Vanderbilt spoiled senior night in Mizzou’s final home game of the season 68-61. Mizzou women’s basketball lost its tenth straight game to Vanderbilt (21-8, 8-7 SEC) Thursday night dropping the Tigers to 11-17 (2-13 SEC).
Coach Robin Pingeton opened up her press conference addressing what this year's senior class has meant to her, calling this group “special”.
“Love the senior class, love their investment into our program and everything they've done the way they show up day after day. They've got a lot to be proud of,” Pingeton said. “They're uncommon, when you get some curveballs thrown at you later on in life, they're going to be prepared for it and they're going to be better because of it”.
Mizzou entered Thursday night's game against Vanderbilt on a nine-game losing streak. The Tigers sit in last place of the SEC standing with just two conference wins, one of which coming over the Commodores earlier in the season on the road. Vanderbilt entered the game sixth in the SEC standings after winning three of its last four games.
Micah Linthacum, Abby Feit, Hayley Frank and Mama Dembele highlighted the Tigers starting lineup in honor of senior night. After having offensive struggles in Monday’s game against Ole Miss, the Tigers got off to a fast start led by sophomore Ashton Judd in the first quarter. Judd, who saw only three shots fall against the Rebels, began a perfect 3-3 from the field with eight points. Vanderbilt led 19-15 at the end of the first.
Judd finished with 15 points, four rebounds and an assist in 31 minutes of play while shooting 6-9 from the field. Judd also finished the game with five of the team's 18 turnovers.
Dembele, Feit, and Frank led the senior charge in the second quarter, scoring 16 of the Tigers 21 points in the quarter. The Tiger trio shot a perfect 6-6 in the quarter. Feit and Frank went a combined 3-3 from behind the arc, while Dembele added seven points of her own on 3-3 shooting as well. Vanderbilt led 37-36 at halftime despite leading by ten at one point.
Dembele finished with eleven points, six rebounds, seven assists, and five steals in what could potentially be her final game at Mizzou Arena. Dembele will finish her career top-ten in Mizzou assists and steals all time, ranking fourth and fifth with one regular season game remaining and the SEC tournament. Despite having her best statistical season at Mizzou Dembele talked about how difficult it is as a senior to struggle as a team.
“It's just been an amazing season," she said. "I feel like at the end of the day people just look at the wins or the losses, but at the end of the day it is just bigger than that. My teammates are amazing. It’s just hard to say goodbye or even think about it. Everyone wants to win, but at the end of the day we're getting better as people and as players. I think that's the biggest accomplishment that we can have. It's difficult to control those emotions."
Frank finished with 14 points, five rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes of action while shooting 4-11 from the field. In her final season as a Tiger, Frank sits in second place for all time scoring with 1,978 points to date.
“Definitely one of the best since I’ve been here," Pingeton said. "The way she represents not only women's basketball, but the University of Missouri and this community. It's never been about Hayley since day one. I think that's what makes her very uncommon. I don't think she came here to set out to be the all time leading scorer or anything like that. I think she came here to learn and grow and just experience a culture and make a positive impact and she's absolutely done that and more. One of the best shooters ever deployed here at the University of Missouri. Record books are record books. The legacy she's left behind because of who she is and how she shows up every day is very uncommon and very special. We're very blessed to have her here”.
After going down seven points the Tigers used an 8-0 run to close the third quarter as they led 48-47 heading into the fourth. In the two teams last meeting it was Mizzou that outscored Vanderbilt 21-11 in the fourth quarter to come away with the win. This time the Commodores outscored the Tigers 21-13 to close the game.
Mizzou shot 24-53 from the field and 7-20 from three point range, an improved outing for the Tigers after going 0-7 in the loss to Ole Miss on Monday. Vanderbilt out rebounded Mizzou 38-30 and added 19 second chance points.
Coming Up: Mizzou will head to Starkville to face Mississippi State (20-10, 7-8 SEC) on Sunday, March 3rd. The Bulldogs will enter the game riding a five game losing streak while sitting at seventh in the SEC standings.
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