University of Missouri
8-0
Southeast Missouri
4-4
@MizzouWBB Beats SEMO 74-32; Tigers Start 8-0 for First Time Since 1982-83
12/2/2015 9:56:00 PM | Women's Basketball
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Women's Basketball (8-0) forced 22 turnovers and held Southeast Missouri (4-4) to 20 percent shooting from the field as the Tigers cruised to a 74-32 victory to remain undefeated Wednesday night at Mizzou Arena. The 8-0 start is the first for the Tigers since the 1982-83 season.
Mizzou went on a 41-2 run between the second and third periods to notch its sixth straight win over Southeast.
Freshman guard Sophie Cunningham (Columbia, Mo.) led all scorers with 15 points, to go with six rebounds and three assists. Junior forward Jordan Frericks (Quincy, Ill.) added 13 points and freshman forward Cierra Porter (Columbia, Mo.) tallied 12 points on the evening.
The Tigers raced out to an 18-8 first quarter lead courtesy of a relentless effort defensively, holding Southeast to its lowest first-quarter scoring output of the season. Mizzou also cashed in on some early Redhawks mistakes, converting nine turnovers into 16 points to take command early in the contest.
Mizzou complemented its dominant defense with a 21-point second quarter, finishing the period on a 14-0 run to carry a 39-15 lead into halftime. Porter entered the break with the best half of her career, scoring 12 points.
It was more of the same following the intermission, as Frericks tallied six early points and led the Tigers on a 12-0 run to begin the second half. In all, Mizzou scored 26 unanswered points between the second the third periods. The Tigers added another 15-0 run to close the third quarter, holding the Redhawks to only two points in the period.
Sophomore forward Bri Porter (Columbia, Mo.) added four points in the fourth quarter as the Tigers completed their eighth game of the season without a blemish in the loss column.
Mizzou will look to stay unbeaten on Dec. 7 as the Tigers take on Loyola Marymount at 7 p.m. CT at Mizzou Arena.
POSTGAME NOTES
- With the win, Mizzou improved to 8-0 for the first time since 1982-83. That season, the Tigers established a program record with a 9-0 start.
- Mizzou is now 17-1 all-time against Southeast Missouri and 13-0 in Columbia. The Tigers have won the past six meetings and haven't lost to the Redhawks since Nov. 24, 1998 at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau.
- The Tigers didn't trail in the game for the third time this season and for the first time since leading the entire way against SIU Edwardsville on Nov. 24.
- Mizzou was stingy defensively early in the contest, holding Southeast to only eight points on 3-of-15 shooting in the first quarter. It was the fifth time this season that Mizzou held its opponent to 10 or fewer points and the first quarter. It was the fewest points the Redhawks had scored in a first quarter all season long.
- Freshman forward Cierra Porter tallied a season-high 12 first-half points to lead all scorers at halftime.
- Mizzou's 39-15 advantage at halftime marked the seventh consecutive game that the Tigers led at halftime. Mizzou had led at the intermission in every game this season with the exception of the season opener at Missouri State on Nov. 13.
- Mizzou's 41-2 run between the second and third periods was its largest of the season. The two points the Tigers allowed in the third quarter were also the fewest they've allowed this year and the fewest since allowing five points in the first quarter against Missouri State on Nov. 13.
- The Tigers converted 22 turnovers into season-high 35 points.
- The 32 points allowed were the fewest Mizzou has yielded all season and the lowest since allowing 34 points against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Nov. 16. It was the lowest scoring effort for the Redhawks all season, as well.
- Mizzou held the Redhawks to a 20 percent shooting percentage, the lowest the Tigers have forced all season.
- Junior forward Jordan Frericks posted her 19th career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
- Sophomore forward Kayla McDowell tied a season-high with seven rebounds.
- Junior guard Lianna Doty's three assists moved her into sole possession of fourth place in program history with 338, passing assistant coach RaeShara Brown.
