Women’s Basketball Goes for Season Sweep Against Alabama

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The University of Missouri women’s basketball team looks to sweep the season series against Alabama Sunday at Mizzou Arena. The contest will tip off at 4 p.m., and will be broadcast on SEC Network and KTGR.

With Thursday’s win over Vanderbilt, the Tigers improved its overall record to 15-8 to go along with a 4-6 standing in SEC competition. After back-and-forth action in the first few minutes, Mizzou gained the upper hand by unleashing a 21-5 run to develop a double-digit lead that it would not relinquish.

The Tiger offense put forth its best shooting performance of the season, knocking down 56.9 percent of its shots. Mizzou converted at least half of its shots in three quarters, including a 10-of-12 (83.3%) rate in the third quarter.

Mizzou featured two 20-point scorers, as senior forward Hayley Frank and graduate guard Lauren Hansen carried the Tigers on offense. Frank amassed 25 points in her second-consecutive outing of 20+ points, while Hansen attained 22 points for her first 20-point tally since Jan. 12 against No. 5 LSU.

Off the bench, the Tigers received help from junior guard Sara-Rose Smith and freshman guard Ashton Judd, who recorded 16 and 10 points, respectively. For Smith, she collected her career high on a perfect 6-of-6 clip. On Judd’s end, she added a career-high eight boards.

Frank continued her climb up Mizzou’s scoring leaderboard, putting her career scoring total at 1,432 points. Heading into Sunday, she sits just one point back from Jordan Frericks (2013-18) for 11th place.

Hansen is also closing in on 1,000 points in her collegiate career, as she enters the contest with 981 career points.

As the Tigers and the Crimson Tide collide for the second time this season, Mizzou holds a 9-7 advantage in the all-time series.

The hosts also own bragging rights with the Tigers eking out a 66-65 win in Tuscaloosa, Ala. on Jan. 5. With four scorers in double figures, graduate guard Katlyn Gilbert led the way with 13 points as the Tigers staved off a fourth-quarter comeback. On the game’s final possession, sophomore forward Sarah Linthacum swatted a shot inside to prevent a game-winner from the Crimson Tide.

Alabama enters Sunday’s matchup with a 16-6 record along with a 5-4 SEC mark. The Crimson Tide own impressive SEC road victories over Ole Miss and Arkansas on their ledger.

Head coach Kristy Curry leads Alabama in her 10th season in Tuscaloosa. She has accumulated a 167-136 overall record in her career, and has helped the Crimson Tide to its fourth-consecutive winning season this year.

Senior guard Brittany Davis serves as the Crimson Tide’s offensive leader with 17.3 points per game while topping the team’s rebounding leaderboard with 6.5 boards per game. In the previous meeting between Mizzou and Alabama this season, Davis led all scorers with 26 points while collecting six rebounds.

On offense, Alabama gets a wealth of its scoring from beyond the arc. The Crimson Tide rank 10th in the nation in 3-point shooting, hitting 37.9 percent of their shots from distance. Defensively, the Tide rank top-five in the SEC in scoring defense, permitting just 57.9 points per game.

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