Women’s Basketball Falls to Florida in Opening Round of SEC Tournament

GREENVILLE, S.C. – University of Missouri women’s basketball fell to Florida, 66-60 in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference tournament on Wednesday at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.

Sophomore guard Ashton Judd led the Tigers with 17 points and added seven rebounds to her effort. Judd equaled teammate Hayley Frank for a team-high 23rd game with double figures this season.

Freshman guard Grace Slaughter record 14 points and seven rebounds. Slaughter ends her freshman campaign fifth on the freshman class scoring list with 345 points this season.

Senior guard Mama Dembele added eight points, seven assists, and four steals. Dembele’s defensive effort was enough to match Lauren Hansen’s performance against Arkansas on March 3, 2023, for the most steals in an SEC tournament game.

Senior forward Hayley Frank tallied seven points and a team-high eight rebounds. With 2 3-pointers made in the game, Frank became the second Tiger in program history with 300 makes from beyond the arc in a career.

Slaughter kickstarted the Missouri offense as she started with a perfect 3-of-3 clip and scored seven of the Tigers’ first 10 points. The effort helped Mizzou jump out to a 10-4 lead in the opening minutes of the contest. Despite the strong start from Missouri, Florida clawed into the Tigers’ lead and cut the deficit to 10-9. However, freshman forward Hannah Linthacum made back-to-back tough layups to maintain the Mizzou advantage at 16-13 at the end of the first.

Florida used momentum from the end of the opening quarter to claim the lead. Trailing halfway through the second period freshman guard Abbey Schreacke and Judd knocked down back-to-back triples to cut the deficit to 31-22. However, the Gators maintained their momentum and extended the lead to 42-26 entering the halftime break.

Behind to begin the second half, Frank knocked down a triple to spark the Missouri offense. The Tigers closed out the third frame outsourcing Florida 15-2 to close the gap to 50-43. During the run, Slaughter added seven points including a 3-pointer.

Around the midway mark in the final frame, Dembele made a layup that began an 8-0 run that cut the deficit to 60-57. In the run Judd and Dembele each tallied four points. However, the late surge fell short as the Gators converted their last two attempts from the charity stripe to secure the victory.

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