Women’s Basketball to Open SEC Tournament Against Florida

COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri Women’s Basketball will face Florida in the first round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament at 12:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday in Greenville, S.C. The contest will be broadcast on SEC Network.

Missouri enters the tournament following an 11-18 regular season campaign.

The Tigers are led by preseason All-SEC First Team forward Hayley Frank who ranks seventh in the conference at 16.7 points per game.

On March 3, Frank became the fourth player in program history to record 2,000 career points.

The senior leads the SEC and is fourth nationally in free-throw percentage at 93.5%. Frank is poised to break the all-time program record for a career at 88.0 percent.

Senior point guard Mama Dembele ranks first in the conference and fifth nationally with 6.5 assists per game. Dembele also sits second in the SEC and seventh nationally with 3.3 steals.

The senior ranks fourth on Mizzou’s all-time leaderboard for assists (441) and became the fourth Tiger in program history to record 400 career assists against Tennessee on Feb. 4.

Freshman guard Grace Slaughter ranks third in the SEC among first-year players with 11.4 points per game.

Mizzou generates much of its offense from beyond the arc and is tied for second in the conference (38th nationally) in 3-point percentage (35.5%). The Tigers are also tied for 32nd in the country (2nd in SEC) with 8.2 makes per contest.

Missouri has the youngest starting lineup in the SEC by academic year (two freshmen, a sophomore and two seniors)

Florida enters Wednesday after concluding the regular season with a 14-14 record including a 5-11 mark against conference opponents.

The Gators are coached by third-year head coach Kelly Rae Finley who holds a 54-40 overall record during her tenure in Gainesville.

Florida suffered a first-round loss to Kentucky in the conference tournament a season ago before advancing to the quarterfinals of the WNIT.

Offensively, the Gators are led by the trio of Aliyah Matharu, Leilani Correa and Ra Shaya Kyle who all average double-digit scoring numbers.

Entering the postseason, Missouri is 44-33 all-time in conference tournaments. The Tigers hold an 11-4 advantage in the historical series against the Gators.

Florida won the only matchup between the programs this season with an 86-70 victory in Gainesville on Feb. 22.

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