Hoopin’ and Hollerin: It’s time to win

After a bunch of close results, Mizzou WBB needs a boost

Mizzou WBB (12-13, 1-9 SEC) has been playing its best basketball over the last two weeks. After securing their first SEC win against Mississippi State, the Tigers fought tooth-and-nail against three top 20 teams. If it weren’t for a bad stretch in each of those games, we may be having a completely different conversation about coach Robin Pingeton’s team.

For the first time in two weeks, Mizzou will face an opponent that is not ranked in Texas A&M (10-12, 3-7 SEC) on the road today, Feb. 9. After the Aggies, two more ranked matchups lay ahead.

So what we have here is a window of opportunity to exploit. If Mizzou is truly playing better, than this is the perfect game to get back in the win column and escape last place in the SEC.

So this week I’ll look at both a positive AND a negative from the past week, then give the low-down on A&M ahead of today’s matchup. Buckle up.

Fast Starts

In their last three games, Mizzou has ended the first quarter ahead. During the two games this week the Tigers were a +6 across the first 10 minutes of a game.

One of the keys to success is the early window was an emphasis on scoring diversity. In the Tennessee game, seven different Tigers scored a point in the opening frame. Against LSU, that number was six.

For a team that relies so heavily on the offense output of Grace Slaughter and Ashton Judd, they are at their best when everyone on the floor is contributing.

(MICHAEL BANIEWICZ/ROCK M)

The other key is a hard defensive effort out of the gate. In both games Mizzou held their opponents under 30% from the field in the first quarter. They came out with a level of effort that has been nearly unseen the rest of the season. While the games can get more and more draining, the Tigers need to work to keep up that sort of defensive effort for the full 40 minutes.

Limit the Threes

LSU and Tennessee had one clear cut advantage over Mizzou across both of the wins. Their opponents shot the three at both a higher volume and with a higher percentage. Against LSU it was an extra 3 points, in Tennessee it was an extra 12.

It almost exclusively came from the stars of each squad. Talaysia Cooper from Tennessee along with Flau’Jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams shot a combined 11-19 from beyond the arc.

Now obviously the best players are going to get their own, but Mizzou does a lot of single coverage that has proven to have some mixed results. Throwing an extra body or some more zone gives the Tigers a better chance to force the ball into the hands of their opponents’ role players.

Touchdown in Texas (Not FB related)

Texas A&M is currently residing in the bottom half of the SEC, sitting at T-11th. The Aggies are well outside of the tournament picture and are simply playing for their pride; a situation Mizzou is quite familiar with.

After a 3-3 start with upset wins over Kentucky and Ole Miss, A&M has struggled with four consecutive losses and are playing arguably its WORST basketball of the season.

The Aggies are coming off a 65-52 road loss at the hands of Auburn. The offense failed them early, scoring only 14 first half points to put them behind-the-action immediately.

Leading scorer Aicha Coulibaly suffered a season ending injury several games ago, so Janae Kent has picked up the slack. Kent has scored 27 points on 5-9 from three in the last two games, and should be at the front of the scouting report for the Tigers.

Player to Watch: Abbey Schreacke

I mentioned how the team is at its best when it gets contributions from everyone. Abbey Schreacke is perhaps this team’s biggest offensive weapon off the bench, a flamethrower shooter who can get hot at any time.

Schreacke has yet to score double digit points in SEC play thus far after averaging 10.5 points in non-conference. In these last three games she has only scored 11 points on 3-12 threes.

(Cal Tobias/Rock M)

The sophomore is a part of the future of this program, and putting the ball in her hands more raises the ceiling for the team now and in the future. This team can off-ball screens to free her, running plays for Abbey Schreacke will increase her confidence and willingness to shoot. She finds herself in a slump, but one big game is all it takes.

Hopefully for Schreacke it happens in the game today against Texas A&M on the road at 3 p.m. on SEC Network+.