The University of Missouri’s caravan stop at Northwestern High School in Mendon included women’s basketball coach Robin Pingeton, who, in seven seasons, has led the Tigers from the basement of the Big 12 Conference to a third-place finish in the Southeastern Conference. The increase in talent and wins at MU has also led to a much greater level of interest, and attendance, in women’s games at Mizzou Arena.
Part of the Tigers resurgence over the past four years was helped by Sierra Michaelis, the former Mercer Class 1 all-stater who improved all aspects of her game in four years in Columbia, with her career highlight occurring with a buzzer-beating layup in a first-round victory over South Florida in March:
Missouri’s best regular season victory in 2016-2017 came in SEC play, with a home win against eventual national champion South Carolina:
While the rise of the women’s program at MU is impressive, there is still more work to do to get the program to an even-higher level. Noted over the last two years is how Missouri reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament, only to lose to teams with home-court advantage (Texas in 2016, Florida State in 2017). Pingeton knows how important Missouri being able to host such a tournament could be for her program:
The backbone of Missouri’s success in recent years has come from in-state talent, including Michaelis and All-SEC first-team selection Sophie Cunningham of Columbia. It is a recruiting tool that has not gone unnoticed by Pingeton:
That is Missouri women’s basketball coach Robin Pingeton.
