Ashton Judd staving off an Ole Miss defender during an SEC game in February 2024. | Cal Tobias/Rock M Nation

With an unfamiliar team, there’s plenty still to learn about this roster

If you thought you knew this Mizzou women’s basketball team since you watched them last season, you have NO idea what this year’s team is about.

The Tigers return only 6 (!!) players who either played or were available to play in over 50% of their games last season. The other 9 are an eclectic bunch:

4 joined the team via the transfer portal
3 were on the team last year but were either injured or faced transfer policy restrictions
2 are incoming freshmen to help round out the roster

To learn more about each of these players specifically and where I think they stand ahead of this season, check out this depth chart mock up I wrote over the summer.

As the season comes into focuses with the first exhibition game LESS THAN A WEEK AWAY, there are plenty of questions to be asked about this team. Before media day on Thursday and the season officially kicking off, I’m asking (and attempting to answer) five key questions surrounding Coach Pingeton’s squad.

Finding the Center-piece

Contrary to the heading we are NOT talking about table decor. Last year was a struggle for Mizzou’s bigs; after a season-ending injury to Angelique Ngalakulondi in the non-con, players like Hannah Linthacum, Abby Feit and Hayley Frank were forced to play down in the post.

Having to guard tall, extremely talented centers while undersized and/or underexperienced put Mizzou at a true disadvantage down low. This showed through during SEC play as they were outrebounded by an average of seven last season, plus opponents averaged 2.2 more blocks per game than the Tigers.

Coach P brought in the talent to fix this in Tionna Herron, a transfer from Texas. We’ve talked about Tionna a.k.a. “Tree” several times throughout the offseason, and there’s no doubt about the talent in which she provides. But several bumps on the road left her sitting on the Longhorns’ bench for the majority of last season and she’s had to come a long way in her recovery from open heart surgery her freshman season.

Remember, this was a very talented Texas team, and Tree got to compete against some of the very best in the nation. (Plus, this move is nearly identical to the one Marina Crownover made from volleyball, and that’s working out great so far).

The other main starting option is returner Angie Ngalakulondi. Before she got hurt last season, Angie averaged 5.3 points and 4.5 rebounds as a solid option down low. She was really starting to hit her groove in the first half against Virginia before going down with an ankle injury. The big advantage to playing Angie is her experience. Between COVID and injury years, this will be her SIXTH season of college basketball, and that sort of background is hard to ignore.

The wild card in this discussion is returning sophomore Lucija Milkovic. She is EASILY the tallest player on the roster, standing at 6’ 6”. You can teach plenty, but you can’t teach height.

However, last year she was routinely the last player on the bench, seeing the game only at the end of blowouts. A lot of this was due to her footwork, as getting up and down the court and handling the ball were big question marks last year. But who knows, after another year of training maybe she could make the jump and shock us all.

In my book I’d say this is a true two-horse race between Tree and Angie. Knowing what I’d know I’m giving the edge to Tree; she’s a full two inches taller and looks like a true big in the SEC. Plus, this team needs to try something different if they hope to succeed, and I believe Tree is one of those shakeups for Pingeton.

It does help that the SEC has lost some of its star centers, as Angel Reese and Kamilla Cardoso have both moved on to the W. Between the two Preseason All-SEC teams there is only one true center, meaning that guard play will be so important during conference play. But when you truly need a bucket down low, I’m trusting Tree.

The Hannah Linthacum Ultimatum

Routinely the player starting in that center or ‘five’ position last year was then-true freshman Hannah Linthacum. While Hannah showed flashes of greatness, she was often just outmuscled and outsized at that position. Additionally, having to undergo that sort of pressure in year one is extremely daunting.

Now with a deeper roster, I would expect Pingeton to keep the only remaining Linthacum away from the tallest opponent. She will likely have a reduced role, coming off the bench as more experienced transfers have joined the team to fill some of the gaps. However, I’d still say there’s a clear place for Hannah in the rotation.

She will likely work coming in as a forward or the ‘four’, one who can play and defend in the paint but can move out to the perimeter and knock down the three when needed. Last season she shot 33% from three on only 12 attempts, and if I’m on this staff I’m encouraging her to shoot more and work to stretch the defense while giving Tree/Angie more space inside.

However, if the proposed centers find themselves in foul trouble, then it’s comforting to know that Hannah can jump in when needed.

Oh Captain my…Captains?

While there were plenty of flaws regarding the 2023-24 team, they always knew that the ball was going to Hayley Frank whenever a bucket was needed. Now with Frank tearing it up playing pro ball in Germany, there may be a gap for that number one option.

Right now there are two clear frontrunners: Ashton Judd and Grace Slaughter.

Let’s start with Ashton Judd. She is one of the two longest tenured Tigers alongside Averi Kroenke (weird, isn’t it?), now viewed as one of the go-tos for Coach P both as a player and a leader.

Judd saw a jump last year in her ability to push the tempo, being aggressive and getting to her spots with her frequency. The only other question regarding her game is efficiency. Whether it’s an improvement in open shots or finishing through contact, Judd has room to improve when it comes to being an even greater high value scorer.

