It’s every senior’s dream to have a career game on their senior night.
On Sunday, both of Missouri’s seniors — Shannon Dufficy and Shug Dickson — made that dream a reality. The veteran duo combined to score 39 points and scored on seven of their 10 3-point attempts.
In her first nine minutes off the bench, Dickson scored 13 points. Dufficy had nine points in her first 15 minutes on the court.
“You never know with senior day, the kind of emotions it’s gonna bring,” coach Robin Pingeton said. “We’ve had some pretty spirited wins on senior day, but you just never know. I was happy for our seniors tonight.”
The Tigers tied the program record for the most made 3-pointers in a single game with 18. Dufficy had the first. Those three points put Missouri on the right foot, and it never took its foot off the gas.
The game also marked Dufficy’s first start in a Tigers jersey. LaDazhia Williams, the usual starting center, sat out with an ankle injury.
Dickson’s family made the trip from St. Louis for the game. In the pregame celebration, their cheers drowned out the rest of the crowd in Mizzou Arena.
“It just felt good to have my family there,” Dickson said. “That’s a big support system, so them cheering [me] on, it just felt good.”
Dufficy’s family wanted to be there, but it was impossible. Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, the Australian family wasn’t allowed to enter the United States.
“Honestly, if I compare this year to the other four years I’ve been here, I would say this year has definitely been the hardest, knowing that I can’t go home and knowing that there’s no way that they can get here,” Dufficy said. “But I mean, the support I have from my friends and the coaches, it helps a lot.”
Prior to tip-off, the video board played a video sent in from Melbourne, Australia by Dufficy’s family.
“They did let me know there was going to be a video, so that kind of mentally prepared me,” Dufficy said. “I mean, if I was standing by myself, I know I would’ve lost it.”
Though Missouri never trailed and had a double digit lead for nearly the entire game, Florida went on a big run and picked up all the momentum midway through the fourth quarter.
Right out of a Pingeton timeout, Dufficy and Dickson both answered. Both finished at the rim and Dickson added a mid-range jumper to extend Missouri’s lead from 10 to 16 and put the game to bed.
The win is Missouri’s first conference home win of the season, but Dufficy recognizes that it means much more than that.
“It gives us momentum now,” Dufficy said. “We have the confidence. We knew we could do it on our home court. In the SEC, we’ve had so many close games, but I think just getting this win gives us that motivation [and] confidence in the future.”
_Edited by Kyle Pinnell | kpinnell@themaneater.com_
