Mizzou Central

Mizzou Women's Basketball Overcomes a Slow Start Against SIUE

Despite an abysmal first half, the Tigers rallied for a second-half surge to advance their winning streak to five
Brady Shanahan|
MU Athletics

Missouri's (9-2) matchup with Southern Illinois University Edwardsville was a tale of two halves. The Tigers trailed by as much as 15 points, but ultimately stormed back in the second half to overcome the deficit for the 65-56 win at Mizzou Arena. The victory marks the Tigers' fifth straight and second in a row at home.

"I might have been disappointed in our performance, but I'm not disappointed that we won," Head Coach Kellie Harper said. "We're gaining confidence when we win [...], but when you win, your expectations go up a little bit."

Late in the third quarter, Grace Slaughter barreled down the lane on a fast break, colliding with the Cougars' Macy Silvey. Despite the contact, Slaughter made the basket and converted the and-one free throw attempt to give the Tigers their first lead since the 6:19 mark of the first quarter.

Before the game, Slaugher was honored for scoring her 1,000th career point. Alongside Shannon Dowell, she has been part of one of the best scoring duos in program history. For the first time ever, Missouri boasted two scorers who had reached double-digit point totals across each of the first 10 games. SIUE, Missouri's 11th opponent of the year, seemed poised to disrupt the historic start.

The Tigers and Cougars went back-and-forth across the early stages of the game, no team scoring more than one consecutive basket in a row before SIUE took the 10-8 lead halfway through the opening period. The Tigers limped to the end of the first quarter buzzer, trailing 24-16. Jordana Reisma was the lone bright spot of the team, scoring 9 of their 16 points.

Things only looked to be getting worse in the second quarter, peaking when the Tigers fell behind 33-18 with four more minutes until halftime. Chloe Sotell managed to stop the bleeding before the break, snapping the seven-point Cougars' run in a quarter where only 17 total points were scored.

"I told them it wasn't goin to be pretty if they didn't start having some urgency," Harper said. "It was pulling teeth to get some energy tonight. We're coming off an emotional win. I know that can be draining, but mature, good teams can bounce back from that in a win or loss and be good in the next game."

Slaughter, Missouri's top nightly scorer, entered the contest averaging 20 points per contest, which was good for 3rd in the SEC entering Saturday. She had an uncharacteristic afternoon, starting the game 0-6 from the field. She finally recorded her first points with the final bucket of the first half, where she cut the deficit to single digits, still trailing 33-24.

Missouri, the nation's 5th-best 3-point shooting team, registered just one make from long range on 7 total attempts.

"We were low energy, so that was the message at halftime," Harper said. "Trying to get them revved up and ready to play."

Out of the break, Missouri's defense tightened up, allowing the offense to make up ground. The Tigers held their opponents under 10 points as a team for the second consecutive quarter. Meanwhile, Slaughter found her rhythm. She totaled seven points in the quarter while her team outscored the visitors 18-9 in the first frame out of the break.

"We always have to be ready to fall back on our defense,"Reisma said. "When the offense isn't falling, that is something we need to be more disciplined in."

Harper mentioned the need to do the little things first before you can pull ahead.

"We were trying to hit a grand slam and you're the first batter. You can't do that. You gotta get some base hits and get people on base before you can get that grand slam," Harper said. "Find ways to be aggressive when, but have some patience when we don't have something easy."

Missouri's defensive savant, Jayla Smith, marked the opening of the fourth quarter, stealing the inbound pass from the Cougars and scoring in transition. That momentum carried on throughout the final frame. The Tigers finally found their stroke from long range, sinking all three shots in the quarter, with Dowell, Sotell and Abbey Schreacke each getting in on the action. Meanwhile, Reisma controlled the inside, adding six more points to her total. She finished the game with a team-high 17.

"Jayla [Smith] has been very consistant for us," Harper said. "It's been really good for us to have someone that we know, coming of the bench, is going to make us better when she steps on the court."

Three other Tigers reached double figures in the scoring column. Dowell and Slaughter followed Reisma for the Tigers with 11 points each, while extending their shared scoring streak. Slaughter's final points came from the charity stripe, where she sank a pair of free throws to seal the victory. She was a perfect 5-5 from the line while the team was perfect as a collective, making all 14 attempts. Resima also made five of her own. She has corrected early-season free-throw shooting woes and has made each of her past 15 attempts, dating back to Nov. 20.

Saturday's win also marked a return to form from Schreacke. Entering the season, she was expected to be the top returning contributor behind Slaughter, but since scoring 13 against Tulane on Nov. 6 and 14 on Nov. 11 versus Arkansas State, she had not even threatened double digits. However, she broke the cold stretch when made two crucial triples and secured the win over the Cougars with the final points at the free throw line, scoring 10.

"It always feels good seeing the ball go through. I'm going to be ready every night,"Schreacke said. "Whenever my shot is there, I'll be ready to take it."

Next up is the Braggin' Rights matchup between Missouri and Illinois. The Tigers will play host for this year's instalment, which will take place at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at Mizzou Arena.

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Brady Shanahan
BRADY SHANAHAN

Brady Shanahan is a journalism student at the University of Missouri, and covers baseball and softball for Missouri Tigers On SI. He's from the St. Louis area and has contributed to The Maneater student newspaper, Columbia Missourian, KOMU 8, and KCOU as a beat reporter.

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