University of Missouri
16-4, 3-4SEC
Florida
16-4, 4-3SEC
#23 @MizzouWBB Earns Convincing Victory Over #22 Florida, 79-64
1/24/2016 5:04:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Morgan Stock scores a season-high 20 points in 25 reserve minutes
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Led by a season-high 20 points from senior guard Morgan Stock (Town & Country, Mo.), No. 23 Mizzou Women's Basketball (16-4, 3-4) defeated No. 22 Florida (16-4, 4-3) 79-64 on Sunday afternoon at Mizzou Arena. Stock was 7-for-9 from the field and 4-for-5 from 3-point range in 25 minutes off the bench.
"I am really proud of my team," head coach Robin Pingeton said. "I thought our seniors played outstanding. I thought our rotations off the bench gave us extremely valuable minutes."
The Teams played to a 21-21 tie in the first quarter and were knotted 38-38 at halftime before Mizzou used a 24-14 scoring advantage in the third quarter to pull away.
Sophie Cunningham (Columbia, Mo.) added 12 points, including a perfect 8-for-8 mark at the free throw line. Jordan Frericks (Quincy, Ill.) finished with nine points and seven rebounds, becoming the ninth player in Mizzou history to surpass 700 career boards. Juanita Robinson (Chicago, Ill.) tied a season-high with 12 points in 13 reserve minutes, including a perfect 4-for-4 mark from the free throw line.
Mizzou shot 53 percent (26-for-49) from the field and from beyond the 3-point arc (8-for-15). The Tigers also shot 76 percent (19-for-25) at the foul line.
Stock tied a season-high with the four triples and finished a point shy of her career-high. She scored 15 points in the second half. The Tigers outscored the Gators 44-25 in bench points.
Florida shot 38 percent (23-for-60) from the floor, 31 percent (4-for-13) from 3-point range and 64 percent (14-for-22) from the charity stripe. Ronni Williams led the Gators with 14 points and nine rebounds while Carlie Needles contributed 12 points, five boards, two assists and two steals.
The Tigers return to action Thursday vs. LSU with a 7 p.m. CT tipoff on SEC Network Plus/WatchESPN.
For all the latest on Mizzou Women's Basketball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter (@MizzouWBB) and like the team on Facebook (Mizzou Women's Basketball) and Instagram (MizzouWBB).
POSTGAME NOTES
- Mizzou now leads the all-time series with Florida 5-0 following Sunday's win.
- Three of Mizzou's wins over Florida in the all-time series have come at Mizzou Arena.
- Mizzou improves to 2-3 on the year when playing a ranked opponent and 2-1 in such contests at Mizzou Arena.
- The win moves Mizzou head coach Robin Pingeton to 95-83 in her career at Mizzou, putting her just five wins from 100.
- Mizzou is now 10-1 at home with its only loss at Mizzou Arena coming ton No. 12 Tennessee in the SEC opener on Jan. 4.
- Mizzou moves to 13-1 when scoring more than 60 points and 12-1 when scoring more than 70.
- With Mizzou in foul trouble in the first half, reserve Michelle Hudyn came off the bench to score five points in the first half. She had just three total points in her previous eight games.
- Senior guard Juanita Robinson also came off the bench and provided a spark in the first half, scoring six points. She finished the game with 12 points, tying her season-high vs. Charlotte on Dec. 29, 2015.
- Twenty of Mizzou's 38 first half points came from the bench and the team finished the game getting 44 points from the bench.
- Senior guard Morgan Stock exploded for 20 points in the win, a new season-high and one off of her career high. She has 29 points over her last two games after having just 21 total over the previous six games.
- Mizzou outscored Florida, 24-14, in the third quarter.
- Mizzou shot 55.6 percent (15-for-27) in the first half, the best against the Gators in the first half this season.
- Forward Jordan Frericks grabbed her 700th career rebound in the fourth quarter. She is the ninth Tiger ever to reach that milestone and the first since Evan Unrau (2001-04).