- Freshman guard Sophie Cunningham's 15 points meant she reached double figures in scoring for the seventh time in eight career games.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Mizzou head coach Robin Pingeton
Opening Statement…
"Thank you guys for coming out. I don't know if coaches are ever satisfied, so we go in the locker room; obviously one of the best starts we've had here in a long time and I'm still not happy. I felt like our rotations weren't where they needed to be defensively and I didn't think we made some adjustments that I felt like we should have made. [We] didn't shoot the ball particularly well. We've still got a lot of work to do. At some point, I've just got to pump the brakes and let these guys breathe a little bit and enjoy the journey. I'm proud of them. I thought coming out of the gates in the second half we did a really nice job. I liked where we were at the beginning of the second half. I think when you play this many kids, sometimes getting into a rhythm can be challenging. I thought we did a great job on the boards, did a great job from the free throw line, but certainly still have a lot of work to do. I said easily we can make excuses and say we played seven games in fifteen days, midweek game. Is there going to be a letdown? But we don't want to make excuses because we're pursuing greatness. I just didn't feel like it was where it needed to be. Still, probably if I exhale a little bit and take a look at the big picture, it was a good team win for us. Really appreciate the fans that came out. It's been so fun to see that kind of environment. Happy for our girls. I think they continue to work hard. They play hard. It's fun to see those fans in the stands, so I just want to make sure we acknowledge them."
On what she expects from her team following a strong start to the season…
"The one thing I can tell you is that we've never had to challenge these girls for effort, and I think that's a sign of something really special because a lot of times as coaches, we spend so much time begging our kids to compete and play harder. That's not the case with this team. Their work ethic is outstanding. I think their unselfishness is something to be commended. We've asked them to do something that's very abnormal and to sacrifice for the good of the team and not get caught up in minutes and rotations, or points. It's a pretty phenomenal group. That culture's something that is really unique and special. I think it's going to be an incredible year for us, I really do. It's not going to be perfect. It's just going to continue to get more and more challenging. It's not going to be easy, but it's a special group of young ladies that work their tail off. I think we've got a lot of depth. I think we've got a lot of different kids on any different night that can put up some points in a hurry, but I think we've got a group of very unselfish ladies that truly want to put the front of the jersey on the forefront of everything that they're doing."
On how the team can maintain consistency…
"It's pretty easy to do with this group of young ladies. I give all of the credit to them. They're driven. They're invested. There's constant communication in that locker room, in our team time, which is the most important thing that we spend our time on, that team time. It's not hard. It's a group of young ladies that have very high expectations, very high standards for themselves. That's not something that we've got to talk a lot about. That's how they're wired. They've got a motor. They're driven. They're determined. They want to take this program to places that it's never been before, so it's not a challenge at all. Like I said at the very beginning, we haven't had to bang for effort. When that's the situation, you're a pretty blessed coach."
On what she liked about the team's defense against SEMO…
"I thought they had a really tough shooting night. I think our depth probably wore at them at some point, although they finished the game [with] probably the best quarter they had. I thought some of our full-court pressure early on, maybe they took some rushed shots versus maybe getting the shots that they wanted. But there's a lot of things defensively tonight that I didn't feel good about, I don't think our girls probably felt good about. I thought our rotations, at times, were slow. I thought we weren't very disciplined in regards to falling to the level of the ball. I felt like there were some rebound opportunities that we just batted at versus went and got them with two hands. There were some plays that I thought we could have gotten floor for. So again, it sounds crazy, and most of us coaches are. We always want more, right? We're always challenging our kids for more. There certainly were some positives. It was a game of peaks and valleys. It just wasn't as consistent as we would have liked to have seen it. We take a lot of pride in our rebounding. Obviously, tonight at the end of the game we did a pretty good job on the boards, but defensively some things that should be second nature to us, I just thought we were a step slow on tonight."
On whether she is more critical with the team this season than in years past…
"My expectations are always pretty high. They always have been. I am a stickler to details. We challenge our kids in everything they do for their very best. It's about them every night taking that court and being at their best. Best does not mean perfect, but I think by nature I'm a pretty competitive person. My expectations are pretty high, probably almost to a fault at times."
Junior forward Jordan Frericks
On defensive play…
"I think we did a good job communicating. There are ups and downs and there are obviously things that we need to improve on. We are going to hold ourselves to high standards. I think we did a good job at containing and contesting their shooters."
On persistence in the paint…
"I think there are going to be games that we are going to go inside and there are going to be games that we are going to get a lot of shots on the perimeter. Tonight happened to be one of those games that we went inside. I think we did a good job finding the post players inside and seeing that that was working for us."
Freshman guard Sophie Cunningham
On shooting from the paint…
"For me personally, I would rather have a layup than a 3-point shot. It was just based on the game. I think our posts did a good job of swinging the ball and getting us open and setting the screens for us. Even our guards were doing well looking for one another. We are just looking for a shot."
On noticing long stretches without allowing points…
"Honestly, they are a really good team. When we were on the bench, I was thinking when you are out there, it feels like a 1-point game, just how physical they are. When you look at the scoreboard, we were up by quite a bit. So when you are out there, you have to bust your tail because it really goes feel like a 1-point game."
