Members of the Mizzou women’s basketball team celebrate together after defeated No. 1 ranked South Carolina, last Thursday evening at Mizzou Arena in Columbia. (Photo: Nathan Assata)
by Cedric Williams
Senior Editor
The thrill and joy of knocking off top-ranked South Carolina happened last Thursday night for the University of Missouri women’s basketball team, but the respect and accolades just keep coming, as the Tigers keep receiving honors and awards for their historic victory.
First, the USBWA Top 25 national poll came out on Monday, and though Missouri wasn’t among the top 25, the Tigers were the team that made the biggest jump from last week’s poll. Mizzou went from a team that hadn’t received any votes at all last week, to the first team outside of the top 25, sitting just five votes behind No. 25 Texas A&M.
Most people though the win over South Carolina would assuredly earn Missouri a spot in the top 25, but not many of the teams in the top 25 lost any games last week. So it was hard to find any teams to remove so Mizzou could take their spot.
Then on Tuesday, Mizzou players Lauren Hansen and Hayley Frank were named the SEC’s Co-Players of the Week, following their duel 21-point efforts in the Tigers’ 70-69 win over the No. 1 Gamecocks.
Frank’s 21 points came on seven-of-eight shooting, including three-of-four from three-point range, with her last two coming in the final minute of overtime to pull Mizzou to within a point.
And Hansen, who hit several clutch shots in the game, sent Mizzou Arena into a frenzy with her heart-stopping driving layup with 0.1 seconds left that gave the Tigers the lead for good.
For the season, Frank is averaging 15.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game, while also shooting 45.7 percent from three-point land and 86.5 percent at the free throw line.
Hansen, Mizzou’s third-leading scorer this season, is averaging 11.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. She is shooting 38.8 percent from three and 76.5 percent at the free throw line.
The Tigers hope to have leading scorer, Aijha Blackwell, and top freshman scorer, Izzy Higginbottom, back for their next game, which is scheduled for Thursday night at Mizzou Arena, against Auburn.
After Hansen and Frank were honored by the SEC, the entire Missouri team was honored by the USBWA, which named the Tigers their National Team of the Week.
Mizzou only had eight players available for the game against South Carolina, due to Covid issues within the program, but still stood toe-to-toe with the national championship favorites, before finally handing that club its first loss of the season.
Hansen’s game-winning layup was chosen as ESPN SportCenter’s No. 1 Play of the Week, and the junior sharpshooter from Long Island was selected as SportsCenter’s special One-on-One guest following the game.
Mizzou’s players weren’t the only ones chosen for awards this week, as head coach Robin Pingeton was named National Coach of the Week by WHoopDirt.com and ESPN women’s basketball expert Mechelle Voepel.
Pingeton didn’t make an official response to all the awards, but she did post on her Twitter account, “This is actually a misprint. It needs to read TEAM/STAFF & SUPPORT STAFF/COMMUNITY of the week! As we all know, it takes a VILLAGE!”
| Mizzou Tigers Women’s Basketball Upcoming Schedule |
| Thu., January 6 — vs. Auburn — 7 pm |
| Sun., January 9 — at Arkansas — 2 pm |
| Thu., January 13 — at #21 LSU — 7 pm |
| 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 |
| All Mizzou home basketball games will be played at Mizzou Arena. |