Women’s Basketball Rallies Late, Falls to Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Missouri Women’s Basketball fell to Kentucky, 76-71, Sunday afternoon at Rupp Arena.

Senior forward Hayley Frank led the Tigers in scoring with 24 points and added five assists. Frank now sits just 23 points shy of Julie Helm (1996-00) for fourth on the program’s career scoring list.

Senior guard Mama Dembele tallied nine points and a team-high 10 assists. Dembele is now three assists from passing Sophie Cunningham (2015-19) for fourth on the program’s career assists leaderboard.

Freshman guard Grace Slaughter recorded 13 points and four rebounds, while sophomore guard Ashton Judd added nine points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

Missouri found a rhythm offensively in the opening minutes of the first. The Tigers knocked down six of their first eight attempts to jump out to an early 16-7 advantage.

Kentucky responded by outscoring Mizzou 9-4 in the closing moments of the quarter, as Missouri’s lead was cut to just four. The Tigers held the advantage 20-16 after the opener as Frank and Slaughter combined for 12 points on a perfect 4-of-4 clip in the frame.

Trailing by seven midway through the second, graduate forward Abby Feit hit a 3-pointer from the left corner and Slaughter converted back-to-back attempts to cut the Tigers’ deficit to three. A 3-pointer to beat the buzzer saw the Wildcats take a 38-32 lead into the break.

With Kentucky mainlining a small lead in the third, Slaughter and fellow freshman Abbey Schreacke combined for six points in five possessions to cut the Wildcats’ advantage to one with just under three minutes remaining. Kentucky converted their last four attempts in the period from the charity stripe to build a five-point cushion entering the final frame.

As the fourth quarter began, Kentucky used an 8-0 run to widen the gap to 63-52. However, seven straight points from Frank, paired with a 9-0 scoring run from Missouri, saw the contest squared up at 71-71. The Wildcats converted a crucial mid-range jumper with less than a minute to go to reclaim the lead and converted 3-of-4 from the free throw line in the closing seconds to secure the victory.

UP NEXT

The Tigers will return to Mizzou Arena at 7 p.m. on Thursday to face Texas A&M in the first game of a two-contest home stand. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network.