After last Saturday’s loss at home to Oklahoma State, Missouri women’s basketball coach Robin Pingeton expressed disappointment with the effort her players exhibited for the first time all season. The 2011-2012 season has been one centered on growth in the program, and last Saturday was a setback in Pingeton’s eyes.

The team responded Saturday against Oklahoma with what Pingeton called the team’s best complete game effort of the season.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, the effort still wasn’t enough to pull off their first conference win, as the Sooners escaped Mizzou Arena with a 62-59 victory.

Missouri (10-9, 0-8 Big 12 Conference) led by as many as 11 points in the first half, but saw the Sooners close the lead to three by half time.

The second half was tight throughout, consisting of 13 lead changes, with neither team leading by more than four.

The game ultimately came down to the last minute, and once again, the Tigers weren’t able to execute in crunch time.

Following a timeout with 47 seconds left, the Sooners possessed the ball up by three. The Sooners proceeded to miss a three, but sophomore center Nicole Griffin snagged the rebound for the Sooners and was fouled by Missouri senior forward Christine Flores.

Griffin missed the front end of a one-and-one, but the Tigers missed the box-out and had to foul again. Oklahoma’s Kaylon Williams made one of two to make the game a two-possession game.

Freshman guard Morgan Eye hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to one with nine seconds remaining. The Tigers fouled Oklahoma’s Morgan Hook, who made both free throws to bring the lead back to three.

The Tigers had one last chance to send the game to overtime, but a contested three by Liene Priede clanged off the rim.

“It’s just a tough, tough loss,” Pingeton said. “You work so hard, but you just got to keep going back to work tomorrow.”

Senior forward Christine Flores had a standout performance for the Tigers, recording 24 points, a career-high 16 rebounds and five blocks.

The first block had extra significance as Flores moved into first place all-time at Missouri for blocked shots.

“That was one of my ultimate goals and I’m really happy I finally got it,” Flores said. “It’s a huge accomplishment. That’s a lot of blocks. (The mark) was hard to pass.”

Despite being winless still in conference play, Pingeton said the team is excited for the remainder of the schedule.

“I think these girls finally got it figured out and understand the kind of toughness we’re are going to compete with night in and night out,” Pingeton said. “If I know them the way I think I know them, they’re not going to take a step back from here.”

The effort the Tigers displayed Saturday was clear to Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale as well.

“I cannot say enough good things about what Robin is doing with this program,” Coale said. “Those kids believe, they have bought in, they’re playing their tails off for her. They didn’t play like a team that was down because they haven’t won a conference game yet, they played like a team that felt like they expected to win.”

The Tigers will be back in action Wednesday when they welcome the No. 1 Baylor Bears to Mizzou Arena.