COLUMBIA, Mo. – Five Tigers scored in double figures as the University of Missouri women’s basketball team fell to Alabama, 79-64, Sunday evening at Mizzou Arena.
Senior forward Hayley Frank led Missouri (9-6, 0-2 SEC) with 15 points and added seven rebounds. Frank’s effort was enough to see her move past Sharon Farrah for fifth on the program’s all-time scoring leaderboard.
Senior guard Mama Dembele tallied her fourth career double-double with 10 points and 10 assists. All four of Dembele’s double-doubles have come during her senior campaign.
Freshman guard Grace Slaughter recorded 11 points, on a 5-of-7 clip from the field. Slaughter scored seven points in the first quarter after she knocked down her first three shots.
Sophomore guard Ashton Judd chipped in 12 points and seven rebounds, while freshman guard Abbey Schreacke added 10 points and a pair of steals.
Trailing 10-2 early after Alabama (14-3, 1-1 SEC) knocked down their first three shot attempts, Missouri battled back as Slaughter connected on a 3-pointer while Dembele and Frank registered back-to-back steals to pull the Tigers within one.
As the quarter came to a close each team would trade the lead as both teams’ offenses found a rhythm. The Tigers ended the opening frame with their best shooting performance of the season in an opening quarter at 71.4 percent (10-of-14).
In the opening moments of the second quarter, Alabama would use a 6-0 run to extend the Crimson Tide’s advantage to 39-31. Despite the run, Mizzou would respond as six combined points from the freshman pairing of Slaughter and Schreacke would help spark a 10-0 Tigers charge. Mizzou also limited Alabama’s offense to a 1-of-11 mark to end the quarter as the teams would be tied up at 41-41 entering the break.
The Crimson Tide bounced back to begin the second half, as the visitors used a pair of scoring runs to extend their advantage to 15 and take a 60-45 lead.
Judd rallied the Mizzou with a pair of buckets to ignite a 9-0 Tigers run to begin the final frame.
The Tigers continued to claw back into Alabama’s lead cutting the Crimson Tides’ to as low as five. However, Alabama would use a late 10-0 run to close out the contest.
UP NEXT
Mizzou welcomes No. 1 South Carolina to Mizzou Arena on Thursday, Jan. 11. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and can be streamed on SEC Network+.
