COLUMBIA, Mo. — If it were spun differently, it would almost sound like the start of a joke: Three freshmen, a sophomore and a fifth-year senior walk onto a basketball court.
But there’s no twist, no punchline. The scenario was a setup for a Missouri women’s basketball January home game against No. 1 South Carolina, and it’s more a matter of upside than anything else.
The Tigers have the youngest starting lineup in the Southeastern Conference, and it looked even younger than normal in that game. The results haven’t always been there — Mizzou is 11-10 overall and 2-6 in SEC play — but a core of young players is emerging for the MU women.
“The big thing is, for us, we’ve got a group of girls that just want it so bad, so they’re hungry,†coach Robin Pingeton said. “They haven’t wavered. They continue to do it again and again. There’s no doubt in my mind, with the youth that we have on this team, it’s going to pay big dividends as they continue to grow and we move forward.â€
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Hayley Frank, the fifth-year senior who is climbing her way up the program’s all-time scoring charts, leads the team in minutes played per game. But next in line is freshman Grace Slaughter, who’s on the floor for 32.4 minutes a game in her first collegiate season.
Sophomore Ashton Judd is second on the team in scoring and rebounding. Freshman point guard Abbey Schreacke has seen her role rise and fall — she started against South Carolina because of an injury to usual first option Mama Dembele — but sees 24 minutes a night. Freshman Hannah Linthacum starts in the post now, and freshman Hilke Feldrappe has cracked the rotation consistently, too.
Slaughter’s move to the college game has been particularly seamless. Since securing a double-double in her debut, she has managed to balance out scoring from every part of the floor, even while she adjusts to the pace and physicality of the SEC.
Roughly half of Slaughter’s shots come at the rim, where she’s converting layups at a 54% clip. When she does turn to the jumper, she cashes in on 44.8% of her shots — 50% on unguarded catch-and-shoots — which is enough to land in the 98th percentile of all players, per Synergy. Offensively, there hasn’t been much lost in translation for Slaughter.
“In regards to her shooting, I’m not surprised, to be honest with you,†Pingeton said. “She did it all in high school. She was a three-level scorer. She was facing double teams and sometimes had to bring the ball up, sometimes played with her back to the basket, sometimes was face-up. She was doing it all at a pretty efficient level, so we knew we were getting someone special. It’s just been fun to see how quickly it’s translated into the college game. She’s got a really bright future ahead of her.â€
Slaughter brings height as a 6-2 guard, which allows her to combine those varied skill sets she acquired throughout her development as a basketball player.
“Growing up, I was a little bit shorter, so I grew up playing point guard,†Slaughter said. “And then toward middle school and high school I started growing, so I got to develop that back-to-the-basket game, so it is a little bit relatively new but something I do enjoy doing.â€
Judd’s minutes have gone up by nearly 10 per game from her freshman season, but her production has outpaced the increase in playing time. She has almost doubled her scoring and more than doubled her rebounding and assists. Judd also notched four double-doubles in nonconference play.
Settling back into the SEC grind slowed her down a bit, but Judd responded with 22 points, six boards, three assists and three steals on 8-for-12 shooting against Arkansas on Sunday.
“I forget she was coming off the bench last year as a freshman,†Pingeton said. “I look at Judd as a junior or an upperclassman and vet, but she’s still pretty young out there.â€
As a ball handler, Schreacke has quickly settled in, sometimes playing alongside Dembele but also taking on playmaking duties as the lone point guard. When Mizzou calls on Schreacke to run the pick and roll, it scores 1.125 points per possession, which falls in college basketball’s 97th percentile. Her high ball screen operation produces an even more lucrative 1.308 points per possession.
She is also shooting 50% on jumpers off the dribble, mixing in both midrange and 3-point scoring when needed.
“I’m subbing in for a lot of different people and playing a lot of positions,†Schreacke said, “so each game, I’m just always trying to use my voice, be a leader out there.â€
The development of those young players is a bit of a shift for a Missouri team that also wants to highlight experienced players like Frank and Dembele, but it’s one that Pingeton is embracing.
“I love it,†she said. “I love going to work every day with these guys. They just continue to grow and learn, and they haven’t wavered. It is a lot, just the stage in the SEC. But that’s what they signed up for, too. There’s no replacement for experience, and they’re getting a lot of it right now.â€