COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri women’s basketball toppled Southern 66-51 in the 2024-25 home opener Thursday night at Mizzou Arena.
Senior forward Laniah Randle powered Missouri with a double-double performance of 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Sophomore guard Grace Slaughter topped the Tigers in the scoring column with 15 points behind a pair of 3-pointers.
Junior guard Ashton Judd added 13 points and tallied a career-high four steals on the defensive end.
After trading points with the Jaguars early in the first quarter, Missouri went on a 14-point scoring streak to give them a 21-4 lead at the end of the quarter. Judd opened the charge for the Tigers at the free-throw line, Randle and graduate Angelique Ngalakulondi bolstered the scoring while sophomore guard Abbey Schreacke capped the run with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
Schreake opened the scoring for Missouri in the second quarter, recording another triple. The Tigers totaled five triples in the contest.
Randle converted two shots in the paint for the Tigers in the frame. The seniors’ six makes all came around the basket in the contest. Despite the effort, Southern narrowly cut into the Tigers’ advantage as Missouri led 31-22 at the break.
Entering the third, Randle set the tone for Missouri with a layup to open the quarter. Slaughter followed shortly after with two threes, recording her first made 3-pointers of the season.
Slaughter, Randle and graduate guard Nyah Wilson recorded a trio of layups before Schreacke ended the quarter with another last-second 3-pointer to give the Tigers a 51-33 lead.
Junior guard Tilda Sjökvist opened the final frame with a layup to mark her first points as a Tiger.
Sophomore guard Averi Kroenke tallied her first points of the game in the fourth with a breakaway layup and a triple before Randle closed the contest with a jumper.
Missouri doubled the Jaguars’ 3-pointers, eight to four, converting 33.3% behind the arc. The Tigers shot 46.0% in the paint and added 41 rebounds and 15 assists.
UP NEXT
Missouri hosts Norfolk State at 2 p.m. on Sunday at Mizzou Arena. The contest will be broadcast on SEC Network.
