Mizzou Women’s Hoops falters in final minute, falls to Ole Miss 68-66

A horrendous 60 seconds was just enough to prevent a Tigers upset

The best place to start with this story is at the end; Mizzou Women’s Basketball (13-16, 2-12 SEC) gave themselves a chance late with an 8-0 run to cut the Ole Miss (18-8, 9-5 SEC) lead to one with just over one minute remaining. The Rebels missed a shot on one end, giving the Tigers another chance to take the lead. Laniah Randle made the choice to take it to the rack, missing a tough contested layup. The ball fell right into the lap of Ashton Judd, who missed a wide open layup before having it bounce off her leg while battling for the rebound with nine seconds remaining.

Mizzou was forced to foul, sending Kennedy Todd-Williams to the free throw line where she missed BOTH free throws. But the Tigers couldn’t snag the offensive rebound, and Madison Scott grabbed the board and was fouled. Scott then missed both free throws AGAIN, and the Rebels came down with the rebound AGAIN. Ole Miss finally made a free throw, going 1-2 from the line where Randle (finally!) grabbed the rebound with four seconds remaining. Randle got one final shot with a layup, but it rimmed out as time expired as Mizzou fell just short of forcing overtime.

While this final minute was quite miserable for Mizzou fans, it paled in comparison to the third quarter (sigh, again). The Tigers entered the quarter with a 10-point lead, but that advantage dissipated after a 29-11 Rebel run across those 10 minutes. Mizzou turned the ball over 9 (!) times in that period, allowing Ole Miss to run in transition for easy points. The Rebels shot lights out at 13-19 from the field in the quarter and did most of their damage from inside the arc, finishing 1-2 on threes in that span.

However, third quarter horrors aside, it wasn’t all negative for Mizzou this game. In addition to winning the 4th quarter, the Tigers had a phenomenal second quarter with a 22-12 advantage. Mizzou rarely missed, finishing 9-12 from the field during that frame. It was the highest scoring quarter for Grace Slaughter, who scored 8 points. Slaughter led the team in points with 18 including a pair of threes.

Judd was the second highest scorer, stuffing the stat sheet with 17 points with two triples of her own and five assists. But that success came with its own struggles, finishing 3-7 on free throws and fouling out during the final minute. And perhaps most importantly, when the Tigers needed a bucket before the ensuing free throw extravaganza, she couldn’t find the net.

Randle was the final Tiger in double-digits with 11 points, adding 6 rebounds to her stat line. She also finished second in assists with four.

Averi Kroenke took a beating all game, missing practically the entire first half after getting elbowed while defending a shot in the first half. She later returned to the game with a massive bandage on her forehead, playing as part of the closing lineup for Mizzou.

Ole Miss had a distinct height advantage over the Tigers, showing dominance inside the paint. The Rebels led the game in total rebounds, offensive rebounds, paint points and blocks.

This has marked the sixth time in the last seven games where the Tigers have been outscored in the third quarter and one of the primary reasons for the current 3-game losing streak.

Mizzou will get a prime chance to break that streak against the equally struggling Arkansas Razorbacks (9-20, 2-12 SEC) team at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 27 on SEC Network+.