After whole team has to quarantine, Mizzou women’s basketball practice is underway
The Missouri Tigers women’s basketball team was primed to get back onto the practice court after a long offseason — and not just because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But this is 2020. Life can’t be that simple.
“We spent the first 14 days — once we could start official practice — in quarantine,” Tigers coach Robin Pingeton said. “Talk about a bummer. We all got contact-traced. That was another curve ball we weren’t expecting. It happens.”
Winter sports like basketball were allowed to open with their first official day of practice six weeks before the season tips off Nov. 25. But instead of building sweat equity and bonding in-person after a summer of video meetings, the Tigers needed to isolate first because of contact tracing.
Pingeton said they used that time making the best of it, including, yes, even more video meetings. Sophomore guard Hayley Frank said there was definitely some “frustration” watching other teams practice while they were in quarantine.
“Thankfully, even though we were in quarantine, because of the rules, we were still able to condition together,” Frank said. “We’d have early-morning conditioning. It’s something we talked about, being in the grind together and in the trenches. It definitely took a lot to get up in the morning.”
Pingeton said as of Oct. 25, her entire team was back on the court and practicing. And entering her 11th season at Mizzou, Pingeton said she’s thrilled to get back to work after what was a disappointing 2019-20 campaign. The Tigers finished 9-22, 5-11 in the SEC, snapping a four-year streak of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament.
Replacing Mizzou legend Sophie Cunningham proved an uphill battle as Pingeton said it was one of the most trying seasons of her career.
But there’s plenty of intrigue on her current roster, which starts with two sophomores who excelled last season. Frank and fellow guard Aijha Blackwell were both chosen to the SEC all-freshman team, combining to average 26.8 points per game.
Pingeton said her dynamic sophomores are taking more of the leadership duty. Over the summer, amid weekly video calls and a book club, MU hosted optional leadership calls to “dive in deeper and understand how to be better leaders.” Pingeton said she doesn’t think Frank or Blackwell missed a single call.
“That’s a lot coming at you at this level,” Pingeton said. “You lose a player like Sophie and it’s that pressure of, ‘You need to carry that torch and move our program forward.’ It was just a tough year for a lot of reasons. Tremendous growth, tremendous leadership. Understanding what it takes on a day-to-day basis.”
Elsewhere on the roster are three transfers who had to sit out last season because of NCAA rules. Shug Dickson (Tulsa), LaDazhia Williams (South Carolina) and Shannon Dufficy (Utah State) are all ready to contribute, Dickson said, even amid the craziness that is 2020. Rotational pieces like Haley Troup and Nadian Green are back, too.
The Tigers lost a slew of seniors in Hannah Schuchts, Jordan Roundtree, Amber Smith and Jordan Chavis, but they’re flipping to a new core that could stick around even longer.
“This summer, it kind of caused all of us to look at ourselves in the mirror and take some ownership and embrace the things that we needed to improve on,” Pingeton said. “Understand what our strengths are and how we can grow and get better because of what we went through.”
There were some COVID-related issues the Tigers had to deal with their international players — Spaniard Mama Dembele, along with Australians Sara-Rose Smith and Dufficy — and getting visas, but Pingeton said they were able to square it all away.
The season is still three weeks away, but the Tigers haven’t quite finalized a schedule, Pingeton said. An announcement is expected soon.
While the Tigers weren’t where they hoped to be last year, Pingeton said there’s plenty of talent on her current roster. The next step is putting it all together, she said.
“Our offseason was really, really productive,” Pingeton said. “I think we all know we had a pretty tough season last year. But in the big picture, as I said before, I’m really thankful for it. Diamonds are formed in the fires. We had a lot of adversity and we met it face on.”