COLUMBIA, Mo. - The second quarter has not been kind to Missouri women's hoops through two games.
The Tigers (1-1) hold a scoring advantage of at least seven points in the first, third and fourth quarters but have been outscored 47-30 in the second.
Western Kentucky outscored Missouri by 10 in the second quarter to build an advantage the Tigers couldn't quite overcome in a 79-76 season-opening upset loss to the Hilltoppers. Missouri dropped from No. 16 to 23 in the AP poll after the loss.
Missouri hosts Wright State (2-0) at 7 p.m. today, and will play Missouri State (2-1) at 2 p.m. Sunday in Springfield. Today's game will be shown on SEC Network-Plus, and ESPN3 will show Sunday's game.
Robin Pingeton and her team were sunk by the three-ball in game one and buoyed by it in game two of the Hawkeye Challenge during the weekend, a tournament that featured three NCAA Tournament teams from a season ago.
The Tigers made 28 percent of its threes, just 1-of-8 in the second half, and Western Kentucky shot 42 percent from behind the arc, including a 30-footer from Sidnee Bopp in the closing minutes of the game that Missouri could not recover from. Sophie Cunningham's tying attempt in the final eight seconds rolled around the rim and off the backboard but refused to fall.
"I thought it was going to be an air ball. It just came off my hand weird," Cunningham said. "But that's not what lost us the game, there's a lot of things that lost it. No, I'm always willing to take that shot, I want that ball when time is (running out.)"
The team responded with a 66-51 win against Quinnipiac and, while shooting virtually the same percentage from the floor, converted 38.5 percent of its threes.
Jordan Frerick's return was immediately impactful in both games. She scored 24 points and added a block in 24 minutes of play against the Hilltoppers and lead all scorers with 23 points and collected 17 rebounds to complete her first double-double of the season against Quinnipiac.
"I think our first game I was a little hesitant, just because it's been a while," Frericks said. "But I think that second half I was able to be more comfortable, more confident, and I think our team was also getting that confidence in the second half of that first game, and then we carried it over into the second game."
Frericks scored 15 of her 24 points against Western Kentucky in the second half, but finished with just two rebounds (both offensive), a block, and six turnovers. The Tigers turned the ball over 19 times in their season opener. Frericks and Missouri cut down on turnovers against the Bobcats, with 11 overall and three for Frericks, who head coach Robin Pingeton said is still re-adjusting to taking care of the ball.
She'll have a chance to show off in front of a home crowd for the first time in a while, something Frericks said she is very excited for.
Cunningham did not miss a beat to start the season, finishing with 25 points, six rebounds, two assists, two steals, a block and two turnovers before fouling out with four seconds remaining against Western Kentucky. She reached 1,000 career points in the game, the 64th of her career, the second-fastest ever at Missouri after Julie Helm. Cunningham shot 3-for-12 against Quinnipiac, scoring 11 to go with three assists, three rebounds, four turnovers and a steal.
Cierra Porter was the only other Tiger to reach double figures during the weekend. She scored 10 against the Hilltoppers and pulled down 14 rebounds for her first double-double of the year, and added 15 points and five rebounds against the Bobcats. Porter had 12 double-doubles a season ago, while no other Missouri player had more than two.
Missouri's fate rests in their collective hands. The Tigers got just 18 bench points all weekend and Cunningham, Porter and Frericks have combined for 108 of Missouri's 142 points so far this season, or 76.06 percent. Jordan Chavis is the only other player in double figures after two games.
It's a small sample size but not out of the ordinary for recent iterations of this team. Sophie Cunningham and Porter combined for almost half of Missouri's points in 2016-17. Adding a skilled offensive player at a high-percentage spot on the floor in Frericks gives the Tigers a solid third option, which was the role Sierra Michaelis filled last season.
Some of that is because Missouri started its season off against two very good teams. Pingeton said she didn't get a chance to go to the bench as much as she would have liked against Western Kentucky.
"I say we dive right in," Cunningham said of the tough early schedule. "Because in SEC play you don't get any time to settle in. Yeah, we lost one, but we've learned a lot so far and we are shoring things up. So I'd much rather we dive in early in the season than get blasted in the SEC."