Ahead of the Mizzou Women’s Hoops team tipping off on Monday, Robin Pingeton met with the media on Wednesday afternoon. One of Quentin’s reporter friends was nice enough to pass along the recording, as none of the Rock M staff was able to attend.

Here are some highlights. There’s a lot!

• It sounds like the Tigers have run into some bad injury luck heading into the season, though Coach P is hoping they’ll be back to practice by the end of the week. Until that point, the starting rotation is kinda up in the air.

“Unfortunately, we’ve had a couple injuries that is allowed us to look at some different rotations and lineups and so not the time of the year you don’t want to be healthy, but at the same time, I think, you know, facing some of that adversity early on and learning that, you know, everyone’s got to stay ready.”

• On the starting 5

“I do think early in the non con, I anticipate us looking at a lot of different starting lineups I don’t think you’re gonna see traditionally I think we’ve been pretty set on our starting five and really stayed pretty consistent with that throughout the course the season. I think this is a year that you’ll see a lot of different lineup looks earlier in the non-con and you know, certainly by the time we get to SEC play we’ll get a little bit more consistent with that.”

• They’ve also run into some disappointing news regarding DeMyla Brown, whose medical waiver was denied and she will be ineligible this season.

Per the Tribune’s Chris Kwiecinski:

Brown played in 14 games last season for Houston, averaging 5.9 points per game and just over a steal per game. She sat out the majority of the season due to mental health reasons, which led to her application for a medical waiver.

“She continues to work really hard in practice,” Pingeton said. As hard as it is, I think she’s in the mindset that she’s got to turn it into a positive.”

Brown told the Tribune in June that she hopes to bring an offensive play style to MU’s point guard rotation. That is something the team sorely needed after the departures of Haley Troup and Lauren Hansen this offseason.

Here’s the NCAA again, just being assholes (not sorry) and not taking people’s mental wellbeing seriously. There’s already rampant mental health issues in this country involving student-athletes, and way too many lives have been lost already. You’d think perhaps, just perhaps, they’d take an athlete at their word when they share they’re struggling. This latest bullshit, mind you, comes on the heels of them denying a waiver for a Cal transfer who was racially discriminated against by the previous head coach at TX Tech and denied his waiver despite the school asking him to stick around to meet with the new coach because it was his second transfer.

I’ll get off my soapbox. Let’s continue.

• We’ve heard from Coach P twice in the preseason, and she’s made it clear how much she likes this group and how they’ve come together. On their work ethic:

The amount of work that they’ve put in outside of what’s been required has been really, I think, special. You know, they they love the game. They love coming to practice. They love working on their craft and I think that’s huge. And that’s a huge part of being successful at this level. You know, you look at the course of a practice and how many shots you get up in a two, two and a half hour practice. There’s no way that aligns with being an elite level shooter and so the importance of being able to get in and get some outside work in is huge. And so that would be the thing that really sticks out to me.

• On freshmen Grace Slaughter & Abbey Schreacke

Grace Slaughter, I think is just getting more comfortable with every day being more aggressive offensively and really feeling a little bit more comfortable with with our system. And she’s a young lady that I think she’s got a really, really high ceiling.

Abbey Schreacke is just a competitor. I mean, she’s just a fierce competitor. She just competes every day and I think it’s been she’s come in and really knocked down shots at a high level, high basketball IQ and like I said, great work ethic.

• On freshman Hannah Linthacum

Hannah Linthicum, I think at her size, she’s just bouncy. She’s rangy she she’s got a motor. You know she she moves really, really well. And I just think that energy that she brings every day. It might not always show up in a box score, but I can assure you you come and watch one of our practices or just watch her when she’s not out in that rotation. We put a huge premium on that and she’s she’s just a great I think she’s a phenomenal teammate for all of our players to have.

Hannah maybe doesn’t have the girth that some of the other players does. She’s got a motor that just non stop and really has the ability to get out and run the floor. And you know, that puts defenses in a bind to you know, are they going to cover the basket or they’re going to get out to the shooters in transition.

• On Evansville transfer Abby Feit

Abby Feit has shot the ball at a really high rate. She’s a lefty that can stretch the court. She’s got a high basketball IQ and rebounds really well for her size. She has the ability to really knock down, I think, tough shots from long range.

Just to see her as a grad transfer, kind of directing traffic even from her position and other positions and being able to help her teammates out. She’s got a good physical build, that she’s not afraid to bang. She’s got the ability to create off the bounce, but she can stretch the court, too.

• On UMass transfer Angelique Ngalakulondi:

But I also got to talk about Angie because I don’t think we’ve had that presence and consistency in that spot. She’s getting acclimated to our system, but she is so good in those pick and roll situations and in her ability to finish around the rim and and rebound out of the area. She’s going to be a huge addition for us, too.

• On sophomore Ashton Judd:

I don’t know that she took a day off this summer in regards to two-a-days. I mean she was in the gym nonstop working on her craft trying to you ]just work on the consistency off the dribble work on her handles, be more consistent as a shooter. She’s got a toughness to her readiness and again, a fierce competitor.

I think she’s a lot more comfortable this year than she was last year. She’s a seasoned sophomore. She’s relentless in her pursuit of what she’s trying to get done for our program and our team and comes to comes to the gym every day and has a much better understanding of the physicality and the pace. I think her endurance is a lot better. I think her defense has gotten a lot better for us. So she took two charges yesterday in practice, so she’s been trying to learn from Frankie a little bit. I think she’s really improved in all areas.

