Fans still flock as Tigers fall to Auburn in home finale
Some showed up to Mizzou Arena Thursday night to support the program. Others came to see Missouri’s pair of dazzling freshman, who dazzled once again, albeit in another losing effort. A few came simply because they had already paid for the tickets.
Whatever the reason, a reported 3,450 fans filed in for the final home game of Missouri’s 2019-20 season. The Tigers and their 8-19 record was no deterrent, and on the night Amber Smith, Hannah Schuchts and the rest of Missouri's seniors played their final home games, the fanbase that head coach Robin Pingeton and her teams have so successfully built in recent years showed up and showed out anyway as Missouri closed out its leanest season in program history.
“We’re here to support the girls,” said Linda Richardson, sitting in her seat in section 106 more than an hour before tip-off. “We want to back them no matter what. We’ve been here for a lot of good teams and we’ll be here for the few bad ones, too. We’ll always be here for Robin and the Tigers.”
The resilient crowd was treated to a familiar, disappointing performance from this iteration of Missouri’s women’s basketball team (8-20, 5-10 SEC), which hung tough but ultimately fell 95-82 to visiting Auburn (10-16, 4-11 SEC) Thursday night.
Freshmen Aijha Blackwell and Hayley Frank offered a window toward the future, combining for 39 points. Junior guard Nadia Green provided a spark off the bench with 11 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists. But against an Auburn squad that shot 59% on the night, the same mistakes the Tigers have made all season were once again paralyzing.
The visiting Tigers made MU pay for their characteristic loose ball security, turning 20 turnovers into 26 points in transition, and while Missouri found its footing defending on the perimeter, it was once again dominated inside by opposing bigs. Auburn’s Erin Howard poured in 22 points on the night while fellow forward Unique Thompson pulled down 12 rebounds. With the loss, the Tigers remain in 11th-place in the SEC heading into Sunday’s regular season finally at Alabama, all but securing Day One action for the Tigers in the SEC Tournament beginning March 4.
Yet while Thursday night’s game marked the end of a challenging season at Mizzou Arena, it also served as a testament to the program Pingeton has built since taking the helm in 2010. As the Tigers head toward their worst finish in program history, the program is still set to post its fourth-highest home attendance since Pingeton arrived, averaging 3,853 fans per game for a total of 53,944 in 2019-20. Long gone are the days of empty seats and meager attendance numbers for Missouri’s women’s team.
At the end of a brutal season, that support is not lost on the 10th-year head coach.
“It means everything to me,” Pingeton said postgame. “I think as hard as it has been for them, they appreciate our body of work over the years. I know that our players do a tremendous job in the community. Our town our team has always been the motto and it showed tonight.”
The Tigers rewarded the fans who showed up with the sort of energetic offensive start that has eluded them for much of the season. Yet even while Missouri found solutions on the offensive end, there was no answer for Auburn’s Howard. The 6-foot-1 forward took advantage of Missouri’s undersized lineup, scoring 12 points on 5-7 shooting in the opening seven and half minutes to hand the visitors an early lead.
But as much as the Tigers struggled in containing Howard, they feasted on Auburn’s ball handlers and turned three Auburn turnovers into eight points on the other end. A lay-up by Green and a corner 3-pointer by Blackwell trimmed Auburn’s lead to 23-18 at the close of the first quarter.
Smith, who closed out her career at Mizzou Arena with 11 points on 5-11 shooting, exited the game early in the second quarter following a collision with Auburn’s Robyn Benton and did not return until after halftime. With Smith being evaluated in the locker room, Missouri's offense once again came to life and responded to a late 8-0 Auburn with a run of its own on back-to-back 3-pointers from Blackwell and redshirt sophomore Haley Troup. The late barrage pulled the Tigers within two points and sent the game to halftime with Auburn leading 39-37 as a raucous crowd sent the MU to the locker room with a standing ovation.
That support, holding steady even in the waning days of a losing campaign, has been cultivated as much by the program’s performances on the court in recent years as it has through its work off it. While the Tigers rattled off four-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances since 2015, Pingeton and her team have become fixtures in the community, drawing in fans to Mizzou Arena one event and one speech at a time.
One couple said they bought season tickets seven years ago after hearing Pingeton and her players speak at Community Methodist Church. Another hopped on the bandwagon after seeing the Tigers’ head coach dominate a charity golf tournament as the only woman in the field. Everywhere they go, Pingeton and her Tigers make the fans feel like they belong.
“I think it’s her attitude and her character, and the way they come to us in the community, Robin makes you feel a part of the team” said Bruce McMillan in section 115. “She cares about the team and this school so much and we feel it, too.”
Pingeton sees things similarly.
“The interaction I think goes a long way,” she said. “People really feel like they’re a part of our family. They feel valued and appreciated. To see where our attendance was 10 years ago and now in a really challenging year to have them come support us, it means so much.”
Familiar thorns deflated the Tigers after the half Thursday. After Smith returned to the court and scored back-to-back buckets to put MU ahead, 41-49, Auburn caught fire, going 8-8 from the floor and 5-5 from the 3-point line in the opening minutes of the second half. Suddenly, Missouri’s lead had vanished and it trailed 60-46.
“We’ve always had good 3-point shooters,” said Auburn head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy. “It just hasn’t been that good all year. What a great time for us to lock in like that.
Working with a sizable lead, Auburn turned to a full court press, something that’s given Missouri trouble all season and ultimately sunk the Tigers once again Thursday night. Of the 20 turnovers Auburn forced, 13 came in the final 20 minutes of action as any hope of Missouri clawing back and moving up in the SEC standings was gone.
Yet again, the Tigers had let a game slip away in the third quarter.
When the clock hit zero, the fans surrounding the court remained in their seats. The Tigers, leaving the floor for the final in 2019-20, circled the court greeted them all, with the team’s seniors taking the lead. On her way to the tunnel, Pingeton did the same.
She’ll be back for Year 11 next fall. The Tigers will be back at Mizzou Arena again, too. And so, most certainly, will be the fans in attendance Thursday night.
“I know we’re going to get it right for them next season,” Pingeton said.