Columbia, Mo. – Behind 24 points from senior guard Lauren Hansen, the University of Missouri women’s basketball team earned an 82-52 wire-to-wire victory over in-state foe Saint Louis Wednesday night at Mizzou Arena.
Hansen and fellow senior Hayley Frank, guided the Tigers’ offense throughout the contest. The duo accounted for 48 of Missouri’s points including 19 of the Tigers’ 22 in the first quarter.
The veterans knocked down a quartet of 3-pointers before six minutes had elapsed in the opening quarter and finished the night with 10 combined makes from beyond the arc.
Missouri secured the game by halftime with a strong defensive effort in the second quarter. The Tigers held the Billikens to just five points as the feat marked the lowest scoring output in a quarter by an opponent since Missouri held SIUE to five on Dec. 2, 2021.
Hansen and junior Jayla Kelly continued to build Mizzou’s lead after the break as the Tigers posted 26 third-quarter points. Kelly poured in seven in the period on the way to her fourth career double-figure scoring performance.
With a balanced fourth-quarter effort, the Tigers pushed their lead to 30 points and secured their second 30-point victory of the season.
Missouri forced 22 Saint Louis turnovers by the time the final buzzer sounded.
TURNING POINT
The Tigers opened the game with their best first-quarter performance of the season, as Frank and Hansen combined for 19 points and shot 5-7 from beyond the arc. Mizzou never trailed at any point during the quarter and utilized a 9-0 to grab a 22-14 lead by the period’s end.
TOP TIGERS
- Hansen scored the most points by a Tiger this season, pitching in 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field. She has become the third different player to notch a 20-point effort for Mizzou this year.
- Frank continues rising up the all-time scoring list, as her 14-point performance puts her 25th all-time with 1,190-career points.
- Junior guard Mama Dembele played her best offensive contest of the season, with season-high 9 points on 4-of-5 shooting along with five assists.
GAME NOTES
- Missouri improved to 25-1 all-time against Saint Louis
- Against the Atlantic 10, the Tigers now boast a 28-1 all-time record.
- Missouri outscored Saint Louis 22-14 in the opening period. On the season, the Tigers are outscoring opponents 131-90 in the first stanza.
- The Tigers have currently won 15-straight home non-conference matchups in the regular season dating back December 2020.
- Mizzou shot 47.6% tonight, improving the team’s overall mark of 46.2% from the floor on the season, which ranks 33rd nationally.
- With Saint Louis’ 34.5% shooting performance tonight, Mizzou’s opponents collectively have shot just 34.7% on the season, which ranks 40th nationally.
- Mizzou put up 22 first-quarter points, the team’s best scoring output in the opening period this season.
- The Tigers shot over 71.4% from 3-point range in the first quarter, making that the most efficient first quarter from beyond the arc this season.
- This is the seventh game this season that the Tigers have led at halftime.
- Mizzou limited Saint Louis to just five points in the second quarter, the lowest total it has allowed in a quarter this season. The last time the Tigers displayed such defensive dominance was when they allowed five points in the fourth quarter against SIUE on Dec. 2, 2021.
- The second-quarter defensive performance also marked the eighth time Mizzou has held its opponents to single digits in a quarter this season.
- Graduate guard Haley Troup (Gadsden, Ala.) recorded six assists, setting her season high.
- The Tigers made a season-high 14 threes, the most since Jan. 23, 2022, when Mizzou hit 16 3-pointers against Texas A&M.
- Mizzou knocked down its shots from beyond the arc efficiently, as the Tigers shot 14-of-27 (51.9%) from 3-point range. The clip is the best 3-point shooting percentage since Jan. 20, 2022, when Mizzou hit 52.9% of its 3-pointers against Vanderbilt.
- The Tigers posted a season-high 13 steals while forcing 22 Billiken turnovers. A Dec. 20, 2020 contest against SIU was the last time Mizzou recorded that many takeaways.
- With 40 rebounds, Mizzou tied its season high in boards. Thirteen of those rebounds came on the offensive end.
UP NEXT
Mizzou hits the road for the two-game Arizona State Classic at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe, Ariz. The first matchup takes place Saturday against UMass at 4 p.m., and the contest can be streamed on Pac-12+.
For all the latest information on Mizzou Women’s Basketball, please visit MUTigers.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Tigers on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
