Women’s Basketball Topples Vanderbilt in Nashville

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – University of Missouri Women’s Basketball overcame a 12-point deficit to secure its first conference victory over Vanderbilt, 65-63, Sunday afternoon at Memorial Gymnasium.

Sophomore Ashton Judd led the Tigers (10-7, 1-3 SEC) with 19 points, seven rebounds, and four steals. Judd scored 15 points on a 6-of-9 clip in the second half. The sophomore also matched a career-best with four steals.

Graduate Forward Haley Frank scored 17 points with a 5-of-8 mark from behind the arc. Frank also added a team-high eight rebounds and three steals.

Freshman guard Grace Slaughter, who ranked third in scoring among SEC Freshmen entering the contest, added 12 points. Slaughter tallied seven points in the final quarter on a perfect 3-of-3 clip.

Graduate forward Abby Feit provided a spark off the bench adding 11 points on 4-of-7 shots from the floor and four rebounds. Feit’s eleven points all came in the second half, which helped the Tigers overcome their deficit.

Senior Guard Mama Dembele, who entered the contest leading the SEC in assists, notched nine assists and six steals. Dembele’s effort saw her move past Dee-Dee Polk (1982-84) for fifth on the program’s all-time assists list.

It was a contested first quarter in the Music City as the teams traded the lead multiple times. Vanderbilt (16-2, 3-1 SEC) would use a 6-0 run near the end of the quarter to take its largest lead of the frame at 14-9. In the final moments of the period, a tough bucket from Ashton Judd, combined with a steal and fastbreak bucket from Dembele, narrowed the deficit to one, as the Commodores led 14-13.

Slaughter opened up the second quarter with a three, to close out a 7-0 Mizzou run, but Vanderbilt would respond with an 11-0 run of its own. The surge helped propel the Commodores to a 25-16 lead. As the half came to a close, Frank hit back-to-back 3-pointers to help the Tigers close the gap to five. At the break, the senior forward led the Tigers with 11 points behind three makes from beyond the arc.

Vanderbilt found a rhythm to start the second half as the Commodores extended their lead to 41-29. However, Feit would provide a spark off the bench, adding eight points in the quarter along with an assist to a Judd 3-pointer. Feit and Judd would combine to score 17 of the Tiger’s points in the period as Missouri trailed 52-44 entering the final frame.

Missouri carried the momentum into the fourth quarter with five different Tigers recording points while the team out-scored Vanderbilt 15-2. The effort allowed Mizzou to take a two-point lead with just over five minutes remaining. Back-to-back buckets by Slaughter maintained the Tigers’ advantage with under two minutes to go before Judd knocked down a crucial jumper as the shot clock hit zero to extend the lead to five. Vanderbilt made it a two-point game with just 35 seconds on the clock, but Missouri stood up defensively and forced a turnover to secure the victory.

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The Tigers will return to Mizzou Arena on Thursday night to take on Georgia. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and is available to stream live on SECN+.