Almost 18 inches of snowfall may have shut down schools and businesses in Columbia this past week, but it couldn’t keep the Missouri women’s basketball team from showing up to play against Nebraska on Wednesday night. As for the fans, the empty seats in Mizzou Arena told the whole story.

Though there was no announced attendance, a quick glance around the sparsely filled lower bowl gave the impression that less than 100 fans were in attendance. The additional absence of the Missouri band and cheerleaders resulted in a rather silent atmosphere.  

“We weren’t expecting anybody to be out, we talked about it in pregame how we had to create our own intensity,” senior RaeShara Brown said. “But the little bit of help that we did have from the audience was great. We fed off of that; they might think we didn’t hear it but we did. Our bench did a great job of giving us energy, and we just tried to carry it onto the floor.”

Coach Robin Pingeton also gave credit to her bench for the 76-69 victory, and said she thought the Tigers had “heavy legs” throughout the game. She attributed that to the team’s inconsistent schedule due to the weather.

“Most people think it’s better to be the home team, but I had five of my coaches stranded and couldn’t get to shootaround until ten minutes before,” Pingeton said. “I had a number of players that had to walk two or three blocks in pretty high snow drifts just to be able to get to a main street to get a ride. So in situations like that it’s nice to be in a hotel and have a heated bus to come pick you up.”

Even so, visiting Nebraska was exhausted from the weather conditions as well. The Cornhuskers’ bus was driving along I-70 towards Columbia when the blizzard hit Missouri. But Nebraska coach Connie Yori said her team didn’t feel flustered at all. 

“Well, we just went down to the Ozarks and did some ice fishing, so there was not as much time as you might’ve thought,” Yori joked. “No, we’ve been here awhile. This is going to be a 66-hour trip for us, but that’s not an excuse. You’ve got to come and play.”

The weather even forced a change in the Tigers’ routine leading up to the game. Pingeton ended practice early on Tuesday so everyone could beat the coming storm, a move she normally doesn’t make the day before a game. Players also broke from the norm by staying at the arena between morning shootaround and tip-off later in the evening. Brown said staying focused is difficult with such conditions.

“In situations like this, you really have to work on your mental toughness,” Brown said. “You could allow this to get to you, because you can get lazy and say ‘I don’t want to play’ or ‘I hope they cancel the game.’ But you have to stay focused, you have to keep thinking (about winning the next game), keeping your mind right and being ready to go at any time.”