Missouri's Offense Stays Hot in Tigers' Big Win Over Missouri State
Coming off of a blowout win over Southeast Missouri, the Missouri Tiger’s looked to keep the momentum going against another in-state opponent. Missouri welcomed the Missouri State Bears to Mizzou Arena and grabbed a 81-63 win with ease, bringing their overall lead in the all-time series to 24-10.
From early on, it was once again the Ashton Judd show. The sophomore from West Plains scored seven straight points to help the Tigers hold a 22-11 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Tigers used their size advantage on defense in the first 10 minutes to hold the Bears to 31% shooting from the field and 20% from three.
Missouri continued their dominant play in the second quarter, going into halftime with a 40-29 lead. Nine different Tigers scored in the first half, with Judd leading with 10 points. Missouri played at a high tempo and excelled in transitions, while only committing five turnovers, making Missouri State look tired early on.
"I thought it was really good for us to be able to go so deep into our bench today. I think we're at our best when we get some rotations and are able to give some of our players some rest," Missouri Head Coach Robin Pingeton said.
A major difference that stood out at the half was the contrast between trips to the free-throw lines. The Tigers went four of seven from the line, while the Bears failed to make it to the line at all.
The Tigers pulled away in the second half behind a huge effort by Haley Frank and Ashton Judd. Judd finished with 20 points and ten rebounds while Frank put up 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Graduate transfer Abby Feit put up a Missouri career high 13 points.
"Mama always has some great passes, and I think I was on the receiving end on a lot of those. And then we just worked well together as a team and I was able to score a few points out of that," Feit said.
Mama Dembele was also a key contributor, finishing with a double-double and three steals after going scoreless against Southeast Missouri. Dembele opened up the fourth quarter by stealing the inbound and taking it for an easy layup. She followed that up with another steal transitioned to an and-one with 7:32 remaining in the fourth.
"It's been really cool to watch her [Dembele] blossom and grow, to be at that point where she understands the impact she has on this team in so many ways bigger than scoring," Pingeton said.
Hannah Linthacum made her second straight start, finishing with four points and six rebounds. Her impact was felt off the court as well. Linthacum, the queen of chest bumps, was the team's biggest hype woman. Her size helped her in the paint, but also helped to rescue the game ball stuck between the hoop and backboard during the second quarter.
Missouri State’s Indya Green had 26 points in the Bear’s last game against Tulane, but was held to just eight against the Tigers. Paige Rocca stepped up in her place, leading the Bears with 13 points. The 5-9 guard used her quick speed to expertly weave her way in and out of Missouri defenders.
On a two game winning streak, Missouri (7-3) will travel to Saint Joseph, Missouri to take on the Kansas State Wildcats (8-1) on Saturday at 5 p.m.
