No. 16 Oklahoma completes second half comeback to beat Mizzou
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Despite carrying a four-point lead into halftime, the Mizzou women's basketball team couldn't hold off No. 16 Oklahoma for a win on Sunday afternoon. The Sooners topped the Tigers in an 82-66 win at Mizzou Arena to drop MU to below .500 on the season.
With the loss, head coach Robin Pingeton and company are now 13-14 overall and 2-10 in Southeastern Conference play.
You can watch the full postgame press conference with Coach Pingeton and players in the video player below.
Mizzou came out strong in the first half of the renewed rivalry with Oklahoma, as senior Laniah Randle rattled off 12 points, followed up by sophomore star Grace Slaughter, who scored eight points in those first 20 minutes. The Tigers also managed to limit the Sooners' leading scorer, Raegan Beers, to just four points in the first and second quarters.
However, after halftime, the momentum swung in the direction of the 16th-ranked team in the land.
Oklahoma rallied to take the lead in the third quarter, out-scoring Mizzou 23-8. After that run, Pingeton's team could never fully recover. All-in-all, the Tigers got out-scored 42-22 in the final two quarters of action.
Even after shooting just 38 percent from the field in the first half, the Sooners came out of the locker room with a hot hand, shooting at a 60 percent clip in the second. Oklahoma ended up with five players getting into double-figures in the win at the Arena, with Payton Verhulst notching a game-high 15 points.
On the flip side, Mizzou had three players get into double-digit scoring, with junior Ashton Judd leading the charge with 13 points. Slaughter and Randle were right behind the West Plains native with 12 points apiece, as well.
It felt like the Tigers couldn't get any shots to land in the second half. After shooting 63 percent from the field,
Despite actually having a better night shooting and protecting the basketball, the Tigers, once again, didn't have enough gas in the tank to finish out an upset that would've given them their first winning streak since Dec.
Up next - Mizzou women's basketball will close out the final four games of the 2024-25 regular season. The Tigers will host No. 8 Kentucky at Mizzou Arena on Thursday, Feb. 20. Tip off is slated for 6:30 p.m.
