Missouri women's basketball not having a happy new year
The new year has not been good to the Missouri women’s basketball team. When 2010 began, the Tigers were on an impressive seven-game winning streak. But after dropping their final non-conference contest with Xavier on Jan. 5, things went downhill.
The Tigers lost their first three conference match-ups by double digits before finally playing a competitive game on Wednesday against Oklahoma. Missouri had the lead for most of the game before losing by one in the heartbreaker.
For the sake of convenience, coaches, players and fans will try to find one reason why the team is struggling. But Missouri’s five straight losses cannot be blamed on just one debilitating factor. There are multiple forces at work that it needs to overcome.
First of all, the Big 12 conference is stacked when it comes to women’s basketball. Six of the twelve teams are currently nationally-ranked, including an undefeated Nebraska at No. 7. The Tigers will face three of those ranked teams in their next four games.
While the state of the conference is beyond Missouri’s control, many things they can control have been holding them back.
The ever-changing starting lineup is the first thing that comes to mind. Since the arrest and ensuing suspensions of senior forwards Jessra Johnson and Amanda Hanneman, the starting lineup has been inconsistent. Though their absence brought sophomore forward Christine Flores into the spotlight, having a new group of girls hit the floor every night may have hurt the Tigers.
The most obvious of all their problems is also the most simple; they just aren’t making shots. They have shot 37 percent from the field in their four conference games, no thanks to an awful 22 percent from beyond the arc.
But with the original starting five back in action on Wednesday, the Tigers look ready to turn the tide. Coach Cindy Stein saw promise in the close loss, and made it clear that they “have to keep believing.”