Mizzou rides first quarter momentum to home-opening win over Southern

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Mizzou Women's Basketball (1-1) has secured its first win of the 2024-25 campaign. The Tigers outscored Southern University (0-2) by 17 points in the opening quarter, propelling them to a 66-51 victory in the team's home opener at Mizzou Arena.

Robin Pingeton's crew began the contest on a 7-2 scoring run, ending with the first of Ashton Judd's two three-pointers of the game. Southern University posted a pair of free throws to briefly stall the rally, but MU responded by scoring 14 unanswered points to close out the first quarter, including a three-pointer as time expired from Abbey Schreacke. The Quincy, Illinois native led the team with three triples and finished just one point shy of reaching double figures.

From there, the Jaguars managed to cut that 17-point deficit down to just nine points by halftime, sparked by a 12-3 rally early in the second quarter.

However, Mizzou quickly regrouped in the second half, taking a 21-point lead, its biggest advantage of the game, with a 12-0 rally late in the third quarter. Grace Slaughter ignited that scoring run with a three-pointer ahead of a media timeout. The Grain Valley graduate dropped 10 of her team-high 15 points in the second half.

Three different MU athletes scored double-digit points, including Slaughter (15), Judd (13) and Laniah Randle (10). The Southern Illinois Carbondale transfer also tallied a double-double with her game-high 10 rebounds.

Overall, the Tigers shot 46% from the floor and 33.3% from three-point range, but the most significant concern was turnovers. Mizzou committed 20 takeaways, resulting in 19 points off turnovers for the visitors. Defensively, MU also forced less turnovers (17) than the offense committed.

Up next - Coach Pingeton will lead her team back into battle on Sunday, Nov. 10 for a non-conference game against Norfolk State. Tipoff from Mizzou Arena is scheduled for 2 p.m.