The start of Missouri basketball seasons is less than two weeks away and expectations are high, as they are at the start of every season. The women’s team finished the season 17-14 overall and 6-10 in the Southeastern Conference.
The team is still young, having just two seniors, only one of whom is a starter.
KBIA’s Darren Hellwege talks with Morgan Eye, one of the key players on the MU women’s basketball team. Already the all-time leader in 3-point shots for Missouri, the senior has a chance to set the all-time NCAA record, currently Read more of this post
Darren Hellwege, Sports Commentator
Women’s basketball
Summer workouts continue as the Missouri Tigers women’s basketball team prepares for the 2014-2015 season. Coach Robin Pingeton’s club will try to improve on last year’s 17-14 record and second consecutive WNIT appearance. While Bri Kulas’ graduation leaves big shoes to fill, the Tigers welcome four new players to the team. One is a junior college transfer, another a transfer whose required year off the court is finished, and two are among the outstanding high school players from Missouri of the last few years. Here’s a look at the newest members of the team:
Juanita Robinson (junior college transfer) — 4-star recruit and ranked in top 100 nationally by ESPN out of high school. Originally signed with Ohio but ended up instead at Johnson County Community College, the same school as Bri Kulas. Junior College All-American, averaged 11 points Read more of this post
By Samuel Quintela
The season ended Wednesday night for the Missouri women’s basketball team with a 73-70 loss to Mississippi State.
“It was a tough loss, but we came in here, wanted revenge from Mississippi State who beat us earlier this season,” Missouri freshman guard Sierra Michaelis said.
The Bulldogs made the first shot of the game, showing they wanted to repeat the win against the Tigers in Read more of this post
Story by Samuel Quintela
Photos by Sam Richmond
Missouri senior forward Bri Kulas (13) attempts a shot against two Ole Miss defenders. Kulis led all scorers with 26 points in the game.
COLUMBIA- On senior night, Missouri guard Morgan Eye stole the show. In the beginning of the second half, the sophomore hit five 3-pointers in a row to help Missouri secure its second win against the Ole Miss Rebels this season.
“Their motion offense is tough and then you got her running around out there so you got to chase her around,” Ole Miss coach Matt Insell said. “She is a weapon, and anybody who plays them you basically have to face and guard her all over the place and so then you end up playing four on four sometimes, but she is a weapon.”
Ole Miss finished the game with a better field goal percentage, but Missouri’s 48.1 percent 3-point shooting was the key to securing the home win. This is the first time in 14 years that the Tigers won against three ranked teams in a season.
While two of Missouri’s players reached the 1,000 points mark in their careers, Eye and senior Bri Kulas, the win didn’t come easy. The Rebels were able stop the Tigers offense in the first half with strong zone coverage, going into the break with a 34-29 lead.
“I don’t think that for one minute tonight we thought that we were going to lose this game, we were very confident,” Eye said. “Coach came in at halftime and said ‘did anyone had fun?’ and no one raised their hand. We really wanted to come out, play a little more loose, have a little fun and we did that.”
Story by Sam Richmond
Photos by Samuel Quintela
Senior Bri Kulas (13) drives past Isabelle Harrison (20) for a layup. Kulas had 22 points and six rebounds in the loss to Tennessee.
Hoping for a repeat of last year’s upset victory against Tennessee, the Missouri women’s basketball team played the Volunteers closely in the first 20 minutes, entering the break down 25-22.
But Tennessee’s 18-5 run to open the second half, which pushed the Volunteers lead to 16, proved to be too much for the Tigers to overcome as they fell 56-50 Sunday at Mizzou Arena.
“We knew we had to come out and hit them and not give them much hope,” Tennessee guard Andraya Carter said. “That 16-point lead was really good for us.”
The Tigers fought back and made a run late to push the Volunteers. Morgan Eye and Sierra Michaelis each had a chance at a game tying 3-pointer with less than a minute remaining, but neither shot fell.
“I thought we had good looks,” Missouri coach Robin Pingeton said of the two shots. “I thought we had the kids shooting the ball that we wanted shooting the ball.”
Missed 3-point shots were the story of the game for the Tigers. Missouri, usually a potent 3-point shooting team (37.1 percent), made just seven of 32 (21.9 percent) outside attempts against Read more of this post
Story by Wesley Roesch
Photos by Samuel Quintela
Missouri forward Kayla McDowell (20) makes her way to the basket against an Alabama defender. The freshman had 12 points and 11 rebounds coming off the bench.
COLUMBIA — After trailing Alabama by 10 at the half, the Missouri women’s basketball team made it interesting by taking the lead with 7:40 to go in the game.
