Missouri women's basketball end season on a high note
The Tigers finished last in conference at the end of a trying regular season.
Published March 9, 2010
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Missouri women's basketball coach Cindy Stein encourages her players after they scored in the second half of the game Sunday at Mizzou Arena against Texas Tech. The game was Stein's last regular season one with the Tigers.
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With an overtime victory over Texas Tech, the Missouri women's basketball team moved to 12-17 overall, among the lowest regular season winning percentages in program history. The 2-14 conference finish is tied for worst in program history with the 2007-08 team.
Since the Big 12 Conference was formed in 1996, the Missouri women's basketball program has had up-and-down results. The high points included a pair of 10-6 conference finishes in 2001 and 2006 and the lowest coming in 2008 when it went 2-14 in the Big 12.
This season's showing tied that record conference low, as an upset over Baylor in January and Sunday's win make up the team's only two victories. Even in the 20 years of Big Eight play before the Big 12 was born, the Tigers never had a conference showing this poor.
Missouri's conference results will earn it the 12th seed in the Big 12 Tournament. Since earning the No. 4 seed for the 2006 postseason, the Tigers haven't been seeded higher than 10th after the regular season. This includes two No. 12 seeds in the past four seasons.
The regular season ended across the Big 12 on Sunday, with undefeated Nebraska leading the pack at 16-0. The other three teams to earn first round byes are Iowa State, Oklahoma and Texas A&M, all with 10 or more wins in conference.
On the other end of the Big 12 spectrum are the two-win Tigers and a 3-11 Colorado team. All other teams managed at least five wins in their conference schedules.
The Tigers’ last-place record in conference is not all to blame for the seeding. Missouri is 12th in the Big 12 in scoring with just 55 points per contest. They also rank dead last in field goal percentage and field goal defense, shooting just 35 percent on the season and allowing opponents to shoot more than 45 percent. Rounding out its Big 12 lows are last-place ranks in defensive rebounding, assists and even attendance.
As for individual play, senior forward Jessra Johnson stood out and led the team in scoring and rebounding with 12 points and six rebounds per game. The versatile forward led all scorers with 18 points in the win over the Red Raiders and also added four blocks, including one on a 3-pointer that would have given Texas Tech the lead late in overtime.
Johnson is one of the four seniors who played their last game on Norm Stewart Court. After the game, coach Cindy Stein commented on how important the win was for her seniors.
After her final game coaching at Mizzou Arena, Stein joyfully quoted the song she had listened to on her way to the game.
"I was playing a Keith Urban song on the way which was 'Got It Right This Time,' " Stein said. "That's what I was listening to. And they got it right today. They did a great job."
Junior guard RaeShara Brown reflected on the struggle of this season and what it meant to close out with a win. "We've been climbing this same hill all year, and we finally got over the hump," Brown said. "And it just felt great. It meant a lot."
Missouri will face No. 5 seed Texas at 1:30 p.m. Thursday in the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City. The Longhorns stomped the Tigers by almost 20 points in their last meeting March 3.
