After posting a 144-81 record as coach of Illinois State from 2003-10, Robin Pingeton will get an opportunity to face her former school in the first round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.
Pingeton and Missouri host the Redbirds (24-8) at 7 p.m. Thursday at Mizzou Arena. The game marks the third straight season that the Tigers have participated in the WNIT.
Missouri (17-13) qualified for four straight NCAA Tournaments from 2016-19. Sophie Cunningham, the program’s all-time leading scorer, played for all of those teams, and Pingeton has not reached an NCAA Tournament or won more than 19 games in a season without Cunningham on the roster during her 13-year tenure in Columbia.
With rumors swirling about Pingeton’s job security, every game in the WNIT is important for MU, especially with the Tigers having lost three straight heading into the tournament, including an 85-74 loss to Arkansas in the SEC Tournament.
“It’s hard to process — not going to the NCAA Tournament,” sixth-year senior Haley Troup said. “But the last game (at Mizzou Arena) left a bad taste in my mouth, so the chance to change that with this group is going to be really special.”
Florida and Arkansas qualified for the WNIT and are the other two representatives from the Southeastern Conference in the tournament.
“You see a lot of teams that make a deep run that truly propels their programs forward for that next year,” Pingeton said of the WNIT. “Just the importance of potentially having that momentum going into the offseason is a cool opportunity for us.”
Get to know ISU
Illinois State enters the WNIT with a chip on its shoulder under sixth-year coach Kristen Gillespie, who took home coach of the year honors in the Missouri Valley Conference this season.
The Redbirds picked up quality wins over Dayton and Wisconsin early in the season but lost four of their past five games in nonconference play. They largely dominated during conference play, only losing three games.
Illinois State earned the No. 1 seed in the MVC Tournament but lost to eventual champion and fourth-seeded Drake in the semifinals.
Last season, ISU qualified for the NCAA Tournament after winning the MVC as a 4 seed. They earned a No. 15 seed in the Big Dance but lost to second-seeded Iowa 98-58 in the first round.
There were three common opponents between the Redbirds and the Tigers this season.
Missouri defeated Saint Louis 82-52 on Nov. 30, while Illinois State lost to the Billikens 75-65.
The Tigers took down Missouri State 68-51 in their season opener, and ISU split its two conference games against the Bears, with the road team winning each matchup.
Missouri hung 83 points on Bradley in a 45-point win Nov. 10, while the Redbirds swept the Braves by a combined margin of 144-102 in their two meetings.
Gillespie’s team makes a living on the defensive end of the floor. Opposing teams score 62.4 points per game against Illinois State, in large part because it forces 15.1 turnovers per game.
Opposing teams are shooting 29.2% from beyond the arc against the Redbirds. Missouri’s offense relies heavily on 3-pointers.
The Redbirds depend on their starting five to shoulder most of the team’s production, with their starters being the only players who see the floor for more than 12 minutes per game.
Fifth-year senior Paige Robinson spearheads ISU’s offensive attack. The Bethany, Illinois, product averages 18.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game and was named the MVC player of the year.
Redshirt junior Maya Wong runs the show as ISU’s point guard and leads the team with 3.6 assists per game. Senior forward DeAnna Wilson landed on the All-MVC second team after she led the team with 7.1 rebounds per game and was second with 12.8 points per game.
Fifth-year senior Mary Crompton averages 10.9 points per game and landed on the All-MVC third team. Kate Bullman, the MVC defensive player of the year, rounds out a decorated and experienced starting five.
“(ISU has) a good blend of inside-out, and they shoot the 3-ball very well, averaging eight 3s per game,” Pingeton said. “They do the simple things really, really well.”
The path ahead
If Missouri beats ISU on Thursday, it would face the winner of the Kansas-Western Kentucky game.
The Jayhawks managed to tread water in the Big 12 Conference, but they failed to pick up enough quality wins to make the NCAA Tournament. After advancing to the second round of last year’s NCAA Tournament, KU is in search of a positive finish to an otherwise disappointing season.
On Nov. 14, Western Kentucky came to Mizzou Arena for an early-season nonconference matchup with Missouri. WKU fell to the Tigers 65-47, part of a 1-5 start to its season.
From there, the Hilltoppers managed to find their rhythm and stormed through Conference USA play, making it all the way to the league tournament championship game before falling to Middle Tennessee State.
“I think this WNIT field is loaded,” Pingeton said. “There’s a lot of controversy on that bubble, and you’ve got a lot of mid-majors that maybe won their conference but didn’t win their conference tournament.”
If Kansas beats the Hilltoppers, it would host the Round 2 matchup in Lawrence, Kansas. If Western Kentucky wins, it would travel to either Columbia or Normal, Illinois.
