COLUMBIA, Mo. – Sophomore guard Grace Slaughter scored a career-high 31 points including a final basket at the buzzer to lift University of Missouri women’s basketball over Mississippi State 78-77 on Monday night at Mizzou Arena.
With Missouri (12-10, 1-6 SEC) trailing by one on the final possession, Slaughter drove left to the baseline, pivoted off her right foot and lofted a shot over a Mississippi State (16-5, 3-4 SEC) defender.
Slaughter’s total came off a 10-of-21 performance from the floor as she led the Tigers in scoring for the 11th time this season. The sophomore also notched six rebounds and a steal on the night.
Senior forward Laniah Randle tallied 14 points, four rebounds, four steals, two assists and one block for Missouri.
Junior guard Ashton Judd contributed 14 points behind a career-best 7-of-7 performance from the free-throw line. Judd also topped the Tigers with eight rebounds.
The teams were knotted at seven through the opening three minutes before a quick run saw Mississippi State take a six-point lead at the five-minute mark. A 3-pointer by sophomore guard Abbey Schreacke launched a 15-7 Missouri charge down the stretch of the frame. Slaughter scored seven of her total in the quarter’s final minutes as Missouri took a 22-20 advantage.
The Bulldogs took a narrow three-point lead at the midpoint of the second quarter, but a layup by Randle sparked an 8-1 run that was accelerated by a triple from graduate guard De’Myla Brown and capped off with a bucket from Slaughter.
Neither side could find separation as the half neared, Mississippi State took a 43-41 lead into the break.
A small run for the Bulldogs in the third quarter saw the visitors with a nine-point lead. A jumper by Randle and back-to-back 3-pointers by Slaughter slashed the deficit to one and energized Mizzou Arena.
With the Tigers trailing 61-60 entering the fourth, the lead exchanged hands seven times in the first minutes of the final frame. A 3-pointer by Schreacke with just over a minute remaining brought Missouri within one before a steal by Randle gave the ball to Slaughter for the last-second win.
Missouri converted 87.0 percent (10-13) at the charity stripe and scored 15 points off Mississippi State turnovers.
The lead changed 20 times throughout the game and was even on 18 occasions.
UP NEXT
Missouri will travel to Austin, Texas to face the Longhorns on Thursday night at Moody Center. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. and will be broadcast on SEC Network.
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