Mizzou Tigers women’s basketball left out of Top 25, but momentum toward March builds
Missouri women’s basketball sent shockwaves around the country when it upset No. 1 South Carolina 70-69 in overtime last Thursday.
Even more impressive is the fact that the Tigers only had eight players available and used just seven to knock off the NCAA Tournament title favorite. Star guard Aijha Blackwell was among those out because of COVID-19 protocols.
Come Monday though, Mizzou (12-2) didn’t crack the Associated Press Top 25 poll, instead left just out of the picture with 53 points — tied for the most of any unranked team.
Whether the Tigers should have been ranked is debatable. But here’s what is indisputable: This Missouri team is better than anyone expected going into the season and now has a clear path to the NCAA Tournament.
Mizzou went 9-22 in 2019-20 and 9-13 last season, only able to pick up five conference wins in each season. With the national media expecting more of the same, the Tigers were picked to finish 11th out of 14 teams in the SEC this season. They weren’t projected to make the NCAA Tournament either.
“I’m just excited because we honestly have a chip on our shoulder,” Blackwell said back in October. “We know what we need to do. We know what it comes down to.”
Less than three months later, Robin Pingeton’s squad is 12-2 and projected to make the NCAA Tournament. ESPN’s Charlie Creme has Mizzou as a No. 7 seed in his latest projections, released Dec. 31.
In addition to their monumental win over South Carolina — the program’s first ever over a No. 1 team — the Tigers took then-No. 5 Baylor to the wire on the road on Dec. 4. They led at different points and narrowly lost 70-68 after missing the final shot.
The Tigers’ other loss was to Missouri State, 79-51 on the road, which coaches and players said was an uncharacteristic off night. The Bears (11-2) of the Missouri Valley Conference rank No. 23 in the latest NET rankings, have consistently received votes in the AP poll and will more likely than not compete in the NCAA Tournament.
Though it didn’t crack the AP rankings and is No. 44 in the NET (the ranking somehow went down one after knocking off South Carolina), Mizzou is eighth in the country in RealTime RPI.
In looking at the metrics, the biggest strength for Mizzou is its offense. The Tigers rank seventh in the country in field goal percentage (47.34%) and 12th in three-point percentage (37.67%). They average 1.14 points per scoring attempt, which ranks seventh in the nation, per Her Hoop Stats.
Blackwell leads the offense with 16.6 points per game, followed by averages of 15.1 points from forward Hayley Frank and 11.2 points from guard Lauren Hansen, who hit the game-winner against the Gamecocks.
Blackwell has made a mark on the national level as well. She leads the country in defensive rebounding (10.7 per game) and is third with 12.7 total rebounds per game. She’s produced nine double-doubles in 13 games played, which is tied for the second most of anyone in the nation. That makes it even more astounding that Mizzou beat South Carolina without her.
The biggest hindrance to this team on paper is its defense, but the Tigers have shown improvement. Across the last four games, Mizzou has only allowed opponents to make 100 of 283 (35.3%) field goal attempts and 22 of 88 (25%) shots from deep.
The Tigers are currently on pause, as is the men’s team, because of COVID-19 issues. They had a game at Vanderbilt scheduled for this past Sunday postponed and moved to Jan. 20, and it remains unclear whether Thursday’s game against Auburn at Mizzou Arena will be played.
Whenever the program restarts, a loaded schedule lies ahead with plenty of chances to bolster the NCAA Tournament resume.
“This SEC is crazy,” Pingeton said. “I say it every year, I don’t know that it can get any tougher — and every year it gets a little bit tougher.”
There are six SEC teams currently ranked in the AP poll: No. 1 South Carolina, No. 7 Tennessee, No. 13 LSU, No. 15 Georgia, No. 21 Kentucky and No. 25 Texas A&M.
Outside of those ranked and Mizzou, there are four other SEC programs that have at least 10 wins: Alabama (10-3), Arkansas (10-4), Ole Miss (12-1) and Florida (10-4).
Missouri plays at Arkansas on Jan. 9, but the next big game to circle for Pingeton’s squad is Jan. 13 at No. 13 LSU. That contest, against a quickly revived program under Kim Mulkey, is Missouri’s fourth in 10 days, thanks to the Vanderbilt rescheduling. The Tigers’ play three ranked teams during that span, set to face No. 15 Georgia on Jan. 17 and Texas A&M on Jan. 23 — both at Mizzou Arena.
Other highlights of the schedule include Feb. 10 at No. 7 Tennessee, Feb. 17 at No. 15 Georgia and a home game against No. 21 Kentucky on Feb. 24. Of Mizzou’s final 15 games, 11 are against teams that are either ranked or already have 10 wins.
The Tigers have shown that they’re capable of going toe to toe with the nation’s best. Now their focus is on building towards when the season matters most.
“It’s a marathon, not a sprint,” Pingeton said. “The season’s bigger than one game and that’s gonna be really important moving forward. … Our mission this year, it was never about beating South Carolina. It’s about being in that NCAA Tournament in March. And that’s obviously our focus: mission first, team always.”
