As part of a University of Missouri athletics caravan trip to Mendon on Thursday night, two coaches joined Athletic Director Mack Rhoades in talking up the Tigers going into the 2016-2017 year. While football coach Barry Odom has yet to build a resume at Mizzou, women’s basketball coach Robin Pingeton is coming off the best season with that program in over a decade, with a first-round NCAA tournament win over BYU followed by a second-round loss to Texas in late March.
While the reasons for the improvement in the program are numerous, perhaps the most obvious is the insertion of a three-woman strong freshman class that included SEC freshman of the year Sophie Cunningham:
While the first couple of seasons at MU for Pingeton were difficult, the program, in general terms, continued to trend in a positive direction, with the surge to the NCAA tournament completing one of the first goals the Tigers wanted to achieve:
Not to be overlooked with Mizzou’s improvement is the play of the upperclassmen, as Mercer native and MU junior Sierra Michaelis is playing a key role as part of the backbone of the Tiger program:
Even with last season’s 22-10 record, NCAA tournament win, and a undefeated run before SEC play, there are areas Mizzou can continue to improve upon in 2016-2017. Of note, late season uneven play hurt the Tigers, who were in position for an upper echelon seed in the NCAA’s, but fell to a #10 seed after three straight losses (Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Auburn) heading into post-season play. Missouri struggled on offense in those games, scoring only 45 points in a two-point loss to Auburn in the first round of the SEC Tournament in Jacksonville, Florida. With improved consistency and the anticipated improvement from a team returning most of its talent next year, the sky appears to be the limit for Mizzou women’s basketball.
