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Missouri coach Robin Pingeton wasn’t in the mood to dish out excuses.
The Tigers’ late-game collapse against Fresno State in the first round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament on Friday — which MU lost 78-75 after having a 20-point third-quarter lead — wasn’t due to misfortune or bad luck, if you ask Pingeton.
It was on her, she said after the game. And that, along with the result, made her “sick to (her) stomach.”
“At the end of the day, all that falls on me,” Pingeton said. “And clearly, we’ve got to look ourselves in the mirror this offseason and figure some things out. Because we’ve got to be a much better defensive team going forward.”
Missouri’s season doesn’t end; it plays against Arizona State in the consolation bracket at 11 a.m. Saturday. But with as deflating of a performance as it had against Fresno State, it might have just sucked any excitement out of any remaining games.
Bad news came before the game for the Tigers as second-leading scorer Hayley Frank was announced before the game to have not made the trip to Fort Worth due to COVID-19 protocols. But for most of the game, her absence didn’t have much of an effect.
The Tigers held Fresno State to 33.3% shooting while going 60% from the field themselves en route to a 40-29 halftime lead, with forward Shannon Dufficy — Frank’s replacement — leading the charge with 10 points and five rebounds. And as MU nearly doubled that lead with 4:49 left in the third quarter, it looked to be smooth sailing.
“Obviously, not having Hayley with us, it’s a big loss,” Pingeton said. “Not only her efficiency offensively, but her leadership and just her demeanor on the court, it impacts our team. But with that being said, I’m not going to make any excuses.”
The meltdown began gradually. Fresno State cut the deficit to 10 at the end of the third quarter, with Missouri doing just enough to keep the Bulldogs at a comfortable distance. That comfort didn’t last.
As part of a 49-point second half, the Bulldogs stormed to within four points on a three from Yanina Todorova with 3:15 left. Haley Troup’s layup with 2:13 left was the Tigers’ last bucket, and Fresno State’s final push, a 9-0 run, began.
Twin sisters Hanna and Haley Cavinder sank back-to-back jumpers to get the Bulldogs within a possession, then Todorova hit another three with 21 seconds to go to give them a 76-75 lead. Missouri’s Lauren Hansen had a triple with eight seconds left go offline, Hanna Cavinder hit two free throws after being fouled and a desperation heave to tie it by Troup with 0.7 seconds to play was blocked by Todorova. Game over.
Pingeton spoke of many issues she had gripes with, the defense unsurprisingly being one of them, but 18 turnovers didn’t help things, either.
“It’s just unacceptable,” Pingeton said. “The rebounds, the turnovers, 100% falls on my shoulders. … It’s not OK. And you know, it’s unfortunate. I thought this last week and a half we had a really good week of practice … I thought we were figuring out that grittiness. But they beat us to the 50-50 plays.”
When asked if she could take any positives from being up 20, Pingeton didn’t find much to shine light on. And after a year of where fading defense and production down the stretch often cost Missouri in games, it was hard to blame her for being frustrated.
How Missouri moves forward from Friday? That’s an entirely different, more complicated question.
“I don’t see a lot of positives about this right now, to be honest with you,” Pingeton said. “At some point, it’s got to hurt. I think it’s OK to be sick to your stomach right now. If you’re not, it doesn’t mean enough.”
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