The diameter of a basketball hoop is 18 inches, but some days, it feels much bigger. Sunday was one of those days for the Missouri Tigers.
The Tigers tied the school record for three-pointers made in a game, hitting 18-for-28 (64%) to storm past the Florida Gators 96-80. The senior day win was their first at home in the Southeastern Conference this season. Missouri’s point total Sunday is the its highest in a SEC game since dropping 100 on Feb. 23, 2017 against Ole Miss. The win gave Mizzou a season sweep over Florida.
Eighteen three-pointers isn’t a sustainable number, but the good ball movement and spacing can be built upon. And that was the main takeaway coach Robin Pingeton wanted her team to store in tow for future games.
“It didn’t feel like the ball got stuck at all,” Pingeton said. “I thought they executed the play calls that we ran. I think (in) motion, there was ball movement, there was good reads. I thought we played off two feet, attacked … made the extra pass. I thought (we were) pretty efficient offensively.”
Missouri entered Sunday a hobbled team with an extended layoff. First, a scheduled game at Texas A&M for Thursday was postponed due to inclement weather, then leading scorer Ladazhia Williams picked up a foot injury in practice Friday that left her inactive for Sunday’s game.
Without their inside presence, it was only logical that the Tigers opted to light it up from deep instead.
Hayley Frank, who had six threes, led Missouri with 26 points as one of four Tigers to score at least 19. Aijha Blackwell, herself returning from a lower body injury that sidelined her last week against Georgia, posted her 11th double-double of the season with 21 points and 14 rebounds.
The hot shooting was fast and furious from the opening tip. Missouri led by five after the first quarter and 15 after halftime after knocking down 10 treys, which tied for the most 3s the Tigers hit in a game for all of the 2019-20 season. An over 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio (22 assists, 10 turnovers) for the entire game helped Missouri’s cause, too, as it marked its efficiency with the ball in its hands.
“We did have to play a little more (of a) outside game,” Missouri guard Shug Dickson said. “But we just took whatever they gave us and took advantage of it.”
It was the two seniors Missouri honored Sunday, Dickson and Shannon Dufficy, that perhaps most notably marked the moment with 20 and 19 points, respectively, while combining for eight threes. Both went for season-highs in scoring on their special day, but Dufficy in particular looked more than comfortable filling in for Williams down low, getting the start and tying for a team-high with 35 minutes played.
Dickson, from St. Louis, had an entourage of family and friends at Mizzou Arena to cheer her on, but Dufficy, an Australian, didn’t have that as her family was unable to clear the logistical hurdles to travel to the U.S. A video message before the game was played for her instead, something that Dufficy said she took to heart.
“Honestly, it was pretty emotional,” Dufficy said. “I tried to hide it, I didn’t want it to affect my game. But I mean, I know how much they want to be here and how much I want them here. So when that video came on … I think it was the first time that it did kind of hit me, but having Shug there beside me, I mean, that helped a lot.”
From there, it was a barrage of jumpers from the Tigers that made sure senior day ended on a high note. Missouri is scheduled to next play No. 21 Tennessee at 7 p.m. Thursday in Columbia.
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