Texas A&M’s Shambria Washington fired off a last-second heave toward the basket. It was out of desperation and the ball was nowhere near the rim. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway. The entire crowd was already on their feet and it showered Missouri with thunderous applause. The final horn sounded and the Tigers upset No. 18 Texas A&M 70-65 in overtime.
Afterward, Robin Pingeton rushed to the scorer’s table. She understood the moment. The Tigers were in a tailspin after the 10-point loss to LSU. Pingeton thanked the 4, 513 fans in attendance for providing the team with energy despite the icy conditions in Columbia. Missouri needed all of it.
“They were big for us tonight,” Pingeton said. “Home court is a special place for us and the energy that’s created here is pretty powerful.”
Pingeton’s 499th career victory came at the most pivotal moment of Missouri’s season. It was all behind a masterful performance from her best player, senior Sophie Cunningham.
Cunningham was there to deliver in overtime when Missouri needed her the most. She played 44 minutes and scored the team’s final six points to secure the win. Cunningham finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds in a game that the Tigers hope can turn around an up-and-down campaign.
“Being at home, we had to send a message,” Cunningham said. “We’ve had a couple bad losses this year and we’re just on a roller coaster. But we’re going full steam ahead and what a great start against a ranked opponent.”
Missouri was near rock bottom after a 10-point loss to LSU. The Tigers lost to an inferior team and any shot of having momentum before their first home top-25 game was gone.
Yet, it didn’t seem to matter as Missouri. The Tigers jumped out to an early lead against the Aggies. Less than five minutes into the game coach Gary Blair had to call a timeout to let his team breathe. Texas A&M was punched in the mouth and Cunningham sent a clear message. She was going to leave her mark on this game.
Texas A&M was down 12-4 and Cunningham had taken over. She started the game 3-3 from the field, draining threes over multiple defenders in the process. It was the start that Missouri needed. The Tigers led by as much as nine points in the first quarter before losing that lead midway through the second. Missouri hasn't just struggled to keep momentum game to game, but often quarter to quarter.
Chennedy Carter, the SEC’s leading scorer, dropped 14 points in the second quarter. Carter’s ability split double-teams and run off screens gave Missouri fits. Junior Jordan Roundtree was the primary defender on Carter and she was doing a fine job. However, Carter was making everything.
“We knew she was going to hit a lot of tough shots,” Roundtree said. “She’s a really good player and you don’t really realize it until you have to guard her.”
Missouri went into halftime up 34-32 despite Carter dropping 20 points in the first half. However, Texas A&M got nothing from the rest of the team. However, Coach Blair knew shots would eventually fall for the team’s secondary scorers, sophomores Kayla Wells and Cierra Johnson.
The second half was full of runs. The rest of the Aggies stepped up at the beginning of the third quarter to propel Texas A&M to a 13-2 run. Wells, who finished with 18 points, had eight points in the third and the Aggies led by 10 with 42 seconds left in the quarter.
The next possession may have saved the game for Missouri and subsequently its season. Redshirt-senior Lauren Aldridge drained a three-pointer to bring Missouri with single digits. After that, Mizzou went on a 10-0 run to open the fourth quarter. The Tigers took the lead and avoided another second-half meltdown.
The Tigers tough defense and Carter going cold in the fourth quarter kept them in the game. Carter had nine points in the second half and went 3-16 from the field. The Aggies relied on Johnson’s size mismatch in the post to score, while freshman Akira Levy came up big for the Tigers.
Levy blew right past junior Shambria Washington to tie the score at 61. Then Carter missed again and gave Missouri the ball with six seconds left. Pingeton drew up the perfect play. Smith was open near the baseline with an opportunity for a short jumper and the win.
“I thought I saw Chennedy Carter help up and I had a dump down to Cierra Porter,” Smith said of what happened next. “She shot that gap. That’s about it.”
Smith fumbled the ball right into a defender and Wells had a shot to win the game at the buzzer. Wells rushed the shot with under two seconds on the clock, leaving it short.
“Thank you, Lord,” Smith said with a smile and a laugh about the play. Missouri escaped and the late mistake didn’t ruin an 18-point performance.
The Tigers went on to outscore Texas A&M 9-4 in overtime, with the last six points coming from Cunningham to secure the win.
Missouri moved to 17-7 overall and 6-4 in the SEC. The Tigers continue their two-game home stand on Sunday, Feb 10 against Vanderbilt (6-16, 1-8) at 3 p.m. Sunday is Coach Pingeton’s first shot at 500 career wins, something that she downplayed after the win.
“We don’t even need to be talking about that,” Pingeton said. “This is all about this team.”
The Commodores lost their third game in a row on Thursday, 82-65 to Tennessee.
