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Tiger women fall in OT

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Every time Missouri fired Sunday, Nebraska fired back.

The Tigers trailed for most of the afternoon at Mizzou Arena – the first 37 minutes and 52 seconds to be exact - yet here they were, up 76-73 with 11 seconds remaining and leading scorer Aijha Blackwell at the foul line set to ice the contest. Somehow, Missouri was going to steal this game.

But Blackwell’s free throws wouldn’t fall, and like they did all afternoon, the Huskers had an answer. After scooping up the second missed free throw, Nebraska guard Sam Haiby, who posted a career-high 28 points, raced down the court and found herself open in corner. Haiby drilled the game-tying 3-pointer sending to overtime.

After that, Missouri never stood a chance.

“They played harder than we did for 45 minutes tonight,” Robin Pingeton said. “We had spurts here and there, but our defense is just unacceptable right now. It’s not like last year. We lost an SEC All-Defense player. We need our kids to understand the importance of playing hard and being able to guard. I’m just really disappointed in our defense today.”

Missouri simply couldn’t stop the Huskers and came up just short Sunday afternoon, overcoming an eight-point fourth quarter deficit only to fall 90-85 in overtime to a scrappy Nebraska squad. The Tigers are now 1-1 on the season.

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Blackwell scored a team-high 21 points to go with four assists and four rebounds in a rebound performance after a shaky debut Tuesday night. Amber Smith, whose charge with 1:25 remaining in overtime all but sealed Missouri’s fate, scored 14 of her 20 points in the second half and overtime, and ripped down 14 rebounds. Veterans Jordan Roudntree and Hannah Schuchts scored 16 and 13 points, respectively. Yet none of it was enough to push past Haiby’s 28 points and the 24 that Nebraska’s Leigha Brown poured in off the bench on a day when the Tigers turned the ball over 19 times, got beat on the offensive boards and shot below 30% for 3-point range.

“We’ve got some work to do,” Pingeton said. “We have to start owning some things and making progress. I didn’t see a lot of progress from Western Illinois to today.”

After Blackwell and fellow freshman Hayley Frank struggled in Missouri’s season opener, Pingeton went with a veteran starting lineup Sunday, inserting Schuchts and junior guard Elle Brown in their places alongside Smith, Chavis and Roundtree. Following a game in which Western Illinois’ Evan Zars hauled in 20 rebounds, the 6-foot-2 Schuchts delivered the Tigers size inside from the start, and though it was Brown’s first career start, her presence provided Missouri another sure-handed guard in the opening minutes.

But even with the experienced group on the floor, Missouri was again sluggish out of the gate. Haiby nailed a pair of early 3-pointers and scored her team’s first eight points to hand the Huskers a lead it wouldn’t relinquish until late in regulation. Like they did in Tuesday’s 97-89 win over Western Illinois, the Tigers allowed their opponent to drive the lane at will and Nebraska controlled the paint from start to finish. Missouri’s offense, meanwhile, failed to find a rhythm. After a sterling 18-point season debut, Jordan Chavis went cold from behind the three-point line, and the Tigers’ other offensive catalysts couldn’t give Missouri a jolt. During one eight minute stretch between the first and second quarters, a lay-in by Shuchts was Missouri’s only made field goal.

For all the Tigers couldn’t do, they remained in range of Nebraska by getting to the foul line often and coming up with short spurts of brilliance Missouri shot 38 free throws Sunday and made 82% of them, and each time the Huskers seemed poised to pull away, the Tigers were there with a run to match it. D

own 29-21 in the closing stages of the first half, Blackwell drained a transition jumper before Schuchts and Chavis drained three-pointers to close the gap and head to the locker room trailing 31-29. The Tigers would do it again at the end of the third quarter, mounting a 7-2 run to cut Nebraska’s lead to 54-51 headed into the final period.

“They did a fantastic job of getting to the line and stuck around,” Nebraska head coach Amy Williams said. “We went in looking to guard without fouling and they made it really difficult for us. They got to the line 38 times and it continued to give them momentum to get back in it.”

The fourth quarter, up until the very end at least, belonged to Blackwell; the freshman from St. Louis did it all for the Tigers with the offense in her hands. At times during her debut on Tuesday, the stage appeared too big for Blackwell. Sunday was a different story.

With Missouri trailing 62-56 with 6:11 remaining in the game, Blackwell drained a three-pointer from the top of the arc, and two minutes later drove coast-to-coast and laid off a pass to Smith, who finished under the basket. As the Tigers continued to claw back, Blackwell remained the force, finishing a fast break lay-up and draining another three-pointer on consecutive possessions to to tie the game at 68.

Her effort showed Missouri fans just how special she can be, but the Tigers on Sunday needed more.

“Game No. 1 was pretty frustrating and I was in foul trouble,” Blackwell said. “This game I just took it slow. I didn’t try to rush anything. The shots weren’t falling early but my teammates helped pick me up and that’s what kept me in the game.”

When Smith sunk a pair of free throws to put the Tigers ahead 76-73 with 20.8 seconds remaining, it appeared Missouri might somehow escape with a win. But Blackwell, who would foul out of the game with 13 seconds left in overtime, was unable to close from the foul line and when Haiby drained the three-pointer to tie the game at the end of regulation, the momentum that had powered Missouri’s surge was gone.

In the overtime period, Missouri failed to make a field goal for the first four minutes and eight seconds and Nebraska pulled away with an 8-2 run. The game had been decided minutes earlier with Blackwell at the foul line, and in Pingeton’s estimation, much sooner than that.

“That game was not lost at the free throw line,” Pingeton said. “We’re not even in that game without Aijha and what she did...it’s a 40 minute game and we let a lot of opportunities slip through our fingers.”

All afternoon, Nebraska had the answers and in the end, there was nothing Missouri – save for draining a free throw or two – could do.

The Tigers return to the floor at 7 p.m. Wednesday to take on Northern Iowa at Mizzou Arena. The game will be aired on SEC Network+

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