Is the NCAA Tournament still realistic for Mizzou? Takeaways as the MU women fall to Alabama

On Sunday, Missouri had its chances.

Head coach Robin Pingeton, in front of MU alumni, struggled to play a complete game against an Alabama team the Tigers beat before. A halftime lead slipped in the third quarter, and Missouri (15-9, 4-7 in SEC) fell 76-69 to the Crimson Tide.

"It makes me sick we weren't able to get it done," Pingeton said

Here are three takeaways from the loss.

Tigers enjoy early successes

During MU's six-game skid, the Tigers struggled in the first half, particularly in the second quarter of games. Against Alabama, Missouri flipped the script.

Hansen, Troup and Frank made 3-point baskets early on to give MU the early advantage. It sparked contagious confidence in Missouri, too. The Tigers shot 44 percent from 3-point range in the first half.

That led to a 30-27 lead at halftime. It wasn't the same lead MU had against Vanderbilt, but it was a sign that what the Tigers were doing was working.

The only glaring struggle Missouri had was on the glass. Alabama was outrebounding MU 19-13 at the break. Those struggles continued into the second half, but the first half was a confident Missouri team playing quickly and with a purpose.

It's what Missouri needed.

Senior Haley Troup said that confidence came as she realized she was putting too much pressure on herself to perform in her final season. Once she simplified the game to just playing basketball, the game came to her much easier.

"I've much better the last couple games being myself and being assertive and doing what I need for the team," Troup said.

Self-inflicted wounds mount in the second half

After grabbing a three-point halftime lead, Missouri lost the advantage in a matter of minutes. That was due to the Tide's dominance on the glass, and MU's struggles with turnovers.

In the third, Missouri committed six turnovers and had 14 team turnovers going into the fourth quarter. That was evident early on as 2:30 into the third quarter Alabama had a lead.

The Tide had a 48-39 lead in the third. Brittany Davis was gouging the Tigers, scoring on multiple levels. She had 24 points early in the fourth quarter and finished with 33 points.

One Alabama had the lead, Davis was the x-factor in the final minutes. Closing in on her opened up other Tide shooters. But, that wasn't as effective in Alabama closing out the game as was MU's shot selection and turnover issues.

Both of those problems are team-wide issues.

Katlyn Gilbert, who has the potential to be the best player on this Missouri team, had some missed layups and turnovers in the fourth when MU could have cut it to a single possession.

Pingeton said the shot selection was an issue in the second quarter. MU had a chance to go up by double-digits whole leading by nine. Instead, Alabama cut the lead to three.

"Anytime you allow 50 points in a half, you can't tell me that's the level we need to play at," Pingeton said.

Is the NCAA Tournament still realistic for Mizzou?

The simplest answer is yes. There's always a chance, since running the table in the SEC Tournament is an automatic bid to the big dance.

But, that's not very realistic. What's more realistic is winning out in February.

"Backs are against the wall," Pingeton said. "The big picture is if you want to go to the NCAA Tournament, you got to win out."

MU travels to Arkansas next. The Hogs have had MU's number the past few seasons, but they just ended a four-game losing streak on Sunday in a close win over Auburn, where Auburn should have won in the final seconds.

There are also games against Mississippi State and Florida at home, which would give Missouri wins over teams in the bottom half of the SEC standings. That won't push MU into the tournament, but it does give the Tigers a chance to build momentum.

A win over Alabama would have been a major boost. It would have put MU on a two-game winning streak and kept some much-needed positive energy going.

Instead, Missouri has a week to prepare and regroup before taking on Arkansas on Super Bowl Sunday.

"We're going to figure it out," Pingeton said.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Is the tourney realistic? Takeaways as the Mizzou women fall to Alabama