that went 17 days without a game. The Lady Bears outrebounded the Tigers 19-14 in the first half and early sloppy play from Missouri led to several uncharacteristic turnovers. Still, the team hung around against a solid, ranked Missouri State team that already has a big win on its tournament resume — an 81-72 victory against then-No. 12 Maryland.
“I anticipated that it would be a little clanky,” Pingeton said. “I felt like we had some tired legs, had a hard time finishing around the rim. In the first half alone, we left at least 10 opportunities. You finish half of those, you’re looking at 10 points. That makes a big difference when you’re playing teams like Missouri State.”
Sophomore forward Hayley Frank agreed.
“There’s no excuse, even with the two weeks off,” she said. “Those are just little things that we need to do, and we’re definitely gonna keep preaching and practice tomorrow and really learn from it.”
Missouri went down by 18 in the second quarter, but a 12-2 run to end the 3rd quarter brought the Tigers to within five.
“There was a window of time that I felt there was really good ball movement, really good spacing, got into that two-man game,” Pingeton said. “The girls executed well. We converted. I was absolutely proud of them.”
LaDhazia Williams led the Tigers all night long. She finished 5-7 from the field with 15 points and eight rebounds, both team highs.
Missouri has a quick turnaround, as it takes on New Orleans at home on Wednesday. Missouri State will head home to take on South Dakota State on Saturday.
“We have to turn this into a positive,” Frank told her teammates after the game. “We have to come out with a chip on our shoulder from the jump the next game and play like [we did in the 3rd quarter] for 40 minutes.”
_Edited by Kyle Pinnell | kpinnell@themaneater.com_