Women’s Basketball Falls to Saint Louis

COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri Women’s Basketball team fell, 93-85, to Saint Louis on Sunday afternoon at Chaifetz Arena.

Four Tigers scored in double figures including two 21-point efforts by freshman Grace Slaughter and sophomore Ashton Judd. Slaughter was an efficient 9-of-12 from the floor while Judd was 3-of-6 from beyond the arc and added six rebounds.

Mama Dembele guided the Mizzou offense with a career-high 14 assists to go along with 11 points and eight rebounds.

Hayley Frank recorded 12 points, grabbed three boards and dished three assists. Frank battled foul trouble down the stretch as she picked up her fourth personal with just over two minutes remaining in the third quarter.

With a made free-throw at the 2:22 mark of the first quarter, Frank passed Evan Unrau (2000-04) to move into eighth on the program’s all-time scoring list. The forward stands 19 points shy of Lorraine Ferret (1979-83) for seventh.

Missouri jumped out to an early advantage in what was a fast-paced affair. A layup by Judd and a triple by Slaughter sparked a 12-4 run that saw the Tigers lead by 10 at the two-minute mark of the first period. Saint Louis strung together a 9-0 response before a 3-pointer by Judd gave Mizzou a 22-18 edge following the first frame.

The respective teams traded baskets in the second stanza. The back-and-forth affair saw neither team garner more than a four-point advantage. Dembele scored seven of her final point total in the second as the Billikens led 43-39 at the break.

Missouri ramped up its energy on the offensive end to begin the third. Tied at 47 apiece, Slaughter got behind the defense for a transition bucket that ignited a 10-0 Tigers run which was bookended with a reverse layup by Dembele. Saint Louis tried to narrow the gap, but triples by Judd, Frank combined with a buzzer-beating shot from beyond the arc by Slaughter handed Mizzou a seven-point lead headed into the fourth.

Graduate Abbey Feit tried to stave off a Billikens rally to begin the final frame with two early triples, but hosts chipped away and evened the score with just over three minutes remaining before closing out the contest.

Saint Louis visited the charity strip 28 times and converted 23 of its attempts (82%), alternatively, the Tigers were only able to earn seven trips to the line making five free throws on the night.

The Billikens bench aided the effort as they outscored the Tigers’ reserves 46-16.

UP NEXT

Missouri will return home and look to respond against North Alabama on Tuesday. The season’s fourth contest will tipoff at 7 p.m. on SECN+

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