COLUMBIA - Robin Pingeton will never forget the days surrounding Feb. 14, 2019.
That was the night Missouri beat No. 5 Mississippi State 75-67 in Starkville, snapping the Bulldogs' 26-game Southeastern Conference winning streak.
Sophie Cunningham, the program's hometown star, considered sitting out with an illness but played after a trip to the local hospital for two IV fluid therapy treatments as well as a nausea shot. She scored a game-high 24 points in one of her most important games as a Tiger.
"That was one of the most emotional 48 hours I think I've ever been a part of," Pingeton said Wednesday as her team prepares to host Mississippi State at 6 p.m. today. "That was a trip that obviously started off with Sophie being sick, not knowing if she was going to play, going over to the hospital, to playing, to getting a big win on their home court, to a really, really hard, tough plane ride home with coach Cox."
Willie Cox, Missouri's director of recruiting, who had been on Pingeton's staffs for 16 seasons, passed away June 6, 2019 at the age of 64 after a year-long fight with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. During the season, many players dedicated their seasons to Cox and his fight, writing his last name on shoe soles or wrist tape, and his funeral service, which his family called a "homegoing", was held at Mizzou Arena.
Cox's health took a turn for the worse on the trip, and shortly after the athletic department released a video feature titled 'Courage for Coach Cox'.
"We went through the whole gamut of emotions. That's one that you won't forget for a lot of reasons," Pingeton added before transitioning to talk about this evening's game.
The Tigers (4-11, 1-1 SEC) picked up their first conference win Sunday after building a big early lead against LSU and then holding off a late charge, while No. 13 Mississippi State is 14-2, 2-0 in conference, with losses to No. 3 Stanford and West Virginia.
Missouri built its big lead against LSU by essentially doubling forward Ayana Mitchell and center Faustine Aifuwa, with their primary defenders playing behind the dominant paint duo and off-ball guard defenders helping in. Mitchell still had 10 offensive rebounds and 14 points, and two LSU guards combined for 41 points, but it was enough against a poor 3-point shooting team.
Mississippi State is not a poor 3-point shooting team. The Bulldogs are shooting 33.8 percent from deep and average five makes per game - Missouri shoots 35.9 percent and averages eight made 3s per game - while also pulling down 15 offensive rebounds per game. Chloe Bibby (27-of-70), Andra Espinoza-Hunter (17-of-55) and Rickea Jackson (10-of-24) key the outside shooting, while 6-foot-5 sophomore Jessika Carter (10.3 rebounds, 5.1 offensive rebounds per game) has been a solid replacement for Teaira McCowan.
"Yeah, so they're a pretty multi-faceted team, but we're going to stick with our gap defense philosophy," Missouri senior Jordan Roundtree said. "We're a little bit under-sized, so we'll definitely help on the post some, but other than that the main thing is communication on defense. Gap defense, helping with the post a little bit, and rebounding will hopefully get it done."
After turning the ball over 11 times against Tennessee in its conference opener, one off a season-low, Missouri had a season-high 22 turnovers against LSU as the Tigers ratcheted up full-court pressure in the second half.
Mississippi State is 14th nationally in turnovers forced, at 22.3 per game, and fifth in the country in average turnover margin, at plus-nine per game, while scoring nearly 26 points per game off those turnovers.
"They turn everybody over, so it's not like it's just us that's going to struggle with their pressure," Pingeton said. "But you gotta keep that number manageable, and you gotta stay away from those live-ball turnovers. I think when you do that, you give yourself a chance. Going into this game, I think kids like Aijha (Blackwell), Nadia Green that have the ability to create off the bounce a little bit, are going to be really big for us."
Blackwell came to Missouri a known quantity on offense, but missed the second half of her senior season due to eligibility issues once she transferred from Whitfield Academy. She has shown marked improvement in her game: after starting her college career 27-of-56 (48.2 percent) at the foul line, she is 20-of-28 (71.4 percent) in her last four games.
Blackwell's ability to create off the dribble shows at the foul line, where she has attempted 34 more free throws than her next-closest teammate, fellow freshman Hayley Frank, who is 46-of-50 at the foul line, tied for sixth nationally by shooting 92 percent. Frank is the only freshman in the country who has reached the 30-free throw cutoff while shooting better than 87 percent at the line.
Today's game marks a stretch of three consecutive games against ranked opponents for Missouri. The Tigers play Sunday at No. 21 Arkansas and host No. 4 South Carolina on Jan. 16.
Following a game against unranked Mississippi, Missouri then plays No. 10 Texas A&M, No. 14 Kentucky and hosts the Razorbacks in three consecutive games. In a stretch starting Dec. 15 against No. 20 Missouri State and ending Feb. 2 against Arkansas, the Tigers will face eight ranked teams and two others receiving votes in 12 games before ending the season with seven games against zero opponents ranked or receiving votes.