Mizzou women’s basketball standout Aijha Blackwell to enter transfer portal: report
The Missouri women’s basketball team is on the verge of losing its best player.
Star guard Aijha Blackwell plans to enter the transfer portal, Ben Arnett of KOMU 8 News first reported on Tuesday.
Blackwell averaged 15.3 points, 13.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game in regular-season play as a junior in 2021-22. On the season as a whole, she led the country in defensive rebounds per game (10.5) and ranked second in rebounds per game (13.0). She also recorded 20 double-double performances.
This move doesn’t come as much of a surprise. It seemed inevitable after the way Missouri head coach Robin Pingeton kept Blackwell on the bench in the fourth quarter and overtime of a must-win game against Arkansas in the SEC Tournament last month.
Blackwell was back for the Tigers after missing three of the last four games for not meeting team “standards and expectations.” She didn’t take her usual place in the starting lineup and wasn’t subbed in by Pingeton until under three minutes were left in the second quarter.
The head coach proceeded to barely play Blackwell, including in the final minutes of regulation and overtime. Blackwell only saw 11 minutes on the court and finished with five points and eight rebounds. Missouri lost the game, and as a result fell just short of the NCAA Tournament.
Following the game, former program standout Sophie Cunningham called Blackwell out on Twitter. The pair went back and forth online, shining a negative light on the program and splitting opinions of the fan base.
Still, Blackwell appeared in Missouri’s first round WNIT loss to Drake last week. She recorded 27 points, 10 rebounds and three steals in that game.
Blackwell will surely be a hot commodity once she enters the transfer portal. While her future seems bright either way, the Tigers’ future looks a lot more bleak if she departs.
More Mizzou players enter portal
The number of players transferring is starting to stack up for Pingeton’s squad.
Forwards LaDazhia Williams and Kiya Doroh both announced Wednesday that they have entered their names into the transfer portal.
Williams, who graduated in December but has eligibility remaining due to the COVID-19 year, is a big a loss for the Tigers. The 6-foot-4 forward averaged 9.1 points and 4.1 rebounds this past season. She scored a career-high 25 points in a win over Auburn and later put up 24 points against Ole Miss.
Doroh only played 8.7 minutes per game as a freshman. The 6-foot-1 forward from Tucson, Arizona, averaged 1.0 points and 1.1 rebounds.
This story was originally published March 22, 2022 at 6:45 PM.
