Mizzou tips off SEC play with loss to No. 2 South Carolina
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Mizzou Women's Basketball fell short of securing an upset win to begin SEC action.
The Tigers got outscored by 21 points in the second half against No. 2 South Carolina, leading to an 83-52 loss in their SEC opener. Following Thursday's loss, head coach Robin Pingeton's group holds an 11-5 overall record.
You can watch the full postgame press conference with Coach Pingeton and players in the slideshow above.
After gaining its first and only lead of the night, courtesy of a layup from Grace Slaughter, MU allowed a 15-2 scoring run, which put South Carolina ahead 21-10 late in the first quarter. However, the Tigers scored eight straight points midway through the second quarter to cut that deficit down to 25-23, highlighted by three straight buckets from Slaughter and a layup from Ashton Judd to pull Mizzou within two points of tying the contest.
However, South Carolina recorded another scoring run to end the second quarter, tallying 11 of the final 14 points of the first half to take a 36-26 lead into the locker room.
Then, head coach Dawn Staley's squad sprinted away with the lead in the second half, following a lengthy scoring run that stretched from the 4:49-mark of the third quarter to the final seven minutes of the game. South Carolina outscored Mizzou 22-3 during that span to build a 28-point lead, an advantage that swelled to as much as 34 points in the fourth quarter.
Judd and Slaughter were the only Mizzou Tigers to score in double figures, posting 15 points and 13 points respectively. The West Plains native also added a team-high six rebounds and was tied for the team-lead in three-pointers with two.
Collectively, MU shot just 31.6% from the floor and 31.3% from three-point range while South Carolina hit nearly 48% of its field goal attempts. However, the biggest difference in the game was free throws and rebounding. The Tigers sent the visitors to the charity stripe 32 times in the contest and got out-rebounded by 21 boards.
Up next - Mizzou has another ranked opponent waiting for them this weekend. The Tigers travel to Tuscaloosa to face No. 19 Alabama on Sunday, Jan. 5 at 2 p.m.
