Women’s Basketball Falls to Kansas in Second Round of WNIT

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The University of Missouri women’s basketball team came up short against Kansas, falling 75-47 in the second round of the WNIT Monday night at Allen Fieldhouse. The two schools reignited the border showdown rivalry as the contest marked the first meeting since Feb. 18, 2012.

Senior forward Hayley Frank (Strafford, Mo.) led the Tigers (18-14, 6-10 SEC) in scoring for the 18th time this season, dropping 17 points and adding eight rebounds in Mizzou’s season finale.

Kansas (21-11, 9-9 Big 12) jumped out to an early lead, but a deep triple from Frank ignited a 7-0 Mizzou run to get themselves back in the contest. A back-and-forth finish to the first quarter saw the Jayhawks hold a five-point lead.

Shooting struggles for Missouri allowed Kansas to slowly build its lead, the Jayhawks embarking on a 10-0 in the midst of Missouri’s struggles. A Sara-Rose Smith (Victoria, Australia) and-one bucket ended the first half for Mizzou and sliced into the deficit before the teams headed to their respective locker rooms.

After a jumper from senior guard Lauren Hansen (Long Island, N.Y.) put the Tigers on board to start the third quarter, the Jayhawks went on yet another run, this time a 7-0 spurt to extend the lead to 21 midway through the period. Mizzou’s struggles from deep continued in the second half, going 0-of-7 from behind the arc in the third period.

Things improved their offensive execution and traded baskets with the Jayhawks in the final quarter, but the existing deficit led to the game’s final tally.

Missouri shot 37.3 percent from the field, but it was the aforementioned struggles from deep that hurt the Tigers, hitting just five triples on 21 attempts. Kansas starters accounted for all 75 of the team’s points, shooting 51.0 percent from the floor, knocked down 10 threes on 20 attempts, and shot 83.3 percent from the charity stripe.

UP NEXT

Missouri concludes the 2022-23 season with an 18-14 overall record. The Tigers advanced to the postseason for the 10th time in the last 11 seasons. Missouri’s freshman signing class includes two top-100 recruits in Grace Slaughter (No. 53) and Skylar Jones (No. 96).

For all the latest on Mizzou Women’s Basketball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team @MizzouWBB (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook).