BATON ROUGE, La. – University of Missouri Women’s Basketball fell to No. 7 LSU, 92-72, in the Southeastern Conference opener on Thursday night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Senior forward Hayley Frank led the Mizzou with 22 points. It is the 12th occasion this season, Frank has topped the Tigers in scoring.
Continuing her all-around play from Missouri’s non-conference campaign, Senior guard Mama Dembele notched 15 points, nine assists, and six rebounds. Dembele, the SEC leader in assists per game, has now tallied five or more assists in four of her previous five contests.
Graduate forward Abby Feit posted 11 points and grabbed six boards on the night. Feit has reached double figures in five of her last six games.
In the contest’s opening minutes, the 3-point shot would be crucial for Mizzou. Missouri knocked down its first three attempts as the teams battled for separation. Frank and freshman Grace Slaughter each scored five in the opening quarter as LSU finished the first 10 minutes with a 20-19 advantage.
Frank and Dembele paced the Tigers’ offense in the second quarter. The game remained knotted at 32-32 with just over three minutes remaining before the half, but a late offensive spurt by LSU saw the home team take a seven-point lead into the break.
Missouri continued to battle to beign the third. Frank buried a pair of free throws and connected on a triple to keep the LSU advantage at six with just under three minutes elapsed, but a lengthy 23-5 LSU run down the stretch effectively put the contest out of reach.
Freshman Hilke Feldrappe, Dembele and Feit each charted five points in the fourth as Mizzou won the final frame 23-21.
Missouri limited LSU to a 3-of-17 (17.6 percent) clip from behind the arc. The Tigers have held their opponents to a combined 6-of-35 (17.1 percent) mark in their last two games.
UP NEXT
Missouri will welcome Alabama to Mizzou Arena for the conference home opener at 5 p.m. on Sunday. The contest will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