Missouri’s improved shooting in the second half allowed the team to go on a 10-0 run and take the lead, but a couple of 3-pointers by the Crimson Tide helped Alabama take the lead and eventually move on with a 59-56 win.
The loss dropped the Tigers to 14-10 and 3-8 in the Southeastern Conference, while the Crimson Tide improved to 11-12 and 4-6 in the SEC.
“We had a chance at halftime to regroup a little bit,” Missouri coach Robin Pingeton said. “I thought our girls had a really good second half of basketball. But in this league you’ve got to be able to put 40 minutes together.”
After going 1-for-13 from beyond the arc in the first half, the Tigers fixed their 3-point shooting and hit four in the second half. Missouri guard Morgan Eye hit three of those four 3-pointers and had 19 points on the day. This is the Read more of this post
Story by Wesley Roesch
Photos by Samuel Quintela
Missouri forward Kayla McDowell (20) beats Vanderbilt defenders Marqu’es Webb (22) and Kylee Smith (23) to the basket for a layup. McDowell had 13 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
COLUMBIA — Missouri freshman Kayla McDowell leapt for the ball after a missed 3-point attempt by Vanderbilt senior Jasmine Lister. With seven seconds to go and Missouri leading by three, McDowell knew that her next move could seal the game.
“I just held on to (the ball) as tight as I could,” McDowell said. “I knew I was gonna get fouled.”
McDowell pulled the ball down and was fouled, sending her to the free-throw line. She sunk the last two shots of the game, giving the Missouri women’s basketball team a 59-54 victory over No. 16/No. 18 Vanderbilt.
Missouri improved to 14-7 (3-5 Southeastern Conference) with the win, while Vanderbilt dropped to 16-5 (5-3 SEC).
The Tigers played great defensively, holding the Commodores to a season low 54 points. Vanderbilt was also held to a Read more of this post
By The Associated Press
COLUMBIA — Courtney Walker scored 21 points as No. 17 Texas A&M won its ninth straight game and remained undefeated in conference play with a 62-57 win over Missouri on Thursday night.
After trailing for much of the first half and 33-31 at halftime, Texas A&M (16-4, 6-0 Southeastern Conference) took the lead early in the second and never relinquished it.
The Tigers (13-6, 2-4) hung around though and cut their deficit to 60-56 with 1:15 to play. Missouri then got the ball back after a missed 3-pointer by Texas A&M but the Tigers missed 3s on their next two possessions and the Aggies prevailed.
Courtney Williams added 14 points and went 6 of 11 from the field for Texas A&M.
Morgan Eye led Missouri with 19 points while Brianna Kulas added 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Tigers, who have lost four of their last five.
Missouri travels to Mississippi State for a game Sunday, Jan. 26 and return to Mizzou Arena on Thursday, Jan. 30 to face Vanderbilt.
By The Associated Press
COLUMBIA — Bri Kulas scored 24 points and gathered 13 rebounds to lead Missouri in a mild upset of No. 25 Georgia 66-56 on Thursday night.
The teams had the same number of field goals for the game, but Missouri (13-3, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) hit two more 3-pointers and eight more free throws than Georgia (12-4, 0-3).
Kayla McDowell added 13 points for the Tigers, as they rebounded from a loss to Arkansas earlier in the week.
Georgia was led by Khaalidah Miller’s 12 points, while Krista Donald added 11. The Lady Bulldogs have lost three in a row and four of their last five.
Georgia led by as many as 10 in the first half, but Missouri rallied to trail by just two at the intermission as Lindsey Cunningham had a pair of buckets in the last 49 seconds of the frame. Missouri then outscored Georgia 33-21 in the second half.
Missouri’s next game is at Kentucky on Sunday, Jan. 12 at 4 p.m. Central time.
On a night billed as “Twin Night”, twins Maddie and Morgan Stock each contributed 15 points to Missouri’s 86-64 win over Oral Roberts. Sophomore Morgan Eye led all scores with 17 points.
Missouri shot from downtown often, with the three making 15 of the team’s 17 3-point shots. Maddie Stock, Michelle Hudyn and Kyla McDowell led the team in rebounding, grabbing five each.
Oral Roberts had a three-point lead just two minutes into the game but Missouri quickly found its pace and never lost the lead. The largest lead the Tigers held was 27 points late in the second half.
Missouri’s overall record moves to 8-1, Oral Roberts falls to 1-6. The Tigers face Bradley on Sunday, Dec. 7 at 4 p.m. at Mizzou Arena.
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