Boom! Shorthanded Mizzou Tigers women’s basketball team shocks No. 1 South Carolina
The Missouri Tigers women’s basketball team has done the unthinkable, upsetting the No. 1-ranked team in the country in overtime.
With only eight players available and star guard Aijha Blackwell out due to health and safety protocols, Robin Pingeton’s squad didn’t stand much of a chance against the the South Carolina Gamecocks on Thursday night, right?
Sure, Mizzou was off to its best start in recent years. But South Carolina entered Thursday night’s game with a 12-0 record, boasting wins over UConn, Stanford, NC State, Maryland and Oregon — each of whom was ranked in the top 10 at the time.
That’s a tough ask on its own, let alone without your leading scorer and rebounder.
Yet, somehow, someway, Missouri (12-2) did what no other team had been able to do: Beat the Gamecocks. The Tigers stunned South Carolina 70-69 at Mizzou Arena to open SEC play with a bang.
It is the program’s first win — ever — over a No. 1-ranked team.
“This was a huge win for us and I couldn’t be more proud of these eight young ladies,” Pingeton said. “I mean, just the grit, the belief, their ability to lean in for each other, to play through tough possessions, ugly possessions, and just to continue to weather the storm.
“Different players stepped up at different times and just an incredible, incredible win.”
Hayley Frank and Lauren Hansen each scored 21 points for Mizzou, which shot 46.1% as a team from deep.
The MU program tested its players for COVID-19 earlier in the week following a Christmas break, according to a team spokesperson who declined to provide further information. According to Pingeton, they found out about the positive tests less than 24 hours before the game.
Blackwell testing positive would have seemed to change everything for the Tigers. Entering Thursday night’s game, she led Missouri in scoring average (16.6) and rebounding average (12.7) and had established herself as one of the best players in the conference.
Other notable absences included guard Izzy Higginbottom (7.0 ppg) and forward Micah Linthacum, as well as forward Skylah Travis, center Jayla Kelly and forward Da’Necia Trusty.
“We talked about (before the game) that great moments were created by great opportunities,” Pingeton said. “And what a storyline this could be, with only eight players that could suit up. What an incredible storyline, so what are we gonna do with it?”
Mizzou kept it close in the first quarter and took its first lead of the game in the second by way of a Lauren Hansen three-pointer. The Tigers led the Gamecocks 32-26 at halftime.
Frank led Missouri with 14 points in the first half, followed by 11 points from LaDazhia Williams and seven from Hansen. Pingeton’s team held South Carolina to 33.3% shooting from the field and forced five turnovers in the half.
But South Carolina took back the lead on a three-pointer from guard Zia Cooke with a little over five-and-a-half minutes left in the third quarter.
It was a closely contested affair the rest of the way.
With a little under three minutes left in the game, Frank grabbed a miss by Williams and scored a putback bucket that gave the Tigers a 62-56 lead.
But South Carolina scored two consecutive buckets, one on an offensive rebound from Destiny Henderson and the other via a fast-break layup by Cooke. Just like that, with under two minutes to go, the game was tied 62-62.
And when it came down to it, Missouri was set to have the final possession of the game. But the Gamecocks tripped up the inbound play with 20 seconds left. An official review put the ball in South Carolina’s hands with a chance to win it. The Tigers’ defense proved stingy, though, forcing overtime.
The extra period didn’t start well for Mizzou. The Tigers went nearly two minutes without a score, allowing South Carolina to take a 69-64 lead behind a crucial three from Aliyah Boston.
“It would have been easy to get deflated down five at the beginning of overtime,” Pingeton said. “But they just kept picking each other up. They kept trying to be solution oriented. They kept trying to be in that next-play mentality.”
The Gamecocks couldn’t put another point on the board, missing their final four shots thanks to a solid defensive effort by the Tigers. Mizzou missed some easy shots during that span until Hansen played the hero late.
Aided by a screen from Frank, Hansen, a junior guard, drove hard into the paint from the top of the arc, weaved her way past two defenders and scooped the layup to give MU the lead with .01 seconds left.
“To be honest, I really didn’t think anything,” Hansen said when asked what went through her mind during the game-winning play. “Just that my team had confidence in me to have the ball at the end of the game, so just to not shy away from the moment and step up to it for them. ... Honestly, I’m still in shock.”
The Mizzou Arena crowd erupted into a chaos of cheers as soon as the shot fell through. Meanwhile, the Tigers, unaware there was still time on the clock and overcome with the joy of the moment, jumped into a collective dog pile.
“I totally tackled Frankie,” Hansen said, a huge grin on her face as she and Frank let out several giggles during the postgame news conference. “We tackled each other and then we just ended up on the ground and then we were all on the ground. And then Mama (Dembele) comes over and picks me up, and she’s like, ‘Hey, we got .01 seconds left on the clock, like get off me. ‘
“So it was just really great because we all deserved that moment. We’ve worked really hard the last six months.”
Soon enough, the upset was officially complete. Celebration commenced.
“There was no quit, ever. We’ve been through the fire,” Frank said. “And so, just to freely celebrate beating the number one team in the country, it’s just an unexplainable feeling.”
This story was originally published December 30, 2021 at 8:26 PM.
