After losing the opener of the Florida Atlantic Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday in Boca Raton, Fla., the Missouri women’s basketball team looked for a change of pace to break out of its two-game slide.
Missouri coach Cindy Stein shook up the starting lineup, inserting freshman RaeShara Brown and sophomore Amanda Hanneman, and the move paid dividends. Brown contributed a career-high six assists, while Hanneman’s long-range reputation kept the driving lanes open for Missouri’s scorers.
“When you lose two in a row, it’s smart to change things up a bit,” Stein said. “RaeShara and Amanda come with so much energy, and we started the game a little better tonight.”
However, despite shooting 51 percent from the field and forcing 22 turnovers, the game wasn’t decided until junior guard Alyssa Hollins hit a jumper with two seconds left to seal a 74-73 victory over Robert Morris. That shot gave Hollins 22 points for the night to go with six steals and allowed Missouri (3-2) to grab their first victory away from Mizzou Arena.
Freshman Shakara Jones was limited by foul trouble and physical play in the post, and only scored nine points in 17 minutes, well off her season average. With Jones struggling, sophomore Jessra Johnson scored 24 points off the bench, hitting 8-of-13 shots from the floor.
“Jessra really picked up the pace for us,” Stein said. “We played her down low a lot more often, and she played well.”
Sade Logan led Robert Morris (2-3) with 34 points, including eight 3-pointers. She scored her last basket with 15 seconds left to give the Colonials their first lead since the 12 minute mark. It almost left the Tigers winless on their three-game road trip, before Hollins nailed her clutch jump shot.
“We have been going through some growing pains,” Stein said. “But this was a great game to get us back on track.”