From the sidelines of his team’s Wednesday night game against Missouri, Lindenwood coach Tony Francis could be heard yelling at his defense.

“Know your shooters,” he told his players.

Mizzou women’s basketball senior guard Morgan Eye, who had put up five three pointers in the first half, caught a pass in the second half and was on the edge of the three-point line.

“That’s a shooter,” Francis yelled.

But during the second half, that statement wasn’t true. While Eye had put up 17 points early on in the first half, she didn’t attempt a field goal in the second half.

“In the first half we came out with a mindset to attack and score,” Eye said. “But when they started chipping away at our lead, we started thinking, ‘Oh no, what’s happening?’ And I think we played a little scared. I put that on myself as a leader. It all comes down to our communication.”

The uneasiness was within reason. The Tigers missed 14 shots in the paint and let up 32 points, bringing their comfortable 47-29 lead at half to a narrow 67-61 victory over Division II Lindenwood.

With normal starting junior point guard Lianna Doty out with a foot injury that will likely be season-ending, junior Juanita Robinson, sophomore Lindsey Cunningham and freshman Carrie Shephard split the duties.

“Tonight, we were looking at a lot of different set rotations, and we wouldn’t normally do this, but we knew we needed to examine a few things under the lights in game situations,” Missouri coach Robin Pingeton said. “This was an important game, but lets be honest, we’re preparing for down the road.”

While Robinson scored eight points off several drives to the basket, Cunningham only scored one point off a free throw and Shephard went scoreless in her first collegiate game.

Missouri’s other freshman, forward Bri Porter, worked the post with eight points scored in her first game of the season.

“I was really excited to be out on the court, but it all felt a lot different at practice,” Porter said. “I didn’t feel entirely at ease the whole time, but I think with more experience I’ll get used to it.”

Even though Eye didn’t get any threes off second half, junior guard Maddie Stock finished the game with 11 points, nine of which were off of three pointers.

Sophomore forwards Jordan Frericks and Kayla McDowell also provided nine points each, working successfully in the paint. Pingeton said Frericks has consistently dominated practices the past four weeks and has grown by leaps and bounds.

“We’re a hungry group in wanting to learn and wanting to get better,” Pingeton said. “I hope you’ll see some great strides made from tonight until we play again next Wednesday.”

These strides will be tested in another exhibition game, Nov. 11 against Missouri Western at Mizzou Arena.