From Slaughter’s side, she had an impact freshman season that sent ripples throughout the SEC. She averaged double-digits while starting EVERY game (but one, senior night eh?), plus an extremely impressive 37% from three.

But like we saw with Judd last year, Slaughter has to watch for the dreaded sophomore slump. Now after one season, teams have her at the top of the scouting report when matching up against Mizzou. So it now becomes what she can add to that offensive game, plus what she can provide as a bigger wing as a defender.

So who is your go to? Your captain? Your No. 1? Well, why not both? There’s no law in the basketball handbook that says you HAVE to only have one “top dog” on your roster. I mean, look at the Boston Celtics. They just won a championship with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, two players with different skillsets but either of whom can lead your team down the stretch. If anything, having the ability to trust TWO players on your roster keeps the defense honest and expands your playbook when you hit the end-of-game situations.

So, who’s your leader? Right now, both. Both is good.

Imagine The Beatles, but it’s Point Guards

Alright, I’m going to be honest, I’m only titling this related to The Beatles because there are four point guards on Mizzou’s roster. The Fab Four is as follows (no, I’m not assigning them each a Beatle, stop it): De’Myla Brown, Averi Kroenke, Londyn Oliphant and Tilda Sjökvist.

None of these players saw a minute for the Tigers last year as Brown was sitting out due to transfer rules, Kroenke spent last year with a hurt foot, Sjökvist was playing her sophomore season at Presbyterian College and Oliphant was still in high school.

So the question becomes, what does the rotation look like moving forward for these PGs?

The immediate starter feels like De’Myla. She is entering her fifth year playing college basketball and sixth year involved overall. Looking back to her days at Houston two years ago before she took a step back to focus on her mental health, she scored double-digits several times while burying several threes against UT-Arlington. As a proven commodity, De’Myla has all the keys to help lead this team in the spot that Mama Dembele held last season.

The next player up will likely be Averi. She was expected to take a spot in the rotation LAST year before suffering a season-ending injury during the tail end of preseason. During her freshman year Averi played roughly 10 minutes a game but put up very few counting stats. The experience is there, but the question will be her improvements in scoring and passing, which will be the key to greater time in the rotation.

Tilda is primed to be the wild card in this debate, as she continues to be a mystery for me every time I look at potential rotations. She spent her first two years at Presbyterian College as a productive member of the roster. While she averaged double-digits playing in the Big South, her 12 points and 3.5 assists per game don’t quite pop out as world-breaking numbers. But at the least she still has two years left, and has already looked strong as an underclassman. While I don’t expect Tilda to start on day one, I’d be shocked if she was cut from the SEC rotation.

Last in this imaginary roll call is Londyn, the only freshman at the position. She was one of two signees for the class of 2024, entering as the No. 40 prospect from the state of Texas. She averaged over 14 points, 4 assists and 5 rebounds at Prestonwood Christian Academy. So while Londyn is likely to be an important part of Mizzou’s future, she is not expected to play a major role in year one. However, she’ll have plenty of experienced role models to learn from.

Now, there’s a giant wrinkle in this plan that I haven’t even touched on yet. New Mexico transfer Nyah Wilson has primarily played off-the-ball, but Coach P mentioned at SEC media days that she is ALSO comfortable working as the primary ball-handler. With such a deep point guard room I don’t see Nyah finding a spot there, instead working primarily as the two or the three at any given time. But hey, something to consider.

Expectations aplenty

While you wouldn’t expect a team that finished last in the SEC a year ago to have strong expectations, this Mizzou squad is a special exception. It’s no secret to anyone who follows the team that Robin Pingeton is in the last year of her contract as head coach. After several great years in the late 2010s, that momentum has dissipated just as quickly as it appeared.

Plus when you look at the personnel of this roster it is filled with experience, as over half the roster are upperclassmen and only two freshmen. It’s loaded with a variety of players who have either seen consistent playing time with Mizzou, had phenomenal years at mid-majors or transfer in from elite programs looking for playing time.

It’s worth noting that the Tigers were picked 15th in the SEC preseason polls, passing only rival Arkansas. The SEC is stacked once again to the shock of no one, with 7 teams in the preseason top 25 and 4 in the top 10.

While the Tigers added plenty of talent, the departures of Mama Dembele and Hayley Frank are definitely question marks for Coach P.

Looking at the non-conference schedule, this lineup is filled with mid-majors, so it should be impossible for the Tigers to lose any more than four of those games. In conference play is where it gets tricky, and it’s no secret that Mizzou has struggled in these games. To see clear improvement I’d say the Tigers don’t have to finish above .500 in conference play, but 6 if not 8 wins out of 20 shows clear improvement.

This sort of resume probably wouldn’t be enough to put them in the NCAA Tournament, however I think that is a strong enough resume for a spot in either the WBIT or WNIT. But if this athletics department is looking for results, which we believe they are, I don’t see a world where Pingeton keeps her job with anything less than an NCAA Tournament this season.

Even with all these new faces the Tigers should be results-oriented from day one, meaning we should have some very intriguing basketball at Mizzou Arena.

The first look at this team is an exhibition matchup against Truman State at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 29. Then for SOME reason Mizzou will travel for their season opener at 5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 4 against Vermont.