Can the Tigers turn it around, or is this the last ride for their head coach?
Missouri women’s basketball coach Robin Pingeton spoke Wednesday evening at SEC Tipoff, which is the conference’s basketball media days held in Birmingham, Alabama. She fielded questions about a couple of the new players on her roster and the challenge of rebuilding after a couple down years.
Mizzou went 2-14 in SEC play last season, and now has not made the NCAA Tournament since 2019. Pingeton is currently in the final year of her contract as the Tigers’ head coach.
Missouri lost the likes of forward Hayley Frank to eligibility and point guard Mama Dembele to the transfer portal. The Tigers have replenished with two new true freshmen and four portal signings.
In 19 days, Missouri begins its 2024-25 season against Vermont on Monday, Nov. 4, on the road in Burlington, Vermont.
More: Here’s where Missouri basketball teams were picked in preseason SEC media polls
More: Here is Missouri women’s basketball’s full 2024-25 season schedule
Here’s what Pingeton said during her appearance at the event in Birmingham:
Can Tionna Herron make quick impact for Missouri women’s basketball?
Missouri, at the very least, shapes up to have much more size this season than in 2023-24.
First: The Tigers return Angelique Ngalakulondi, the 6-foot-2 forward who was averaging 5.3 points and 4.5 rebounds in 12.5 minutes of floor time over eight games before going down with a season-ending injury.
Second: Mizzou added a once-highly rated high school recruit in Tionna Herron.
Herron, listed at 6-4, was ESPN’s 69th-ranked player in the Class of 2022. She committed to Kentucky out of high school but was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect. She had surgery and transferred to Texas, where she played sparingly but had a “year of great growth,” Pingeton said.
Now, she’s with Missouri, where her new coach said the staff has been working to get her back up to speed.
“You know, trying to get her feet wet again and get acclimated to the game. It’s hard to set out for a year,” Pingeton said. “She’s been a great addition. She’s got size, she’s got good athleticism. I’ve been pleased with the growth we’ve seen in her game since she’s been on campus. One of our big focuses was trying to get her in better physical shape, and she’s worked really hard at that.
“She’s got really good touch around the rim,” Pingeton continued. “I think she can make a difference on the defensive end and alter shots defensively.”
On Nyah Wilson
Dembele was perhaps the biggest loss for Mizzou over the offseason, as she grad-transferred to USF and took her 10.2 points, 6.5 assists and 3.3 steals per game with her.
One candidate who may be in line to replace her: Nyah Wilson, who transferred to the Tigers from New Mexico. She averaged 15.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game for the Lobos.
Wilson’s position flexibility was top of the mind for Pingeton, saying she could either play the point — where she would be likely to compete for reps with De’Myla Brown, who returns after sitting out a season due to NCAA transfer guidelines — or in an off-guard role.
“Nyah has been tremendous,” Pingeton said. “She’s got a great work ethic, she’s got great athleticism, she can push the ball in transition, has the ability to guard 90 feet from the basket … so we’re really looking for her to play a big role for us this upcoming season.”
Can Missouri rebound from Tournament drought?
It has now been six seasons since the Tigers went to the Big Dance. Before then, Pingeton and Missouri had made four straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
Last season was the worst, at least SEC record-wise, in MU’s drought, as the Tigers lost 11 straight games to finish the regular season last in the SEC before falling in the first round of the conference tournament.
Missouri athletics, perhaps because of the long vacancy that overlapped with the end of the campaign, chose to retain Pingeton for the final year of her contract. This will be her 15th season as Mizzou’s head coach.
Have the lows helped Mizzou’s cause?
Pingeton made her case.
“You know, we all want the end result, which is a championship; we all want a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. That scoreboard is really, really important,” Pingeton said. “But I also don’t want to shy away from the fact that sometimes when you go through hard times, those are where you really grow the most.
“And I’m so proud of the resiliency and the resolve of these young ladies and the fact that they believe in our program and our culture and were willing to come back and stay committed to what our hopes and dreams have been as we continue to elevate our program back up in a tough league. So, I don’t shy away from any of it. I think the good is good, and the hard can be really good for you too.”
