It’s Awards Season for Women’s Hoops!

The SEC announced its All-SEC teams on Tuesday, and sophomore Aijha Blackwell, who is looking to become just the fifth Tiger ever to average a double-double, was named Second Team All-SEC. Another fun fact from MUTigers.com— AB was the fastest Tiger in the Robin Pingeton era to reach 500 points, and did so in just 34 games. Faster than Sophie?!? Damn!

Finding a Missouri Tiger on the All-Freshman team seems to be a yearly occurence, as Mama Dembele found herself honored. According to MUTigers.com, Mama is the only freshman to start every game this season. She is currently averaging 3.5 points, 2.7 assists and 1.5 steals per game, the latter of which leads SEC freshmen and is 16th overall.

More from the press release on MUTigers.com:

Blackwell is the 10^th All-SEC honoree for the Tigers since joining the league prior to the 2012-13 season, and the first since Sophie Cunningham earned first team honors in 2019. Dembele is the seventh Tiger to be named to the league’s All-Freshman Team, with all six honors coming since 2016, as she joins Sophie Cunningham (2016), Cierra Porter (2016), Amber Smith (2017), Akira Levy (2019), Blackwell (2020) and Hayley Frank (2020).

And while I’ve got your attention in regards to Mizzou Women’s Hoops, you MUST check out this article by the Maneater’s Kyle Pinnell, who wrote a GREAT story about LaDazhia Williams, who has regained her confidence with Missouri women’s basketball and rekindled a spark after several years of struggling to find her footing at South Carolina.

From the article:

Two years ago, Griffin (Williams’ mother) could read the pain and disappointment in her daughter’s eyes from thousands of miles away –– a look no mother wants to see. Now, at Missouri, she’s noticed a significant change.

“She’s communicating more on the court,” Griffin said. “She’s talking to her teammates. She’s more team-oriented. I can tell that she has that spark back in her eyes.”

“Missouri has not seen what she can do yet,” Hadley (her high school coach) said.

And finally, it looks like the team is ready to go after media availability, practice, lifting, and getting to the tournament site.

On to the Links! Go Tigers!

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Yesterday at Rock M

• I — yes, me — wrote a Study Hall piece to wrap up the women’s win over MS State. PLEASE check it out!
• Sam & Matt were back with a new episode of Dive Cuts, looking at the end of the regular season.
• Jacob attended the new MIZ-ZOOM presser, and wrote a recap with quotes from Cuonzo, Kobe and Torrence.
• BK continued his roster reset, writing that Mizzou has more questions than answers at safety.
• COMING UP: It’s Basketball Day at Rock M. Josh previews the Florida game, Jacob has a feature, and we’ll have the usual game thread and recap.

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More Links:

Football

• PowerMizzou: Gabe shared Drink’s media availability following Tuesday’s practice, and they recorded a new episode of the 573 Report. For subscribers, Sean Williams discussed the Tigers’ push for in-state offensive lineman, Tristan Wilson.
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Dave Matter wrote about rookie Dominic Lovett, who is already turning heads at spring practices, and wrote about Steve Wilks’ arrival, which marks a season of change for the defense.
• Mizzou finds itself in the Top 6 for 5-star ATH, Gentry Williams. Love to see it!

• The answer to this is YES. YES, we’d VERY much like you two to be teammates.

Hoops

• Kansas City Star: Blair Kerkhoff attempted to make sense of Missouri’s projected seeding in the NCAA Tournament.
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Matter wrote that plenty is at stake for Mizzou in the regular season’s home stretch, while also previewing Mizzou at Florida. Jeff Gordon dove into March Madness for area teams, writing that after a crazy season, it’s a welcome occurence.
• The Athletic ($$): Eamonn Brennan was back with another Bubble Watch, where he gives updated thoughts on teams like Missouri.
• PowerMizzou: Mitchell took a look at the state of the SEC in “This Week in SEC Hoops,” while Gabe posted the Zoom video of Coach Martin meeting with the media to preview the Florida game.
• MUTigers.com has got your primer for the Florida game. Read some fun facts!
• Columbia-Missourian: In Joel Lorenzi’s game preview, he wrote that Missouri needs more consistent performances. Shannon Mia Belt checked in with Addison Potts, who committed to Missouri back in 8th grade (she’s in the 2022 class).
• Columbia Tribune: Eric Blum shared where in the brackets you can find the Tigers in his newest Bracketology, as well as an article stating that Mizzou is entering March looking for a spark against Florida.
• Missouri finds itself at No. 25 in Gary Parrish’s Top 25 +1 that came out Tuesday!

• Since it’s Senior Week for Mizzou Hoops, they’re sharing interviews with the seniors. Love these, and will miss these guys so much!

Other Mizzou Sports

• Caleb Logue of The Maneater wrote about softball’s Alex Honnold, who highlighted an unexpected offensive outburst from Missouri softball this weekend.
• Anthony Kristenson of The Maneater looked at Tiger Style’s Noah Surtin, a sophomore who qualified for the NCAA Tournament at the MAC Championships while filling in for injured Connor Brown.
• Huge congrats to MAC Wrestling Co-Coach of the Year, Brian Smith! It should surprise no one that he received this honor, as his Tigers squad is currently ranked no. 5 in the country.

• It’s Meet Week again for Shannon Welker’s gymnastics squad. On Friday they will take on LSU. Time for another win!

• Movin on up, ladies!

• Track has announced their outdoor schedule, which features two home meets (including one in just a few weeks) and four away contests.

From MUTigers.com:

“After a long winter and a missed season, we are thrilled to have the opportunity to compete this spring,” Head Coach Brett Halter said. ”We have been able to assemble a challenging schedule. For our long time Tiger fans, one of the most exciting weekends during our regular season includes lining up against Kansas! After nearly a decade, we are excited to renew the oldest rivalry west of the Mississippi!”

Other Sports News/Mizzou in the NBA

• NBA wrap-up: The Nuggets beat the Bucks 128-97 on Tuesday evening, but Michael Porter, Jr was plagued by a lot of foul trouble, and scored 11 points on 4-9 shooting in his 25 minutes of play. The other Porter Bro, Jontay, was given Tuesday off as a rest day as his G-League Team, the Memphis Hustle, beat the Knicks 118-112. He did play on Monday, however, and he scored 9 points on 3-11 shooting with 7 rebounds and 3 assists in his 20 minutes. Jordan Clarkson, in a 129-124 loss to the Pelicans on Monday, scored 20 points on 7-14 shooting with 5 rebounds and 4 assists in his 27 minutes of action.
• Mike Singer of the Denver Post wrote a story about why MPJ, the last piece of the Big 3, is learning to leave his emotion at the gym. Good stuff.
• OOOOOOH. It’s almost time, y’all!

• I think I have dust in my eyes.... how cute.

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