Women's basketball coasts to exhibition victory

Players get a feel for each other on the court.

By Evan Glantz

Published Nov. 10, 2008

The Missouri Tigers women's basketball team opened up its season with an exhibition game victory over the Southwest Baptist Bearcats Friday night. With strong leadership from veteran players and nice contributions from younger players, the Tigers rolled to an easy 80-50 victory.

"We're still a work in progress, but I feel good about what I saw," coach Cindy Stein said. "I can see some things we need to improve, but we'll continue to work on those things."

A lot of the improvement will come from the freshmen. Stein said they seemed nervous during their first game but will show what they are capable of later on. In the meantime, the bigger and younger members serve another valuable role.

"That's a huge help for me, with the long arms they have and the big bodies," sophomore forward Shakara Jones said. "Last year we didn't have that that much. So having them here is just a huge deal for me."

As expected on opening night, the team was far from perfect. With five freshmen on the team, the players were still trying to get a feel for one another.

"Defensively, myself, I wasn't really in a stance," senior guard Alyssa Hollins said. "A lot of timing, and just senseless turnovers. One time, Bailey (Gee) went one way and I threw it the other way. So getting a sense of each other and what we're trying to do out there."

The lack of familiarity was evident at the beginning of the game. Jones got the Tigers on the board with six points in the first four minutes to put Missouri up 6-2, but she was then held scoreless until early in the second half.

However, the Tigers were able to create other opportunities. Hollins scored 14 of her 21 points in the first half. But the Bearcats kept it close until Missouri went on a 15-3 run midway through the first half to go up 31-19.

"I thought we had a few rough spots out there when we were changing some of our lineup," Stein said. "I think we have a group that plays extremely well together. I think people could see that our starters tend to have a pretty good flow to them. But I was a little disappointed in the shot selection."

In the second half, Stein turned the game over to the younger teammates. Taking advantage of the inexperienced players, the Bearcats started off with four unanswered points to narrow the score to 40-27. That was the closest they would get to the Tigers for the rest of the game. Missouri regrouped in time to close the game out for good.

"I think it's really important for the freshmen to get out there," Hollins said. "When you're not out there and you're just sitting and watching, it's one of those things that just builds up in your mind. And when you get out there and realize that you are just playing basketball, it makes a big difference."