Missouri women’s basketball split a pair of close games in the Daytona Beach Classic; the Tigers defeated Tennessee Tech 66-65 on Friday, but lost to Kent State 67-64 on Saturday.

Missouri and Tennessee Tech fought back and forth all game. Neither team could gain a hefty advantage over the other until late in the third quarter. With the Tigers leading  43-37 with 5:20 in the 3rd quarter. The Golden Eagles went on an 18-4 run to take an 8-point lead early in the fourth quarter. 

The difficulties continued to pile up for the Tigers, as graduate forward Angelique Ngalakulondi and sophomore guard Ashton Judd both fouled out in the fourth quarter. The two teams combined for 44 fouls and 37 free throws in the game.

“As a coach, when you’re in it, you just have a lot of frustrations with some of the calls,” head coach Robin Pingeton said. “There’s nights you just have to control what you can control and don’t put yourself in a position to even have those calls get made.”

Their only saving grace had been freshman guard Grace Slaughter. With 18 points on 8/8 shooting, Slaughter led the team in scoring. 

“We have a lot of confidence in Grace,” Pingeton said. “She works really hard at her craft and doesn’t shy away from that big stage.”

With their backs against the wall, the Tigers sparked a 17-10 run to pull within a single point for the final minutes. This run included three made triples in a row after making only three of their first 11.

After collecting a defensive rebound with 1:02 remaining, freshman Hannah Linthacum was fouled and sent to the free-throw line. Linthacum made both shots to secure the 66-65 lead for Missouri. She tallied six rebounds in a game where the team was outrebounded 33-26, 14-4 on the offensive glass. Despite missing several shots down the stretch, Linthacum was able to rebound to help Missouri take the lead.

“I love the fact she had that short term memory, and that next play mentality was huge for us,” Pingeton said.

The Tigers’ defense did the rest, allowing no points in the final 2:23 to hold onto the one-point win.

“It just felt like we were locked in at the level we needed to be there at the end to get stops,” Pingeton said. 

Missouri was less fortunate in their 67-64 loss to Kent State. 

A slow start put the Tigers behind 19-5 with just under three minutes left in the first quarter. The Golden Flashes shot 50% from the field in a competitive first quarter.

However, Missouri clawed their way back thanks to a 30-point performance from graduate forward Hayley Frank. She finished with 8 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals and shot a perfect 11/11 from the free throw line. 

Frank’s heroics as well as 13 points from Judd put Missouri up seven with 6:03 remaining.

However, the Tigers failed to make a field goal after that mark, as Kent State slowly overtook Missouri on the scoreboard 63-60. But Frank continued to carry the team in scoring, making four free throws to capture a one-point lead with 19 seconds left. The Golden Flashes used their one final possession to make the game-winning layup with 12 seconds. A missed layup by senior guard Mama Dembele dashed the Tigers’ hopes. When the final buzzer sounded, the Tigers had suffered their second loss of the season by a score of 67-64.

Missouri shot only 37% from the floor all game, including just 27% during the final frame. The team’s depth failed to make a mark on the scoring board. When Frank and Judd’s points are removed the remaining Tigers only tallied 21 combined points with 28% on field goal attempts.

The Tigers failed to gain meaningful minutes from many players, as only eight members saw the floor. Ngalakulondi and Hannah Linthacum saw the court for only six minutes each. Four Missouri players totaled over 30 minutes of action: Frank, Judd, Slaughter and Dembele.

Missouri will be away from home in their next matchup in the ACC/SEC Challenge against Virginia on Tuesday, Nov. 28 at 4 p.m.

Edited by Quentin Corpuel | qcorpuel@themaneater.com 

Copy edited by Sterling Sewell | ssewell@themaneater.com