- Mizzou shot 53.1 percent from the floor in the win, its second-best total of the season and best of the year in SEC play. Mizzou has now shot better than 50 percent in two of seven SEC games.
- Mizzou held Florida to just two points over the game's final four minutes, closing the game on a 9-2 run.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Robin Pingeton
Opening statement…
"I appreciate you guys being here. I would just start off in saying I am really proud of my team. Florida, I have a lot of respect for Amanda [Butler]. They have a very, very talented ball club. We knew this was a big game for us for a lot of reasons. I thought our seniors played outstanding. I thought our rotations off the bench gave us extremely valuable minutes. They really stepped to the plate for us, but a great overall team win. What a great turnout by our community. I appreciate them being here tonight. There were a lot of things we did well, but obviously 30 turnovers are a little concerning, but that is just kind of the way that Florida plays. I think when you look at the kinds of turnovers they were… It is not like we were careless with the ball. There were quite a few turnovers off travels and offensive charges, so we have to do a better job at that. Overall, our goal was to hold them at 60 points, they scored 64. We wanted to outrebound them by eight, I think it was six. Overall, I think we did a great job on both ends of the court."
On whether the team needed to get back in the win column following two losses on the road…
"Yeah, we did. We talked about it a little bit. We talked about strength of schedule, RPI, what your resume looks like Selection Show Monday, and just the importance of this game. We didn't feel like it was going to make or break our season, we still have a lot of games in front of us, but winning is hard in this league. It's really hard to win on the road. I felt like we had some opportunities, maybe some calls down the stretch at A&M that could have gone either way. And so that one lingered a little bit. We all had to fight off constantly going back to that game moving forward, but I thought our players did a great job of it. Like I said at the beginning, I think Florida is a really good team. They've had some big wins. Very balanced. It was a gritty win for us, and we felt like it was, in proper perspective, a must-win for us."
On the team's offense during the game…
"Sometimes I think with that motion offense, sometimes it moves real well and other times it can be awfully frustrating to coach. I think we started off the season pretty solid with it, and once we got into SEC play we just had to make an adjustment with just being stronger with the ball. A lot of times in those early games against some great, great teams, we were just putting our head down and driving too much. We didn't have great use of the dribble. Our spacing wasn't on point. We keep talking about it in film session: it is a game of angles and it's a game of inches. You've got to fight for that shot and you've got to work to get your teammates open. I think those first few games in the SEC have helped us get better. Frustrating, but they've helped us get better. I really thought against A&M, too, our last few games, our motion offense, our movement without the ball is so much better than it had been for a couple weeks there after Christmas break."
On the bench players playing well with Sophie Cunningham in foul trouble…
"It was huge. We talk about this a lot, but it's really, really hard as a player to constantly go to the front of the jersey. We do, we have depth. We just had a conversation about this maybe a week ago, just the importance of our depth, and when opportunity arises to be able to go out there and play with confidence. I think our team's done a pretty good job of that all year. We've told them, 'There is going to be that game when we've got to have someone step up.' I think we've all got a lot of confidence in our depth on the bench. It's hard to get them all minutes sometimes. That's the most challenging part, but it's a great group and they care a lot about each other. They've all just said it's the front of the jersey. It's about the big picture. I think that speaks volumes about the kind of character and integrity we have with our players on this team."
On having an experienced bench…
"I was so excited for our seniors. We've talked a little bit the last week, just about making sure we finish this season on a strong note. When you're going through some struggling times and adversity, the importance of protecting that locker room, and the voices that are being heard. That starts with your senior class and it can be really hard when your seniors aren't getting a lot of minutes, so I really challenged them to stay the course and do it the right way. Right now it's basketball, but later on it's going to be life. You finish what you started, and they embrace that. I would expect nothing less form them. They're a great group of young ladies. Tonight, I just couldn't help but put a smile on my face when I thought about the kind of impact that all four of our seniors made. I was really excited for them in that kind of environment tonight, on that stage."
