Slaughter’s 23-point night not enough to topple No. 21 Alabama

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Mizzou women's basketball team couldn't ride a big night for junior guard Grace Slaughter to the bank for their first SEC win, as the No. 21 Alabama Crimson Tide walked out of Columbia with a 74-63 victory.

You can watch the full postgame press conference with head coach Kellie Harper, as well as guards Grace Slaughter and Abbey Schreacke in the video player below.

The last time Mizzou played on its home court, the Tigers lead led-No. 2 Texas for more than 16 minutes and they hoped to carry that same energy into Monday night's showdown with the Crimson Tide.

Thanks to 17 first-half points from Slaughter, Coach Harper's team only trailed No. 21 Alabama by three points at halftime. However, the problem was that Slaughter didn't have a supporting cast, in the scoring department, for much of the game.

She finished the loss to the Crimson Tide with a team-best 23 points, along with nine rebounds, but was the only Tiger in double-figures until less than two minutes remained in the game. In those final minutes, guards Abbey Schreacke and Shannon Dowell also cracked the double-figure threshold, finishing the game with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Coach Harper's team shot 37.9 percent from the field and 42.9 from 3-point range, on Monday, as the group is still on the hunt for its first Southeastern Conference win of the year. However, the Crimson Tide didn't have its best shooting night either, going 42.4 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from 3-point range.

However, Monday's game marked the end of a brutally tough start to conference play for the Tigers. In the first four games of league action Mizzou has faced teams that all rank in the AP Top-25, three of which landed in the Top-12.

Now, MU will enter a much more favorable part of its schedule, facing teams in the bottom half of the SEC over the next few weeks: Arkansas, Florida, Texas A&M, Auburn and Mississippi State.

Up next - Coach Harper and her squad will fight for their first conference win in rivalry fashion on Thursday, as the Arkansas Razorbacks will be in town for a 6:30 p.m. tipoff.