SUNDAY. NOT A GOOD DAY FOR MIZZOU WOMEN’S SPORTS

Oh, hello. It’s me Karen, doing the links on a Monday. Nice to see you all. I’m slowly coming around to Cuonzo Martin not being our coach anymore, and I was super excited to get to take in some Mizzou Softball and take my mind off it a bit.

Well.... about that.

Mizzou women’s sports did not have a very good Sunday, and I think they’d very much like a time turner or a memory charm, a la Harry Potter.

If you’re a Potterhead like myself, you’ll recall that Hermione performed the memory charm “Obliviate” on her parents in Deathly Hallows to erase her existence and their identities and keep them safe from Voldemort and the Death Eaters.

This, of course, is real life, and you can’t just undo something and pretend like it didn’t happen or get out your time turner and redo it. BUT I bet both the softball team and the women’s basketball team would much like to erase some unsightly games from their records and memories right about now.

After the arctic tundra wiped out Mizzou Softball’s Friday and Saturday games vs SEC preseason no. 4/18th-ranked Tennessee, they squished two games into a double header on Sunday. The Tigers took the field at 11am and it... didn’t go well. Jordan Weber only last ²⁄₃ of an inning, giving up a pair of doubles and a three-run home run, before being replaced by Megan Schumacher, who also had a helluva time keeping the Lady Vols in check, and Emma Nichols, who also struggled mightily.

Coach Larissa Anderson said during the game broadcast (thanks for sharing this, dad) that Jo was having trouble with her grip on the ball, as it was pretty cold (mid 40s and there was definitely a significant wind blowing), and it led to her early exit. Also, Anderson said later, the pitchers just “weren’t ready”, and that is concerning given their upcoming schedule. The Tigers face Illinois in Champaign for a double header on Wednesday, and play six games this weekend in three days (two double headers each day) against a ranked Northwestern team, Stanford, and Ball State. Frankly, there’s no time for funny business.

Anyway, we don’t need to go into the gory details on that one. Just know, it was not good, and Texas Tech transfer Erin Edmoundson owned the Tigers, except for homers by Kara Daly — her sixth of the year — and Riley Frizell (2). You can read my recap — it’s SHORT — if you’d like more info on the pounding, but as mentioned above, I’d rather have a memory charm put on me and forget it happened.

(Note to self: don’t forget this, though)

The second game of the afternoon looked at the start a lot like the first one, as the Lady Vols jumped out to a 5-0 lead on some uncharacteristic fielding errors and a few dingers before the Tigers were able to get on the board in the bottom of the fourth. An Alex Honnold double and singles from Kendyll Bailey and Hatti Moore made it 5-3 pretty quickly, and Tiger fans - including this particular writer - perked up. In the bottom of the fifth, Missouri tacked on another run on a Kim Wert sac fly, but they couldn’t close the gap, ultimately losing 5-4. Krings was pretty decent on the mound after the home run brigade, though walks were definitely an issue. In her complete game performance, her stat line read: 7.0IP, 4H, 5R, 4ER, 5BB, 5K.

In the postgame, Coach Larissa Anderson lamented her team’s lack of urgency in this series, and said they will work this week on practicing every single rep as if there’s a game on the line. She expressed the need for the team to have purpose in what they’re practicing, so they don’t have to go to another level during the game; they’re already there.

When asked about the Tigers’ trouble with the grad transfer Edmoundson, who tossed a complete game four-hitter (3R, 1ER, 3K) in AM game, and then came in in relief for PM game, allowing only 1 hit and two walks in her 3IP, Anderson talked about her general effectiveness, as well as her unorthodox delivery, which made it difficult for her lefties (Wilmes, Laird, Honnold in particular) to see her release point. Anderson preached a faster adjustment to more competitive pitching going forward, asking the hitters to “trust their stuff” and wait for what they need.

We now move on to women’s hoops. Call me crazy, but even as the brackets were showing Mizzou (18-12, 7-9 in SEC) on the edge, I didn’t actually think they’d be left off. They beat both no. 1 South Carolina for God’s sakes — only one of two teams that can claim that feat — and then-no. 15 Florida on the road in their regular season finale. They got thisclose to beating then no. 5 Baylor and no. 12 LSU (ew, Kim Mulkey. That LSU athletic dept just hires the salt of the earth people, huh?), losing by only two points in each. They played good teams, and didn’t lose to anyone below 60 in the NET (they were 49th). But they also faltered in some big moments, and played several games without both LaDazhia Williams (injury/suspension) and Aijha Blackwell (Covid/suspension), which clearly hampered them on the court. The Tigers just didn’t have the depth to take on some of these big-time players, like the Jenna Staitis or Rhyan Howards or Sasha Goforths of the world, and suffered major “I want a redo” losses at the hands of Missouri State (who made it into the field instead of them), and 10-15+ point losses to Arkansas twice, no. 13/15 Georgia twice, Mississippi State on the road, no. 25 Ole Miss, no. 10/13 Tennessee, and Kentucky (I’m rooting for them going forward, y’all). And they ended their season with a loss to 8-seed Arkansas for a third time in the SEC Tourney, losing by 8 in OT. UGH.

