Missouri Women's Basketball Drops Seventh Straight Game in Loss at Arkansas

Despite a furious fourth quarter comeback attempt, the Missouri Tigers continued to struggle against Arkansas, losing 75-68

In an all-too familiar result for Missouri, the Tigers fell 75-68 to the Arkansas Razorbacks. The Tiger’s have now lost seven straight games, and 12 straight to Arkansas.

Hoping to get the Tigers out of their losing slump, Missouri Head Coach Robin Pingeton made a change to the Tigers starting lineup ahead of Sunday’s matchup. Freshman guard Abbey Schreacke made her second career start in place of forward Hannah Linthacum.

"It was a little bit of a chess match with Arkansas. Kind of changing up things a little bit with Miryam Douda. She's such a great rim protector for them," said Pingeton. 
"We needed to find a way to draw her out from the basket a little bit more and make her guard. I thought we could maybe take advantage of some silver screening action and creating some more opportunities to play downhill and get some post ups with our guards if we could draw her away from that rim a little bit." 

The shakeup in the lineup helped Missouri get off to a hot start behind Mama Dembele and Hayley Frank. Frank and Dembele combined to score three three-pointers in the first three minutes of the game. Try saying that three times. After an Ashton Judd transition layup to give Missouri a 15-6 lead, Arkansas needed a timeout to regroup.

Arkansas used a 7-0 run to get back into the game. At the end of the first quarter, Missouri led 25-23, but Arkansas had gained momentum after a careless turnover by the Tigers that was converted into a and-one for the Razorbacks.

Arkansas carried this momentum into the second quarter, growing their run to 15-0 to take a 35-25 lead with 6:08 remaining in the half. Missouri, who made five three pointers in the first quarter, went cold from behind the arc. Frank, who was playing for the first time in three games, made an uncharacteristic airball on a three point attempt and looked slightly winded throughout the quarter.

 "I thought she [Frank] gave us everything she had. I definitely think there was a fatigue factor in there. But you know, she's such a warrior and I think understands the how important she is to this team," said Pingeton.  

Missouri could not find any solution to Arkansas’s offense during the second quarter. Whenever the Tigers did make a bucket, the Razorbacks quickly went down the court and matched it. Dembele, coming off a triple double, was once again the Tigers main contributor, finishing the first half with ten points and three assists.

The third quarter was much like the second, with Arkansas getting whatever they wanted on offense. Missouri put up some desperate shots, not getting good looks. The Tigers did not make a single back to back bucket throughout the middle two quarters.

After Arkansas took a twenty point lead with 7:21 remaining in the game, a flip switched for the Tigers. They looked like a completely different team. The offensive came alive under a 10-0 run that cut it to a ten point deficit. Frank scored eight straight points and Ashton Judd had a beautiful and-one off a pick and roll. Missouri forced four Arkansas turnovers in four minutes. The Tigers cut Arkansas' lead down to 70-64 with under two minutes to go, but ultimately the deficit proved to be too large, with Missouri falling 75-68. 

"I felt like going into that fourth quarter, was really proud of the resiliency we showed that we really battled and found a way to close it to a six point game. We had a pretty good look and just couldn't quite get over the hump," said Pingeton. 

Missouri did not necessarily shoot the ball poorly, but did not play clean in all aspects on the court. The Tigers turned the ball over 14 times, were outrebounded 35-31, and only had two bench points compared to Arkansas’s 11.

Frank led all players with 22 points, most of which came in the first and fourth quarter. Dembele finished with 13 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. 

Arkansas was led by Saylor Pofenbarger, who torched Missouri with 27 points in the January meeting, and finished with 13 points in this game. Maryam Douda put up 18 points all in the paint. 

With the loss, Missouri’s record sits at 11-14 and 2-10 in the SEC. The Tiger’s will travel to Gainesville, Florida on Thursday to take on the Florida Gators. This will be Missouri’s first meeting with the Gators this season. 

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