Mizzou Women's Basketball Fights for Resilient Win over Illinois

Missouri women's basketball has found themselves in many close battles early on in the 2023 season. 

The Tigers have sometimes ran out of gas in the final minutes of these back-and-forth matches. Sunday at the State Farm Center though was a different story. A resilient run from Missouri in the final minutes put the Tigers on top, winning 69-66.

"That's the biggest goal for us is just growing and learning," Missouri head coach Robin Pingeton said. "Whether we win, whether we lose; let's get better, let's make sure we're trending in the right direction."

A 16-9 run for Missouri in the final four minutes was the most important run in the tightly-contested match. Illinois' 10-point lead late in the second quarter was the only time that either team led by more than 5 points. There was eight different lead changes in the final quarter.

"We we're very resilient," head coach Robin Pingeton said. "It was the next play mentality which I thought was was really on point ... We had to make sure we took this game one possession at a time"

At the root of this attitude, Pingeton complimented the tone-setting leadership of senior guard Mama Dembele, who led the Tigers with 20 points.

"Her vibe, her leadership is so impactful for our team," Pingeton said. "I just felt like she was able to recalibrate so quickly, and just have that next next play mentality and really, I thought created some havoc on the defensive end for us. Huge game for Mama, she really stepped up as a leader in this game."

Following Dembele in scoring with 13 points was reliable graduate forward, Hayley Frank. However, the Missouri native's streak of 32 straight made free-throws came to an end at a crucial time for the Tigers. Her miss from the charity-stripe with 33 seconds remaining was her first miss from the line since November 14th, and allowed Illinois to trail by only one possession with the score at 66-63. 

Frank would redeem herself on the next possession, however, by scoring the two final points of the game for Missouri. Her response to the adversity in that moment was a microcosm of the fight it took for the Tigers to come out on top.

"The biggest thing for me to be honest with you is just the resiliency and those moments when you know it's it's a you're not going to play a perfect game. There's going to be breakdowns on the defensive end and we're going to miss good looks on the offensive end, but their ability to just stay in the moment and take one possession at a time"

Missouri will finish off its non-conference schedule this Thursday when they host University of Missouri - Kansas City at 7 p.m.