However(!!!), the Tigers will not be shut out completely from postseason play, as they are auto qualifiers, along with the SEC’s Vandy and Alabama (both of whom the Tigers beat), to the Women’s NIT. We will find out if they’re hosting, who they’re playing, and all the deets today around 1pm. It’s still disappointing, but we’ll cheer just the same.

On to the links!

[more on why I’m sharing this phenomenal photo below]

NOTE: And for my ABC’s The Bachelor viewing friends (are there any of you?), former Missouri Tiger TE Clayton Echard is making some sort of decision tonight in regards to his love life... maybe. This season has been a complete kansasshow.

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This weekend at Rock M

• After the Game One debacle, I wrote up a very quick “un-Karen like” recap. If you’d like to visit the preview again, I put in some comments as the game went on (much more extensive thoughts on my twitter, though)
• To rub it in our faces and recall better times, Parker looked at Mizzou’s best tournament runs and ranked em.
• We also love some March Madness at Rock M, even without the Tigers in it, and Josh put together the annual bracket challenge.
• We are in full blown coach search over here at Rock M, and Matt Squared has put together a coaching bracket of sorts. I’m still in mad sad in regards to Cuonzo Martin’s ousting, but they are doing quite good work on these. here’s the coverage thus far, in order:

1. Rock Mergency Pod, featuring Sam and BK, making his triumphant return to college hoops
2. Sam’s ISO: New Basketball Coach
3. Intro to the Bracket-style coaching search
4. Young Bloods region bracket: Dennis Gates v. Jeff Linder
5. YB region: Kimmie vs Todd Golden
6. Young Bloods region results
7. Steady Risers region: Niko Medved (who just signed a fat extension as CSU) v. Casey Alexander
8. SR region: Matt McMahon v. Grant MacCasland
9. Sam said JUST SAY NO! To Sean Miller, that is. He did look at a couple intriguing retreads though, which will likely definitely be part of our grand matchups this week.

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More Links:

Football

• Mitchell Forde’s camp notebook said two cornerbacks are turning heads (Power Mizzou).
• The Missourian’s Calum McAndrew wrote, Jeffcoat assumes leadership role as MU adjusts to change on defense.
• Chad Bailey praising Luther Burden, who we will see in a week in the Spring Game! [cheers wildly]

• Here’s the Spring Game info if you haven’t seen it already:

Hoops (Mizzou and SEC-related)

• Coaching Search: Who’s Mizzou’s next hoops coach? DRF could start with this list (Dave Matter, St Louis Post Dispatch). Would Mizzou give scandal-plagued basketball coach a shot? An important question is going unanswered (Ben Frederickson, STLPD). Mizzou Tigers have more SEC competition in coaching search after LSU fires Will Wade (Lila Bromberg, KC Star). Possible candidates to replace Cuonzo Martin (Bromberg). Rumor Mill Day 2 & Day 1 (Gabe DeArmond, PM **subscribers-only). Who’s next? Potential coaching replacements for MU Hoops (Anthony Kristensen, Columbia Missourian). Coaching candidates Mizzou could consider in the coaching search (Chris Kwiecinski, Columbia Tribune). 7 candidates to replace Cuonzo Martin as head coach (Joey Loose, Busting Brackets). College basketball coaching changes 2022 tracker, rumors, coach carousel analysis: LSU fires Will Wade (Matt Norlander, CBS Sports).

