Mizzou women's basketball seeks to clean up turnovers ahead of rivalry game at Illinois
In its last game against a low-major opponent this season, Missouri women's basketball eclipsed its win total from the 2020-21 campaign on Monday night.
The Tigers earned their 10th win of the season by passing through the Southern zone, forcing the Jaguars to switch defenses.
From there, Missouri cruised to a 73-54 win over Southern at Mizzou Arena.
It was another opportunity for Missouri to counter a different scheme, and coach Robin Pingeton's team continued its trend of finding different ways to showcase its skills.
On Monday, it was passing. At times, however, that success was marred by some frustrating mistakes.
Missouri's 14 assists were overshadowed by its 20 turnovers.
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"I didn't show it, did I?" Pingeton said of her frustration at the team's turnovers. "We've just got to be better, and they are better than that."
The Tigers had seven assists at halftime, as Haley Troup had four of the seven and Izzy Higginbottom had two. Troup finished with five assists, while at least seven Tigers dished out at least one assist.
In the first half when the Jaguars went to their zone defense, Troup found soft spots in the Southern zone right around the high block and allowed the defense to collapse on her.
When the zone collapsed, Troup found LaDazia Williams, Aijha Blackwell or Hayley Frank cutting into the low post. That either resulted in a basket or a foul and free throws, as all three players went into halftime with double-figure scoring.
Frank led all Missouri players with 21 points, muscling her way to the basket, and was the primary beneficiary of how the Tigers showed off their passing prowess.
"When my teammates find me, it makes me pretty happy," Frank said. "My confidence should always be a 10 out of 10, so I just try to remind myself that and just come in and play really free."
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That passing allowed Missouri to pull ahead 52-34 in the third quarter after a Blackwell 3-pointer capped a 7-0 run. Blackwell recorded her eighth double-double of the season.
The Tigers' assist total was an example of playing team-oriented basketball.
But there remains room for growth.
"We could have a lot more, to be honest with you," Pingeton said. "It was just a matter of us knocking down shots, especially in that first half. We had some really, really good looks that, if you knock them down, that assist-to-turnover ratio looks a little different."
That ratio would have improved with some cautious ball handling. At least six Tigers finished with multiple turnovers Monday.
Southern harassed Missouri with a full-court press at times, but that wasn't the main reason why MU made so many mistakes. The Tigers were careless passing the ball at times.
A sense of complacency fell on Missouri in the third and fourth quarters. The team was making bad passes that were easily stolen or fell out of bounds without a clear recipient.
The 13 turnovers between the third and fourth quarters marred a spectacular passing day and gives the Tigers an assignment to work on with one nonconference game remaining — at Illinois at noon Wednesday — before Southeastern Conference play begins Dec. 30 against South Carolina.
"It's just that sense of urgency to really value the ball," Pingeton said. "If we can't get that figured out, that's going to come back to haunt us in SEC play."
Missouri has split its past two meetings with the Illini, losing in 2019 at home and winning in Champaign in 2018. Illinois is 5-6 this season but owns a 6-2 edge overall in series history.
Illinois lost to Southern Illinois-Edwardsville 71-62 on Nov. 18. Missouri beat that same SIU-E team 79-46 on Dec. 2.
Pingeton isn't taking Illinois lightly, as she said she knows rivalry games will bring out emotion. Missouri needs to take care of business against the second Power Five opponent on its schedule this season.
"This team's got a really high ceiling," Pingeton said. "I know they're excited for SEC play. It's going to be a gauntlet; it's going to be a battle. But first things first is Illinois."
Chris Kwiecinski is the sports editor for the Columbia Daily Tribune, overseeing University of Missouri and Boone County sports coverage. Follow him on Twitter @OchoK_ and contact him at CKwiecinsk@gannett.com or 435-414-3261.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Mizzou eyes to shake its frustrating mistakes with Illinois next