On the team's play in transition…
"I thought we did a really good job of limiting their transition buckets. That was one of the keys going into this game. We just felt like we couldn't let them get in a transition game. I thought we did a pretty good job for the most part. Again, you look at those turnovers and I think you've got to break them down. How many of those were offensive charges? I think there were a handful of them. So it's a dead ball opportunity, and the number of travels. I don't think we had a lot of errant passes or panicky passes, but I'd have to go back and stat that. I'm not sure what that looks like. We watched a lot of film on Florida and it seems like, no matter who they're playing, there's just a lot of turnovers on both ends. I don't know. I can't explain why games are played that way. I think Florida creates a lot of havoc, defensively. I think they are a much better defensive team than a year ago. They really get up in your grill and challenge you, but I thought our kids had great poise for the most part."
On the impact of having freshman forward Hannah Schuchts back in practice…
"She's been on the bench all season. It's good to have her back on the court. It was really important when we were over Christmas break and our scout team wasn't there, just to have another body. But she's just focused on getting better. She wants to compete hard in practice, not only to get better but obviously to challenge our players. She's going to be a heck of a player for us. It's hard to redshirt, but she's really embraced it. She's enjoyed the process. Certainly looking forward to next season, but it's a pretty close-knit group of young ladies. Fourteen sisters that battle for each other, encourage each other, challenge each other, and she's very valuable in regards to those kinds of things."
On the crowd's energy…
"You know, sometimes I don't hear them, but I did notice a couple times tonight it got real loud. I know our players probably feed off that more, but I was excited about the turnout. I always really appreciate everyone coming out. Certainly, when you talk about being a sixth man, it's not used loosely. It truly makes a difference and you want to create that kind of home-court environment. It's fun that we're finally doing that. I appreaciate all the loyal supporters that have been in it for many, many years, and appreciate them bringing out twenty of their closest friends."
On the key to Sophie Cunningham to reduce her fouling…
"We've just got to continue to continue to work through some of those. I think it's a combination of tough calls that are just tough calls. But, because you're going to get some tough calls, you've got to eliminate the reach ins, the ones you can control. So we'll just continue to watch film with her and try not to pick up some of those ticky tack fouls that she's putting herself in a tough position, making it too close to even give them a chance to call."
On the team's energy on the bench…
"I don't always see that. My eyes are going out towards the court, so I don't always see that. I give credit to every single one of our kids. I think all year long the bench energy has been outstanding. It's a very tight-knit group. They play with a lot of passion. I think they really do a great job of encouraging each other."
Senior guard Morgan Stock
On the fast-paced game…
"I like fast-paced games but we were prepared for it. Our coaches did a really good job on the scouting report and preparing us for what we needed to do and how we needed to defend them and just play our game, so we were really well prepared."
On shots falling more frequently the last two games…
"It was a mental thing for me for a while and I've figured out a way to just clear my mind and just have fun with it. I think that is just part of it I guess. I would get down on myself after one miss, but now I've finally learned how to move on and we talk about next play all the time, so next play. My teammates and coaches have been huge supporters and they have been able to push me forward."
On the third-quarter run…
"I think it pumped us all up. I know I just got electricity through my body, but it was really cool. Yeah, it just pumped us all up."
Senior guard Juanita Robinson
On second quarter without starters on floor…
"I think it just speaks to the depth of our team. I think Coach P preaches to always be ready because you never know when your number is going to be called, and I think we showed up tonight."
On hitting some big shots…
"It's been hard, it hasn't been easy, but it has been fun too so I am not complaining. We got the win too so that is all that matters."
On emotions after the game…
"It's a good feeling because we were actually tired of losing so this was a big win for us. We all know we still have things to work on as a team so just some areas we need to get better at, especially myself."
