Mizzou Women win! Ranking SEC gigs, Softball weekend, Mitch Morse and llamas on the run
Busy weekend for our sporting Tigers. Womens' hoops takes a road win, softball heads (literally) south, and how does one fix college basketball officiating.
The Tigers trailed 69-67 with 7.7 seconds remaining after Curtyce Knox made two free throws. Stock inbounded to Sierra Michaelis on the ensuing possession. Michaelis dribbled the length of the court before stopping at the baseline to the right of the basket. As three defenders converged on Michaelis, she pivoted and kicked out to Stock. Knox flew out toward Stock to contest the shot, but she buried the triple to give Missouri its fourth in its last five games and first win of the season against a ranked opponent.
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Maddie Stock made the game-winning 3-pointer with 0.1 seconds left to give the Missouri women a 70-69 upset over No. 12 Texas A&M on Thursday night.
Softball travels to Florida
They will take on Notre Dame & Penn State later today.
Although Crane’s at-bat music might suggest otherwise, she’s a scary batter for opposing pitchers to face. The junior is a career .378 hitter with 26 doubles and eight home runs. She has 11 hits in 33 at-bats this season
11. Missouri: With two SEC East titles in three years, Missouri's move to the SEC hasn't been as daunting as a lot of us expected. Gary Pinkel made this a quality program after his 2001 arrival, and the school charged right into the SEC arms race by upgrading and expanding Memorial Stadium as part of a $200 million facilities project. Location can be an issue, but Mizzou has made it a point to have more of a Southeastern presence in recruiting.
11? "Location can be an issue" Negative wind chills most of last night? Check.
Brown is still the one with the most promise, as he was entering fall ball last year. Back then, it was because he already had the size and speed profile to compete at the college level and was coming off a prep career in which he was very accomplished in a structurally complex -- for high school -- spread offense. As in, he knew how to run more than four routes. Those attributes carry over to this year, added to the fact that...just look what's around him. Brown is the most prolific pass-catching receiver on Missouri's roster entering this season, with five. He made a nice behind-the-back grab on a stick route against Minnesota and showed he could be inventive with the ball in space on a screen against Kentucky.
13. Missouri: Ranking the Tigers this low probably isn't very wise when you consider the way they've continued to reload at receiver and the job receivers coach Pat Washington has done. He'll have his work cut out in 2015. Mizzou lost its top three wide receivers from a year ago. Bud Sasser, Jimmie Hunt and Darius White combined to catch 23 of the team’s 25 touchdown passes. The Tigers will be looking for Nate Brown and J’Mon Moore to grow up in a hurry as sophomores. It helps that starting tight end Sean Culkin is back.
7. Missouri: Four starters return for the Tigers, led by center Evan Boehm. They, too, need to find a left tackle to replace the departed Mitch Morse. The unit was up and down last season, but showed some promise in late-season wins against Texas A&M and Minnesota.
Mitch Morse, OG, Missouri: He might not have all the measurables scouts want, but Morse showed some athleticism and strength over the weekend. He ranked second overall with 36 reps of 225 and showed solid quickness with a 20-yard shuttle time of 4.50, which ranked third among offensive linemen and a three-cone drill time of 7.60. Morse is already a pretty versatile lineman, so his numbers from the weekend can only help him come April.
"It's unbelievable to see a guy that you were sharing a locker room with, joking around with, playing in the Super Bowl," Morse said. "Justin set a high standard. It's gonna be a great challenge to meet that, and I'm willing to take that next step. Hopefully I can follow in those footsteps and really set in stone that, Listen, Mizzou's got offensive linemen. "
And don't forgot to watch for the mens' hoops preview from HHKB and Sam. Can we play spoiler on the road at Georgia? Probably not, but doesn't it sound fun?
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Football Notes (Spring, where are you?)