Tigers now fall to 0-4 in SEC play against four top-25 opponents
The Tigers fought to the very end against No. 21 Alabama, but could not match the offensive output in the loss 74-63. The Tide led the whole game but really took control by winning the fourth quarter 21-14.
As a whole Alabama simply had the better offensive game, shooting 42.4% from the field with only three turnovers. By comparison the Tigers finished 37.9% with 11 turnovers. However, the limited turnovers was a step in the right direction, as Mizzou has been averaging 21.3 turnovers.
This whole game was a step in the right direction, with Mizzou having a real shot to complete the comeback up until the final three minutes or so. The 11-point loss is the closest in SEC play for the Tigers thus far.
Grace Slaughter led the team offensively with 23 points while adding nine rebounds and shot 10-18 from the field. She did the vast majority of her damage in the first half with her first 17 points coming in the first 20 minutes.
“They had some bigs guarding me, so I think just being able to attack them and drive on them was working well,” Slaughter said. “My teammates did a good job of moving the ball around the perimeter, which helped me seal good looks inside for post ups.”
Abbey Schreacke was the second-leading scorer with 12 points 4-7 from beyond-the-arc, with three of those triples coming in the second half. Shannon Dowell was the final Tiger in double-digits, finishing with 10 points on 3-13 shooting as she continues to work her way back to full health.
While Mizzou is 0-4 in conference play, they have faced quite the gauntlet with all four teams ranked in the AP top 25. While part of this is the nature of SEC basketball, it’s quite an unlucky scheduling quirk.
“I think it’s obviously been a really, really tough stretch, and I think we have to try to find growth each week, whether that is in the games, or in practices our preparation,” head coach Kellie Harper said. “We’re looking for ways to grow.”
Here is a play-by-play of the loss form Mizzou Arena:
It was back and forth with four early ties at the first media timeout. The game was tied at 9-9 thanks in large part due to six points from Grace Slaughter. But Mizzou ended the quarter ice cold, as Alabama took the lead thanks to an extended 13-2 run to close the frame. The Tigers could not make a shot, finishing the quarter 1-7. A big momentum killer was an odd technical foul where the Tigers were whistled for having six players on the court. It was a struggle to get depth scoring early as only two Mizzou players (Slaughter and Jordana Reisma) scored in the first quarter.
The deficit got worse before it got better, as the Tide opened the second quarter on an 8-2 run to stretch the lead to 17 with a hair under seven minutes in the half. But Mizzou flipped the script with an impressive 16-2 run led to close the half. Slaughter was once again the scoring force for the Tigers with nine points during the run. Mizzou held the Alabama offense in check as the Tide ended the half 1-14 from the field.
Alabama started the third quarter on yet another run, taking a 51-40 lead. But the Tigers finished the quarter with a 9-2 run of their own to cut the deficit to four points. All nine points came off of made threes as the Tigers made four long-balls in the quarter. Those triples were split evenly between Schreacke and Lisa Thompson, with each player scoring six in the frame.
The Tide separated themselves in the fourth quarter with a 21-7 run to take an 18-point lead with a hair under three minutes remaining. Mizzou went on a 7-point run of its own to close the game, but by that point the damage had been done. The Tigers shot just 3-12 in that final frame.
This game was part of the “We Back Pat” series, an annual tradition which honors former Tennessee coach Pat Summitt who passed away due to Alzheimer’s disease. This game means a little bit more to Harper, who won three national championships with Coach Summit from 1996 to 1998.
“Every year this game comes around, and what comes to my mind is how many of these players that played on the court don’t know her, they don’t know the history, they can’t sometimes understand the impact,” Harper said. “For somebody that played for her it’s also wonderful to be able to talk about her, turn on the TV and see clips of her, because she meant so much to sports and women’s basketball.”
The Tigers continue to search for their first SEC win, but will finally be favored at home against Arkansas, who is another team without a conference win. The Tigers play the Razorbacks at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday at Mizzou Arena. The game will be available to watch on SEC Network+ on the ESPN app.
Category: General Sports