• On sophomore Averi Kroenke:

She’s relentless with her energy and her motor and she’s one of the best communicators on our team. She doesn’t stop talking. Whether it’s encouragement or just being really intentional in matchups and transition defense. She does not look like a sophomore out there and she’s taking a huge jump from her freshman year to where she’s at today. But you know, I was talking about this a little bit ago.

She’ll play off guard and point guard for us. And really, in that off guard position, to have such a I think athletic rebounder is going to be great for in helping us to get second and third shot attempts. She’s going to be a hard kid to box out just because she is so athletic and the motor that she plays with. I love the way she defends. She’s been really aggressive on the ball and off the ball in creating some havoc in the half court for us defensively.

Another point of emphasis for her was just understanding in transition being able to play with pace, the ability to get out and push which Mama and her do a great job of, but understanding advantage or neutral advantage and in what to do in those situations. So not only as she worked on her game physically but I think mentally for when she’s in that point guard position as well.

• On Hayley Frank’s return:

I feel like I’m the luckiest coach in the country. She’s just I don’t know if there’s really any words. She’s a coach’s dream player she works her tail off. But first and foremost, beyond her ability to be incredible player for us on both ends of the court by taking charges by knocking down tough shots. It’s just who she is as a human being high character young lady that I think is just a tremendous ambassador for our university.

On to the Links!

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Yesterday at Rock M

• SEC Hoops Previews continue from Sam, and next up, the Tennessee Volunteers
• Parker’s new piece is Analyzing the Brock Bowers-less Georgia offense
• BK writes, Mizzou is trying to pull off the (nearly) impossible at Georgia
• Matt-Squared’s player previews continue with: Mizzou Hoops Player Preview: The Freshmen
• Nate did a veryyyyy deep-dive for the Georgia preview

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More Links:

Football

• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Ten Hochman: Breaking down Mizzou football’s potential ‘November to remember’ (Ben Hochman) | How Brady Cook’s high-low reads are helping No. 14 Mizzou find success with key passing concepts (Eli Hoff) | Tipsheet: Missouri reaches rarified air with No. 12 CFP ranking ahead of Georgia game (Jeff Gordon) | Trick, or treat? Maybe Missouri football can put a scare into big, bad Georgia (Ben Fred)
• PowerMizzou: | 2025 CB target Jeremiah Alvis liking Missouri after visit (Sean Williams) | Four Down Territory (Jarod Hamilton) | Georgia Football News and Notes for Wednesday (Rivals Georgia)
• The Athletic: How ‘hungry’ Missouri football has succeeded with something to prove (David Ubben) | Georgia football mailbag: How dangerous, really, is Missouri? (Seth Emerson)

Hoops

• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: How Mizzou coach Dennis Gates could build a rotation from a large roster (Eli Hoff)
• Columbia Tribune: Missouri women’s basketball transfer De’Myla Brown has medical waiver denied (Chris Kwiecinski)
• PowerMizzou (Drew King): Missouri counting big on Connor Vanover | Player Previews: Anthony Robinson II | JV Brown | Danny Stephens | Jordan Butler | Trent Pierce | Back like he never left: Kaleb Brown impressing after brief portal stint
• SI.com FanNation: Is Mizzou Basketball’s Preseason Ranking More Telling About the Team, or SEC? (Christopher Walsh)
• Looking forward to seeing this guy in just a few days:

• A new visitor will be in town next weekend for the sports extravaganza:

• Watkins has some thoughts on what this list will look like down the road:

Other Mizzou Sports

• This Week in MIzzou Sports (Trevon Bobo, PowerMizzou)
• This is awesome news from VOLLEYBALL

• From MUTigers.com, doubles TENNIS pair Mae Canete and Inah Canete are to kick off their run at the ITA National Fall Championships at the Barnes Tennis Center, scheduled to start play on Wednesday, Nov. 1 and closing out the competition on Sunday, Nov. 5.
• TRACK & FIELD’s Euphenie Andre, Claudina Diaz and alumni Sophia Rivera will compete in the 2023 Pan-American games in Santiago, Chile from Nov. 3 to Nov. 5. Per MUTigers.com, Andre will open the international event for the Tigers at 7:45 p.m. CT on Thursday in the triple jump. Rivera will follow on Friday in the javelin at 7:10 p.m. CT, while Diaz will round out the event at 8:50 p.m. CT Saturday in the high jump.

• Now’s the time to buy single game WRESTLING tickets:

• 100 days til SOFTBALL:

• Update on GYMNASTICS’ Addi Lawrence:

• SOCCER Senior Spotlight:

Former Tigers

• JC was on fire Weds night, with 20 points on 8-13 FG (4-5 3PT), 6 REB, 5 AST, 2 STL, 3 TO, and 1 PF in 26 minutes. He was +21.
• Kobeeeee got early minutes again in the battle of LA teams despite newest Clip, PJ Tucker, officially active. However, when the Lakers mounted a comeback in the second half, Ty Lue went with the tried and true vets, understandably. His line: 6 min | 0-1 FG

• Druuuu got his second consecutive DNP for the Heat.
• In the Nuggies’ first loss of the season, Mike played 25 min, but only registered 5 points on 2-11 FG (0-5 3PT), 5 REB, and an assist, steal and block. He was -19.
• Hey, Tilly! Hey, Zay!

• Mighty Max Scherzer is once again a WS champion, as the Rangers won the World Series. Also congrats to Ian Kinsler!

Never forget when he came to a presser for the Tigers with the Mizzou-Georgia score on his jacket. It was the last time MU beat the Dawgs.

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