COLUMBIA, Mo. – The University of Missouri women’s basketball team came up short against Florida on Senior Day, falling 61-52 inside Mizzou Arena Sunday afternoon.
Senior forward Hayley Frank (Strafford, Mo.) led the Tigers (17-12, 6-10 SEC) in scoring with 16 points while junior guard Sara-Rose Smith (Victoria, Australia) picked up nine rebounds, leading the team in boards for the 15th game this season.
Graduate guard Haley Troup (Gadsden, Ala.) finished with seven points and eight boards in her Mizzou Arena finale.
The two squads began the game in a back-and-forth battle, but consecutive triples from Frank and freshman guard Ashton Judd (West Plains, Mo.) were the catalysts of an 11-0 Tiger run to gain an early advantage.
The Gators (16-13, 5-11) opened the second stanza with an 11-2 run of their own, keeping the Tigers at bay for most of the period and taking a 30-23 lead to the locker room.
Florida maintained their lead in the third quarter, but buckets from Smith and Frank helped Mizzou stay within reach near the end of the period, cutting the deficit to nine.
Both teams traded baskets yet again for most of the fourth. Graduate guard Katlyn Gilbert (Indianapolis, Ind.) opened the scoring in the final period by hitting 3-of-4 free throw attempts which sliced the Florida lead to six, but a consistent Gator offense kept the game out of reach.
Mizzou shot 33.9 percent from the field while knocking down 10-of-13 (76.9%) from the free-throw line. Florida hit 30.6 percent from the floor, with a 14-of-19 (73.7%) free-throw performance.
UP NEXT
The Tigers travel to Greenville, S.C. on Thursday to open postseason play in the SEC Tournament. Missouri will take on rival Arkansas at 11 a.m. CT in a second round matchup. The showdown will be broadcast on SECN and KTGR.
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.
