Mizzou WBB’s firework show on offense leads to dominant victory over Indiana State

In Mizzou’s first bout against a Missouri Valley Conference squad on Monday, there seemed to be a lid on the rim and stones on their hands. They shot 41% from the field, 18% from downtown and turned the ball over 16 times.

In their second game against an MVC opponent, the turnover woes persisted. Their 25 turnovers on Thursday tied for the most in a game since the 2017-18 season.

The shooting woes, on the other hand, did not persist.

What did persist was the ball continuously finding the bottom of the net. Mizzou shot 16/27 from downtown (59.3%) and diced up Indiana State’s defense all over the court en route to a 98-57 annihilation of the Sycamores.

The first quarter belonged to Ashton Judd. Confidence oozed from the sophomore early on, as she knocked down a trio of threes, converted a put back layup and and pulled off the lethal ankle breaker-made shot combo...all within the first five minutes of action.

“My teammates did a great job of finding me,” Judd said. “We have some high-caliber freshmen coming in and some higher-caliber returners...they do attract a lot of attention, so as long as I can win that one-on-one matchup, I don’t have much else to worry about.”

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However, turnovers continued to plague the Tigers. They committed seven in the first ten minutes, with many of them being unforced. The extra possessions gifted to the Sycamores were a big reason why ISU was only down by five at the end of the first quarter.

After a clunky opening quarter, however, Mizzou turned up the heat in the second frame. Seven different Tigers scored, which included the freshmen finding the bottom of the net frequently. Grace Slaughter had nine points, and Abbey Schreacke drilled a pair of threes.

Offensively, the ball was popping. Open yellow jerseys received the ball frequently, whether it was beyond the arc or inside the paint. However, turnovers still persisted, as the Tigers ended the half with 15, nearly equaling their full-game total of 16 from Monday against Belmont.

“Way too many turnovers. Got careless,” head coach Robin Pingeton said. “We want to play up-tempo, but we’ve got to be quick and not hurrying.”

The start of the second half saw zone defense from both teams. ISU found success breaking Mizzou’s press and capitalizing on quasi-fastbreak opportunities. The Tigers, on the other hand, broke down the Sycamores defense in the half court, constantly swinging the ball over, around and through blue jerseys to create open looks.

“We tried to work the ball around a lot and get good ball movement,” Schreacke said. “When we were able to get the ball in the middle, we were able to draw {the defense} in and kick out for good shots.”

However, the quarter once again belonged to Judd. On offense, she knocked down four three-pointers, created points in the paint and had two assists in transition. Defensively, the sophomore drew a charge and came away with a steal. Mizzou led by 29 at the end of three.

The fourth quarter was the cherry on top of a dominant all-around performance from the Tigers. Schreacke dropped 11 points on four made baskets, and to cap off the night, Lucija Milkovic nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Mizzou their most points in a single game since they hit the century mark exactly against Ole Miss back in February 2017.

Judd finished with 31 points, blowing past her previous career-high of 17. Her seven three-point makes were the most in a game by a Tiger since Hayley Frank equaled that total on 1/23/22 against Texas A&M. Schreacke and Slaughter both contributed 17 points. Despite registering six turnovers, Mama Dembele finished with seven assists, three steals and several fouls drawn. 11 of the 12 Tigers that saw the floor scored, and they ended the evening with 27 assists on 36 made field goals.

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“It’s a really connected and unselfish team,” Pingeton said. “On any given night, we’ve got several people that can put numbers up for us.”

Mizzou’s next game will be on Sunday, when they head to the Gateway City to take on Saint Louis at 3 PM.