ANOTHER poor 3rd quarter spells disaster for the Tigers
The Mizzou women’s basketball team (13-15, 2-11 SEC) is stuck in a time vortex. Every time they step onto the court, they are forced to play the same game over and over. After taking a first half lead, head coach Robin Pingeton’s team gets buried in the 3rd quarter and the lead is never to return.
The latest installment of this story happened tonight against No. 14 Kentucky (21-4, 10-3 SEC), losing 73-65 after being outscored 23-13 in the 3rd quarter.
Mizzou looked to build a first quarter lead, ahead 16-12 with a little over two minutes remaining. Their momentum was stunted after an intentional foul on Mizzou’s Angie Ngalakulondi, sparking a 6-0 by the Wildcats. The Tigers closed the quarter with a bucket from Laniah Randle to tie things up at 18.
Mizzou led 34-31 at the half in part to a 9-2 run halfway through the second quarter. All nine points came on triples— two from Grace Slaughter and one from Ashton Judd.
Randle (13 points) and Slaughter (12 points) carried the Mizzou offense early, accounting for nearly 3⁄4 of all Tiger points.
“I think [Laniah] is such a hard guard around the rim. She’s so physical and aggressive and explosive,” Pingeton said. Slaughter does what Slaughter does…she’s still kind of evolving into this role of how to put a team on her shoulders, and she’s so unselfish…just really challenging her to be more aggressive on the offensive end. And I think she’s really kind of figured that out. I’d say, over the last six, seven games.”
That’s when the Wildcats took control. Kentucky’s offense clicked on all cylinders with 23 points on 7-9 shooting. Georgia Amoore finally heated up, scoring 8 points in the quarter to go with her first made three. She finished the first half with 4 points on 1-8 shooting before a major rebound in the final 20 minutes. Her second half was much more like herself, with 15 points on 4-6 shooting.
“Second half she (Amoore) got loose a couple times where maybe we didn’t quite know our matchups or whatnot,” guard Averi Kroenke said. “She also hit some really tough shots…you play great defense, and she just makes a great better offensive play.”
By contrast, Mizzou struggled offensively in the third, scoring its lowest of any quarter at just 13 points. This came as a direct result of poor shooting — only 4-16 from the field — while getting to the line only once for a pair of FTs.
This, of course, was a major setback heading into the final frame, as the Tigers were forced to play from behind. Mizzou played well but was matched by Kentucky, and the Wildcats held on for the 8-point win.
The Tigers fought until the end, cutting the lead to two points in the final two minutes. But it just wasn’t enough, as key missed shots and turnovers kept Pingeton’s team from completing the comeback.
Mizzou was without one of its top scorers for most of the second half after Ashton Judd left the game late in the third quarter with an injury. She appeared to be limping and favoring her left leg but was able to walk off under her own accord. She returned to the bench in the final minute, but did not make an appearance. Pingeton suspected it was cramping but had no definitive injury update after the game.
Missouri guard Ashton Judd (24) drives into the lane during the first half of a game against Kentucky on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025, at Mizzou Arena. (Sam Simon for Rock M Nation)
Randle and Slaughter finished as the only Tigers in double digits, combining for 39 points to carry the offensive load. Laniah racked up her sixth double-double of the season with an emphatic 21 points and 13 rebounds, including nine on the offensive glass. As a whole the Tigers hounded the glass, winning the rebounding battle 39-27 and offensively 19-5.
“I thought they played with a ton of grit, ton of heart, and I’m so proud of them for that,” Pingeton said. “I feel like the last six games we’ve been mentally, physically and emotionally in a really good space,”
The real separator for Kentucky was the points off turnovers. While Mizzou only committed 12 turnovers, the Wildcats turned those into 22 points on a plethora of live-ball turnovers.
“A lot of times those live ball turnovers are almost impossible to defend,” Pingeton said. “I thought we did a better job taking care of the ball tonight, [but] I still think we can probably even do better.”
Another area of struggle was foul trouble, as Mizzou’s mistakes allowed Kentucky to get to the line 18 times, converting 15 times. By contrast, the Tigers finished 6-10, including an uncharacteristic 0-2 from Abbey Schreacke. Angie, Laniah and Averi nearly fouled out with four each, forcing Pingeton to limit playing time and shuffle rotations.
The Tigers have now lost 15 in a row against ranked opponents dating back to 2022, failing to break the ice in the rock-solid SEC.
Mizzou hits the road for the first time in 14 days in another tough matchup against the surprisingly unranked Ole Miss Rebels (17-8, 8-5 SEC). Tipoff is at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 23.