Tiger women drop SEC opener to Alabama
If Missouri’s Southeastern Conference opener against Alabama on Thursday taught it anything, it’s that there’s still a ways to go before the Tigers are to be noise-makers in a brutal league.
The Crimson Tide beat Missouri 74-59 at Mizzou Arena, paced by a stretch after halftime that helped put Alabama out of sight following a tight first 20 minutes.
With the two teams tied at half, Alabama had a 12-0 run in the third quarter that pushed it ahead, a lead it wouldn’t lose the rest of the game. Down 58-49 at the end of the third quarter, a 5-0 Missouri spurt to start the final frame cut the lead to four, but two consecutive 3-pointers by the Crimson Tide put the advantage back to double digits.
After three straight wins to cap non-conference play, Thursday’s game for Missouri (4-2) was a deflating beginning to a SEC slate that doesn’t get any easier. Though Alabama (8-0) is no slouch, the Tigers led 22-17 after the first quarter and kept pace for all of the first half.
It was a type of game that Missouri coach Robin Pingeton thought got away from her squad.
“Typically, you’d be okay with around 70 points, but we couldn’t throw it in the ocean tonight,” Pingeton said. “I think it’s going to be hard to win games in the SEC shooting 37%. We’ve got so much firepower that … I didn’t anticipate this to be the issue tonight, that’s for sure.”
Aijha Blackwell (15 points), Ladazhia Williams (12) and Hayley Frank (11) all reached double figures in scoring for Missouri, though none did it efficiently. Blackwell shot 15 times and went 0-for-4 from 3. Williams, after starting 2-for-3, went 1-for-13 from the field after that. And Frank didn’t take a shot in the first half despite being the Tigers’ second-leading scorer (13.2 points per game) entering Thursday.
The real offensive firepower came from Alabama’s guard-forward combo of Jordan Lewis and Ariyah Copeland, who made themselves problems all afternoon. The duo had a combined 52 points on 19-for-26 shooting, with Lewis tallying a career high 27 and Copeland notching 25.
Pingeton said that Frank’s lack of involvement in the first half was partly due to poor execution and partly due to well-played defense by the Tide’s Jasmine Walker. As for Williams — who averaged 68.3% from the field this season before playing Alabama — Pingeton chalked up the South Carolina transfer’s off day to inexperience with a high volume of shots.
“We want Hayley to assert herself a little bit more,” Pingeton said. “She’s such an unselfish player … we need to continue to find ways to get her looks. I felt like (Williams) faded a little bit. But on days you’re not shooting the ball particularly well, I think it’s so important to get to the rim. Her countermoves have got to be a little bit stronger and more explosive.”
With a 4 p.m. Sunday tipoff scheduled at No. 10 Arkansas, the immediate aim now for Missouri is to correct what it can — and fast. Pingeton hinted that conditioning could’ve been an issue for Thursday’s performance along with a series of poor practices.
The Tigers have the benefit of the year being in its early stages with there being over two months of the season to go. But the aim to improve begins immediately.
“It’s important not to forget,” Blackwell said of Thursday’s loss. “Know what we did wrong, go watch film (and) really dive deep, deep into that film. And just really come back and reflect and just look at everything before we play Arkansas.”
The visit to Fayetteville is the beginning of a long road trip, with no home game scheduled until Jan. 18 against LSU. A previously-scheduled matchup with Vanderbilt for Jan. 7 at Mizzou Arena was postponed this week due to COVID-19 concerns in the Commodores’ program.
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