• Cuonzo news: “This business needs more Cuonzo Martins”— Frank Martin (Matter). Mizzou’s roster stability, fan support crumbled on Martin’s path to finish line (Matter). Cuonzo Martin’s future is bright after ouster at Mizzou, but can MU hoops say the same? (Vahe Gregorian, KC Star). ‘I personally don’t like that’: Bill Self reacts to Mizzou moving on from Cuonzo Martin (Bromberg). Martin out as MU basketball coach (Kristensen). Cuonzo Martin helped reestablish standards at Mizzou that led to his firing (Kwiecinski). Cuonzo Martin: Timeline through his five years coaching Mizzou basketball (Kwiecinski). ‘There is not a finer person:’ Rick Barnes reacts to Cuonzo Martin’s firing at Missouri (Mike Wilson, Knoxville News Sentinel).
• WBB news: Mizzou misses out on NCAA tourney (Matter). Missouri Tigers women’s basketball doesn’t make the cut for the NCAA Tournament (Bromberg). Late season swoon keeps Mizzou out of NCAAT (Michael Howie, PowerMizzou). Mizzou women’s basketball misses cut for NCAA Tournament, automatically qualifies for WNIT (Kwiecinski).
• Around the SEC: Selection Sunday pops bubbles, reveals top seeds (Shannon Mia Belt, Missourian). SEC men’s basketball headlines: Selection Sunday, coaching moves (Kristensen).
• In a Frank Haith-esque turn of events, Florida coach Mike White bolted for Georgia as his seat started to get a little toasty in The Swamp.

• Interesting.

Diamond Sports

• Chris Blake, my Missourian pressbox friend, wrote MU softball opens conference play on sour note vs. Tennessee (Columbia Missourian).
• The baseball team now sits at 11-2 on the season after a 6-4 win over Arizona State, according to MUTigers.com.

IMPACT INNING: Leading 4-3 headed to the seventh inning, Mizzou scored a pair of pivotal insurance runs prior to the stretch. Senior Mike Coletta started the frame with a double to right field. Lovich followed with a double to left to score Coletta, making it 5-3. Lovich came home to score on a fielder’s choice when the Sun Devils attempt at a double play saw the throw sail wide of first.

Other Mizzou Sports

• Kenny Van Doren (Missourian) congratulated the three Tigers taking home earn All-American honors at Indoor NCAAs. (more info at MUTigers.com) The men finished 24th, their highest finish since 2009. Here’s how they did:

Junior Roberto Vilches, the NCAA leader in the high jump entering the meet, was named an All-American for the fourth time with a fifth-place finish.

MU junior Georgi Nachev was also named a first-team All-American with a fourth-place finish in the men’s triple jump

In the women’s triple jump, Arianna Fisher took seventh with a leap of 44-4¼. This was good for first-team All-American honors, too.

• No. 11 Tiger gymnastics posted a program high score on Saturday night in their quad against Lindenwood, Iowa State, and Illinois. According to MUTigers.com:

The No. 11 University of Missouri gymnastics team reached new program heights Saturday night when they posted their best team score in Tiger history during quad meet against Illinois, Iowa State and Lindenwood. The previous record was set earlier this season against Florida. The Tigers posted 197.675 to clinch the win, while Illinois scored a 197.275, Iowa State scored 196.825 and Lindenwood scored 194.825.

• Per MUTigers.com, the Tigers’ tennis team was unable to gather momentum against no. 39 Vanderbilt, losing 5-1. Bronte Murgett and Emelie Schwarte were able to snag a doubles win, and Murgett beat the no. 46 Commodore in singles.
• Wow, I love Brian Smith. We are so lucky as fans to have this dude leading #TigerStyle.

Mizzou in the Pros

• Quin Snyder’s Utah Jazz took on the Kings on Saturday and won, 116-103. Jordan Clarkson was OUTSTANDING, dropping a 45 spot (!!!) on Sacremento. In his 35 minutes off the bench, and had a career-high 45 points on 15-21 shooting (7-13 from three), with 8-8 FT, 2 AST, 1 STL, 1 BLK, 2 TO, and 3 PF. He was a team-high +17 on the night. NEXT UP: vs. Bucks, tonight at 9pm on ESPN.

Friday’s L over the Spurs, 104-102: 24 min (bench), 17 pts on 7-14 shooting (2-7 from three), 1-3 FT, 8 REB, 1 STL, 1 BLK, 2 TO, 3 PF, +3

Wednesday’s W over the Blazers, 123-85: 16 min (bench), 8 pts on 2-7 shooting (0-2 from three), 4-4 FT, 2 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 1 PF, +13

• TILLY and the Lakeland Magic took on the 905 Raptors on Saturday and lost, 112-109. Jeremiah played 19 minutes off the bench, and had 4 points on 2-5 shooting, with 2 REB, 1 TO, and 4 PF. He was -11 on the night. NEXT UP: vs Bulls, Monday at 6pm

Thursday’s L to the Blue Coats, 144-139: 22 min (bench), 12 pts on 4-5 shooting, 2-3 FT, 5 REB, 4 AST, 2 STL, 1 BLK, 1 PF, +4

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