The Missouri women's basketball team already ended one drought by reaching its first NCAA Tournament in 10 years. Today, they can end another.
The No. 10 seed Tigers face seventh-seeded BYU today (5:30 p.m., ESPN2) in Austin, Texas. If Missouri advances, it would be the program's first win in the NCAA Tournament since 2001.
"We haven't been there in a long time," SEC Freshman of the Year Sophie Cunningham said Monday, "and for us to go out there and maybe win a game, it's going to be something special."
Head coach Robin Pingeton hopes the Tigers won't be satisfied with just hearing their name on Selection Monday.
"I think they're definitely excited about being there and they absolutely should be," Pingeton said. "It's a step in the right direction for our program. We haven't been there in a number of years, and so I think initially they have that mindset. But I know how hard they've practiced over the last five days. And it wasn't just about making it to postseason. It was about getting back to playing Mizzou basketball."
The Tigers made a premature departure from the Southeastern Conference Tournament in Jacksonville, Fla. Missouri, an eight seed, lost to ninth-seeded Auburn in their first game of the tournament. Afterward, Pingeton gave the Tigers five days off.
"I think our girls came back refreshed, re-energized, focused," Pingeton said. "They look explosive. They look strong. They look really good, and so we're excited to throw it up again and go play."
Cunningham agreed.
"Our practices leading up to this have been like outstanding, some of the best of the entire season," she said, "which is fantastic considering how long the season has been. I think we're all ready to go there and just prove some people wrong."
Missouri enters with a 21-9 overall record, 8-9 in SEC play. Though they've lost three straight, the Tigers can take some pride in coming out of the SEC, which leads all conferences with nine teams in the tournament.
"I think our conference does a great job preparing us," Lindsey Cunningham said. "We play against, in my opinion, the best defenders, night in and night out, and I just feel like we've got weapons at all different parts of the court. We're good defensively. We've got a strong inside game, 3-point shooting, then people getting to the rack. So I'd like to think we're a tough matchup for some teams."
Missouri has five wins against tournament teams and two against then-ranked teams - No. 7 Mississippi State and No. 22 Florida, both No. 5 seeds.
Sophie Cunningham leads Missouri with 13.5 points per game, and Jordan Frericks averages 12.1. Frericks' 7.8 rebounds per game are a team high and her field-goal percentage of 55.5 percent was fourth best in the SEC. Cunningham is the first player to receive six SEC Freshman of the Week awards and is one of eight finalists for the United States Basketball Writers Association National Freshman of the Year. Frericks became the 33rd member of Missouri's 1,000-point club in February. Both players were named honorable mention all-SEC.
BYU is 26-6 out of the West Coast Conference, where the Cougars won the regular-season championship.
"I think we play very similar styles," Pingeton said of BYU in a press conference Friday in Austin. "I think it's going to be a really good matchup. We played St. Mary's earlier in the year and they are in that same conference. Although BYU did a tremendous job against them, I think the styles are very similar to a team like Saint Mary's. But I tell you what, I am so impressed with them on film."
Lexi Rydalch leads BYU with 24.3 points per game. Makenzi Pulsipher and Kalani Purcell are also in double digits with 12.7 and 11.8 points per game, respectively. Purcell averages a double-double with 12.7 rebounds per game.
"They have some good shooters," Frericks said at the press conference. "They have some good post play and nice rebounders. I mean, they have got a whole squad that are pretty good, and I think that we need to come out and play good defense, play our game and be aggressive. I think that we can definitely dominate."
The Tigers and Cougars have three mutual opponents this season. Missouri beat Saint Mary's (Calif.) by 17. The Cougars beat the Gaels by six and 11. Missouri beat Loyola Marymount by 32. The Cougars beat the Lions by 14 and seven. Missouri beat Georgia by six before losing to the Bulldogs by 15. BYU fell to Georgia by eight.