The Tigers looked to keep their perfect season intact and to defend their home court on Friday night. However, Missouri (2-1, 0-0) never could keep the offense rolling and lost to the Green Bay Phoenix (1-2, 0-0), by the final score of 56-49.
The Tigers got off to a fast start, outscoring the Phoenix 17-14 in the first quarter. Junior Amber Smith and senior Sophie Cunningham combined for 14 of those 17.
“My teammates got me in the right spots and some play calls from my coach,” Smith said. “They got me in the right path and had great confidence in me.”
It looked to be going quite well for the Tigers. Then, all of a sudden, it wasn’t.
Cunningham was forced to exit due to two fouls in the first quarter. She was left out of the contest for the entirety of the second quarter. In her absence, the Tigers shot an atrocious 4-16 from the field. Also in foul trouble with two fouls in the half for the Tigers were freshmen Akira Levy and Grace Berg, and sophomore Emmanuelle Tahane.
Without some key players for extended periods of time, the offense struggled to get going. Other than Smith, no one was scoring on a consistent basis. Smith was the only Tiger in double figures for the half, scoring 15 points. She also had six rebounds and two blocks in the half.
“We have always been known as a great shooting team here at the University of Missouri,” coach Robin Pingeton said. “We have some inconsistent shooters right now and we have to get them going.”
The Tigers’ second quarter, while not as disastrous, was in many ways similar to their third quarter on Tuesday night against Missouri State, in large part because of the foul trouble the Tigers were put in. It was a physical game, as a total of 50 fouls were called between the two teams.
“We [Missouri and Green Bay] are both physical teams,” Pingeton said. “It was definitely a physical game but we weren’t too surprised by that.”
In the third quarter with Cunningham back on the floor, the Tigers looked as if they had figured things out, at one point leading 32-26. Then, just like Tuesday night, the Tigers’ offense went cold. Mizzou shot 27 percent (3-11) from the field in the quarter. Green Bay took a 36-35 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The fourth didn’t start any better, with the Tigers missing their first three shots. Green Bay worked its lead up to seven points late, the largest lead the Phoenix would see. In the fourth quarter, the Tigers just couldn’t take the lid off of the basket, shooting 33 percent from the field.
The Phoenix also seemed to always have the answer late. Smith and Lauren Aldridge each hit a 3-pointer with under three minutes to play. Each time the Phoenix answered with either a three of their own or defensive stops.
A large negative for the Tigers was the amount of turnovers, 18. Pingeton was disappointed that the Tigers had that many turnovers against “a team that doesn’t press.”
Missouri again struggled from the free throw line, shooting 59 percent (13-22) from the charity stripe. With a formula that led to inconsistent offense, too many turnovers, and not converting “free” points, Missouri fell to a Green Bay team that out-played them down to the wire.
“We don’t like to lose,” Pingeton said. “Losing is no fun, but is a part of the process and we have to respond to it.”
Missouri’s next chance to respond will be Monday, Nov. 19 when Southern Illinois, Edwardsville visits Columbia. Tip-off is set for 7 pm CST. After that contest, the Tigers head to Florida for the Gulf Coast Showcase the weekend after Thanksgiving.
_Edited by Adam Cole | acole@themaneater.com_
