The Mizzou women’s basketball team is expected to be fired up when it hosts No. 17 Georgia, Monday night at the Mizzou Arena. (Photo: Nathan Assata)
Mizzou Women’s Basketball – Gameday Info
Game No. 18 – #17 Georgia (13-3, 2-2) at Missouri (13-4, 2-2)
Date/Time – Sunday, January 17 – 6 pm
Location – Mizzou Arena – Columbia, MO
Broadcast – SEC Network
Live Stats – Stat Broadcast
by Cedric Williams
Senior Editor
After suffering a pair of tough road losses at rival Arkansas and against No. 21-ranked LSU, the University of Missouri women’s basketball team will be back on the Mizzou Arena floor Monday night, with a key SEC matchup against another nationally-ranked opponent in No. 17 Georgia.
The Tigers, who still own perhaps the biggest win of any team all season — their December 30 upset over No. 1 South Carolina, almost pulled it off again last Thursday, when they pushed LSU to overtime. But LSU was able to hand Mizzou a nail-biting loss on a last second shot that dropped the Tigers SEC record to 2-2.
Georgia is also 2-2 in the SEC this season, but is coming off a hard-fought win over Alabama last Sunday.
With this being the first of two meetings between the Tigers and Bulldogs this season, Monday’s matchup could go a long way in determining the final league standings, which will set up the seedings for the SEC Tournament in Nashville in March.
Georgia owns the all-time series lead over Mizzou, 9-6, including an 82-64 win over the Tigers last season in Columbia.
Players to Watch: Mizzou’s leading scorer and rebounder, and one of the top candidates for SEC Player of the Year this season, has been junior guard Aijha Blackwell, who ranks eighth in the SEC in scoring (16.6 points per game) and leads the league in rebounding (13.1 rebounds per game).
Blackwell is also the spirit and energy leader for a Tiger team that along with its win over top-ranked South Carolina, pushed two other ranked opponents (No. 5 Baylor and No. 21 LSU) to the brink of an upset.
Fellow junior Hayley Frank is Mizzou’s second leading scorer. She averages 15.8 ppg, which is ninth-best in the SEC, and is the league leader in three-point makes (43), while also ranking second in three-point shooting percentage (46.7).
Another junior, shooting guard Lauren Hansen, is another key figure for Mizzou. She’s the team’s third-leading scorer (12.8 ppg) and is also third in the SEC with 38 three-pointers made.
Georgia has a dynamic scoring duo of its own in senior center Jenna Staiti and senior guard Que Morrison. Staiti leads the Lady Bulldogs with 15.2 ppg, while Morrison is right behind with 14.4 ppg. Morrison also averages 5.0 assists per game, which is third-best in the SEC this season.
Unlike Mizzou, Georgia doesn’t take a lot of threes. The Lady Bulldogs have attempted just 184 three-pointers this season, which is the least amount of any team in the conference this year.
But that’s probably a good thing, because Georgia hits just 31 percent of its shots from beyond the arc, which is third-worst in the conference.
What Georgia does do well is play defense and force turnovers. This season, the Lady Bulldogs have forced 254 turnovers and caused 157 steals — both totals rank in the top 25 in the country.
Mizzou will have to be smart with the ball and not allow Georgia to control the game with its defense to stay close in this game. Monday’s matchup will be a strong contrast in styles — as it always is when Mizzou plays Georgia — with the game coming down to which team can force the other to play its style of ball and not their own.
Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m., with the game being televised nationally on the SEC Network.
Probable Starters
Georgia (13-3) Yr. Pos. Ht. PPG RPG APG
3 Sarah Ashlee Barker So. G 6-0 9.9 4.1 2.6
4 Mikayla Coombs Sr. G 5-9 7.5 2.6 2.8
14 Jenna Staiti Sr. C 6-4 15.2 7.5 1.1
20 Jordan Isaacs Jr. F 6-0 2.3 3.3 0.8
23 Que Morrison Sr. G 5-7 14.4 4.7 5.0
Missouri (13-4) Yr. Pos. Ht. PPG RPG APG
1 Lauren Hansen Jr. G 5-8 12.8 2.4 1.4
4 Mama Dembele So. G 5-6 5.0 2.5 3.7
13 Haley Troup Sr. G 5-10 8.3 2.3 3.7
33 Aijha Blackwell Jr. G 6-0 16.6 13.1 1.3
43 Hayley Frank Jr. F 6-1 15.8 4.9 1.3
| Mizzou Tigers Women’s Basketball Upcoming Schedule |
| Mon., January 17 — vs. #13 Georgia — 6 pm |
| Thu., January 20 — at Vanderbilt — 7 pm |
| Sun., January 23 — vs. #25 Texas A&M — 5 pm |
| Thu., January 27 — at Mississippi State — 5:30 pm |
| Sun., January 30 — at Alabama — 5 pm |
| Thu., February 3 — vs. Ole Miss — 6 pm |
| All Mizzou home basketball games will be played at Mizzou Arena. |