Mizzou Women’s Basketball Hosts LSU for We Back Pat Game Tonight

THE MATCHUP

• Mizzou Women’s Basketball returns home to Mizzou Arena as the Tigers host the LSU Tigers on Monday, Jan. 18. The game will serve as Mizzou’s We Back Pat game, honoring legendary Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt. Tipoff from Mizzou Arena is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network with Courtney Lyle and Carolyn Peck on the call. In Mizzou’s last time out, the Tigers recorded their first SEC win and first road win of the season in a 86-77 win over Ole Miss on Jan. 14. In LSU’s last time out, the Tigers defeated No. 7/7 Texas A&M in overtime, 65-61. It was LSU’s first win over a top-10 ranked opponent since 2014, and was the Aggies first loss of the season. LSU has not had any postponement or cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic yet this season, while Mizzou has had six games affected.

THE SERIES

• This will be the 15th all-time meeting between the two programs, as LSU hold an 10-4 all-time advantage in the all-time series. Last season, the two teams split with each team winning on its home court – Mizzou winning 69-65 on Jan. 5, 2020, while LSU won 66-58 on Feb. 10, 2020. Mizzou is 2-4 all-time against LSU in Columbia. LSU has won eight of the last 10 matchups dating back to Feb. 22, 2013 when Mizzou entered the SEC.

HIGH-POWERED OFFENSE

• Mizzou’s high-powered offense has steered the way for the Tigers so far in 2020-21, as Mizzou ranks in the NCAA’s top 25 in field goal percentage and three-point percentage. From the field, Mizzou is shooting an SEC-leading 52.4 percent (242-of-462), a mark which ranks second nationally. From deep, Mizzou is shooting 37.6 percent (53-of-141), which ranks second in the SEC and 22nd in the NCAA. Mizzou has shot 50 percent or better from the field in six of eight games this season and 60 percent or better in two contests. More on Mizzou’s hot shooting later. Mizzou’s scoring has been a balanced attack as well, as four players are currently averaging double figures: sophomore guard Aijha Blackwell (15.1 ppg), sophomore forward Hayley Frank (14.3 ppg), redshirt junior forward LaDazhia Williams (13.0 ppg) and redshirt senior guard Shug Dickson (10.3 ppg.).

BALANCED SCORING

• Through eight games on its schedule, Mizzou has had a balanced attack leading the way in scoring, as four are currently averaging double figures: sophomore guard Aijha Blackwell (15.1 ppg), sophomore forward Hayley Frank (14.3 ppg), redshirt junior forward LaDazhia Williams (13.0 ppg) and redshirt senior guard Shug Dickson (10.3 ppg.).
• Consider the small sample size – eight games – but the last Mizzou team to have four players average in double figures was the 2006-07 Mizzou Tigers.
• Already this season, Mizzou has had three games where five players have scored in double figures. That mark ties the most for a Tiger team in a season in the Coach Pingeton era with the 2015-16 Tigers. The last team to have more than three occurrences was the 2005-06 team, which did so in seven contests, including four straight between Nov. 27 and Dec. 11, 2005. This season’s Tigers have had five players score 10+ in two consecutive games, doing so at Arkansas (Jan. 3) and at Ole Miss (Jan. 14).

QUICK TO 500

• Sophomore guard Aijha Blackwell recorded her 500th career point against New Orleans (Dec. 19), needing only 34 games to accomplish the feat.
• Blackwell is the quickest Tiger to reach 500 career points during the Pingeton era, and might be the quickest in program history (Mizzou does not have complete game-by-game records prior to 2003).  In comparison, it took Sophie Cunningham, Mizzou’s all-time leader with 2,187 points, 36 games to reach 500 points.
• With 587 points through 39 career games (15.1 points per game), Blackwell appears to be in good position to challenge Cunningham for Mizzou’s all-time scoring record, a mark which was set in 2019, the season prior to her arrival in Columbia.

MILESTONE CHASING

• A host of milestones will be in-play this season for the Tigers. Below is a rundown of career achievements that have/could happen during in the 2020-21 season.
• Mizzou senior forward Shannon Dufficy will get to finish her already decorated career with a senior campaign at Mizzou. The Aussie native reached the 1,000-point career mark in Mizzou’s season-opener against North Alabama (Nov. 27), and needs just 120 rebounds to eclipse 1,000 career boards. In three seasons at Utah State, Dufficy averaged 279.3 rebounds per season, including a single-season program record of 339 rebounds in 2018-19.
• Also wrapping up her collegiate career in CoMo, senior guard Shug Dickson will have the 1,000-point mark in her sights, as she currently has 775 points, needing 225 to reach the mark. In her sophomore campaign at Tulsa (2017-18), Dickson scored 410 points (14.1 ppg) in 29 games.
• In her 11th season, head coach Robin Pingeton record at Mizzou sits at 185-142 (.562). The Tiger head boss needs just one more win to move past Cindy Stein (1998-10, 185-77) for second-place on Mizzou’s all-time win list. She already ranks second in winning percentage, trailing only Mizzou Hall of Famer Joann Rutherford, who had a 61.8 percent winning percentage in 23 seasons (1975-98, 423-261). Pingeton is just 1 of 16 Power 5 active coaches and 1 of 31 active D-I head coaches to win 500 or more career games.
• As a program, Mizzou captured its 800th win against Oral Roberts (Dec. 19) becoming the 74th program to reach the 800-win mark in NCAA history. In 47 seasons, Mizzou owns a mark of 801-589 (.557) all-time.

HOT SHOOTING

• Through the early stretch of the season, Mizzou has been able to shoot the ball at an extremely high level. Mizzou currently leads the SEC in field goal percentage at 52.4 percent (242-of-462), while ranking second in three-point percentage at 37.6 percent (53-of-141).
• Nationally, the Tigers rank second nationally in field goal percentage and 22nd in three-point percentage.
• Sophomore forward Hayley Frank has lit up the net so far this season, as she currently leads the SEC in both field goal percentage (.683) and three-point percentage (.516). Nationally, Frank ranks third and eighth, respectively, in those categories.
• Redshirt junior forward LaDazhia Williams has helped leda the charge from the field this season, as she is shooting 58.5 percent (38-of-65) from the field. Redshirt junior guard Haley Troup helps lead the Tigers from deep, as she has made 7-of-13 shots from deep (53.8 percent) this season.
• Mizzou has shot the lights out this season, recording field goal percentages of 50 percent or better in six of its eight games and 60 percent or better twice. Mizzou’s six games of 50 percent or better is its best since 2018-19 (six), while its two games of 60 percent or better ties the most in the Coach Pingeton era with the 2016-17 squad.
• Against New Orleans (Dec. 16), the Tigers shot an incredible 63.2 percent (36-of-57) from the field, the 10th-best mark in program history and their best mark since a 65.9 percent (27-of-41) performance against Ole Miss on Jan. 3, 2019.
• Mizzou shot above 60 percent again in its win against Southern Illinois (Dec. 20), shooting 61.2 percent (30-of-49).
• Since the 1977-78 season (43 seasons), Mizzou has shot better than 60 percent from the field just 25 times, with six occurrences (24.0 percent) happening under head coach Robin Pingeton.

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