Dembele Records Triple Double, Women’s Basketball Falls to Auburn

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Despite a historic triple-double performance from senior guard Mama Dembele, University of Missouri Women’s Basketball fell to Auburn, 70-59, Sunday afternoon at Mizzou Arena.

With a team-high 15 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, Dembele recorded Missouri’s first triple-double since Christine Flores on Dec. 7th, 2011 against Eastern Illinois. It also marks the first with assists since Erika Martin on Nov. 27, 1995 versus Lamar.

Sophomore guard Ashton Judd added 14 points and eight rebounds. For Judd, it marked her fifth consecutive game in double figures matching a career-best streak.

Freshman guard Grace Slaughter tallied 12 points on an efficient 5-of-8 mark. Slaughter has reached double figures in nine of her last 10 contests.

Freshman guard Abbey Schreacke notched double figures for the second game in a row with 11 points.

Trailing by nine shortly after the opening tip, Dembele knocked down a 3-pointer while Slaughter converted a tough layup to cut the Tigers’ deficit to four midway through the frame. Auburn responded to the run and grew its lead to 16-8 at the end of the first.

Auburn used multiple offensive spurts to extend its advantage to double figures in the second period. Schreacke and Dembele led the continual fight for Mizzou. The freshman tallied five points in the quarter and knocked down a 3-pointer with less than a minute remaining in the frame. Dembele ended the half with six rebounds and six assists.

Mizzou found its rhythm offensively to begin the second half as just moments into the third quarter Judd and Dembele combined for back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the Auburn lead to 38-29. As Missouri continued to claw into Auburn’s advantage Slaughter and Schreacke each knocked down triples to even things out at 48-48. The 3-pointer proved to be pivotal as Mizzou used a 5-of-8 clip from beyond the arc in the period to overcome the deficit.

In response to Mizzou’s effort to square the contest, Auburn used a scoring run that began at the end of the third frame to retake a 63-48 lead. The late surge proved to be enough to secure the victory, despite late efforts from Missouri.

UP NEXT

Following a bye on Thursday, the Tigers hit the road to take on Arkansas at Bud Walton Arena on Sunday afternoon. Tip-off is slated for 3 pm and will be available on the SEC Network.