Mizzou falls to Florida, remains winless in SEC play
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Mizzou Women's Basketball's drought against SEC opponents has reached 16 straight games, dating back to the 2023-24 season.
The Tigers (11-8) dropped their fourth consecutive contest, losing 93-67 to the Florida Gators (11-7) at Mizzou Arena on Sunday afternoon.
After Ashton Judd scored back-to-back buckets to grab an early 7-4 lead for her team, MU gave up eight straight points to Florida in less than two minutes, putting the Gators in the driver's seat for the remainder of the contest. Mizzou responded by cutting its 12-7 deficit down to just one point with two quick scores from Judd and Laniah Randle, but Florida ignited another 8-0 rally to extend its lead to nine points late in the first quarter.
From there, head coach Robin Pingeton's group trailed by at least three possessions for the rest of the first half, falling behind 45-36 by halftime.
MU finally made its a two-score game to start the second half, but Florida's lead did not shrink past five points in the final 20 minutes. The Tigers made one last run at a comeback when Averi Kroenke connected on a fadeaway jumper to dent the deficit down to 59-53 midway through the third quarter, but the Gators quickly regained a double-digit advantage and outscored the Tigers by 14 points in the last 10 minutes to hand Mizzou an 0-4 start to league play.
Judd (18), Kroenke (11) and Grace Slaughter (17) all scored in double figures. Judd's 18 points paced the team while Kroenke's 11 points set a new career-high. The Rock Bridge graduate finished the game 4-for-5 in shot attempts, including a pair of three-pointers.
Florida outshot Mizzou across the board during Sunday's action. The Gators hit 56% of its shots, including 52% of its triples, and made 81% of its free throws. The Tigers shot 46% overall and just 29% from three-point range while converting only 12 of its 20 attempts from the charity stripe.
Up next - MU is back on the road for two games, starting with a reunion with Oklahoma on Thursday, Jan. 16 at 6 p.m. inside the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.
