Frank Guides Women’s Basketball Past Georgia

COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri Women’s Basketball (11-7, 2-3 SEC) captured its second consecutive Southeastern Conference victory with a, 69-57, win over Georgia on Thursday night at Mizzou Arena.

Senior forward Hayley Frank led the Tigers with 24 points on 10 made field goals, one shy of a career-high. The performance marked Frank’s fifth 20-plus point game of the season and the 30th of her collegiate tenure. Frank also grabbed four rebounds, while dishing out a season-high five assists.

Freshman guard Grace Slaughter contributed 18 points for the Tigers, marking her highest-scoring game in conference play. Slaughter added four rebounds and two assists to her stat line. The freshman matched a career-best with three makes from beyond the arc.

Senior point guard Mama Dembele was among a trio of Tigers who scored six points against the Bulldogs (10-8, 1-4 SEC) alongside sophomore Ashton Judd and freshman Hannah Linthacum. Dembele snagged a career-high nine rebounds to complement five assists.

Missouri earned a quick advantage following the opening tip. Catapulted by an and-one conversion by Frank, the Tigers saw an early 11-6 lead. Frank finished with nine points and three rebounds in the first as the Tigers were in front, 18-12.

Missouri opened the second on an 11-7 run as freshman Grace Slaughter capped the charge with a coast-to-coast layup. The bucket extended the Tigers’ lead to double-digits at 29-19 with a little over seven minutes remaining before the break. Frank added six of her own in the frame to give the Tigers their largest halftime lead in SEC play this season at 37-29.

Missouri boasted a well-rounded scoring effort in the third quarter as six different Tigers’ recorded buckets. Frank and freshman Abbey Schreacke ended the quarter with back-to-back triples to give Mizzou a 59-41 edge.

Georgia tried to close the gap in the fourth with a 6-0 scoring run but late buckets, by Frank and Judd maintained the Tigers’ commanding advantage to the final buzzer.

Missouri converted 53 percent (28-of-53) of their shot attempts on the evening while holding Georgia to just 34 percent (19-of-56)

UP NEXT

Missouri will travel to Kentucky for a road contest with the Wildcats at 1 p.m. CT on Sunday. The game will air on SECN+