Mizzou women’s basketball sets sights on bouncing back from first loss of season

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Although losing is never an easy thing, the Mizzou women's basketball team is intent on making it worth it by using the first loss of the Kellie Harper era to highlight where the team stills need to grow the most.

On Saturday, the Tigers fell to 3-1 on the season in a close loss to the Kansas Jayhawks at the T-Mobile Center. Coach Harper said that game was a great one for her team to have this early on in the season.

"Obviously, you know, you don't draw it up in you're happy about the loss. You don't do that. But, in terms of having that game on our schedule, I think is really good for our team. I think it gave our staff a really clear picture of where we are, where we need to grow," she said. "I think it showed a little grit and a little toughness that we needed to see and hopefully it motivates us and gets our players excited about the improvement that we can have."

You can watch the full press conference with Harper in the video player below.

She added that one big positive to come out of that loss to the Jayhawks was the depth her team put on display.

With guard Saniah Tyler back from injury, Mizzou women's hoops now has 10 players available for action. During Saturday's game, all 10 of those players got into the scoring column, with three players (guard Shannon Dowell, guard Grace Slaughter and forward Jordana Reisma) hitting double-digit point totals.

"[10 is] not a huge number to have just available players, but I think what we saw in this last game was that everyone that stepped out on the court was able to contribute in some way. I think that's I think that's great for them. I think it can be a little bit more added motivation in practice," Harper said. "We talked about their minutes, whether it's two, 20, 40, doesn't matter what they are, they're important. I think our players could see that from this game. I think it was a great example of how each possession, each play, each action matters. Regardless of who you are, you've got to be able to contribute and play."

Now, MU's attention will turn to bouncing back from that loss to rival Kansas, as the Tigers will host Southern Illinois and Troy at Mizzou Arena on Tuesday and Thursday, respectively.

Harper said that some of the biggest adjustments she wants to make from that KU will come on the defensive side. For example, she said she thought her players missed some execution things that were on the scouting report and also wanted to see some more urgency on their transition defense, as well.

Two games in two days will be a pretty great test to Mizzou's ability to tackle a scouting report and understand it quickly. Harper said it presents both a challenge and an opportunity.

"It's exactly what our challenge our team. You know, I think that's one area we can get better at and you know, we'll try to structure things for our players in practice to allow them to get better, to challenge them in practice, to put them in game like situations, but ultimately, when it is game time they've got to have focus," she said. "They have to be able to apply what they've learned in that moment when things are going really fast and I think a big part of that is our communication. We have really been challenging our players to find a better level of communication."

First, Mizzou will host Southern Illinois on Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m., followed by a game against Troy on Thursday at 11:30 a.m.