Despite a hot offensive start, Mizzou women’s basketball fell to No. 2 Texas, 89-71, on Thursday evening at Mizzou Arena.
Missouri’s (12-4, 0-1 SEC) junior guard Grace Slaughter finished with 20 points, 15 of which came in the first half, on 6-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-4 from deep.
Junior guard Abbey Schreacke tallied 15 points with a trio of 3-pointers, adding three rebounds and two assists.
Sophomore guard Chloe Sotell rounded out Missouri’s double-digit scorers with 11, also adding three baskets from distance and a team-best six rebounds.
As a team, Mizzou shot 53.5 percent from the field and 63.2 percent from 3-point range.
The Tigers came out with their offense in sync, racing out to a 17-5 lead over Texas (16-0, 1-0 SEC) in the first four minutes with a barrage of 3-pointers, highlighted by five points from Sotell. In total, Mizzou opened the contest connecting on its first six shots, including its first four attempts from deep.
Texas cut into the deficit late in the first quarter, shooting 40 percent from the field to end the first quarter up 24-20.
Following Slaughter’s second triple of the evening, the second quarter was defined by defense from both teams, as the Tigers and the Longhorns went nearly three minutes without a made field goal.
Texas took its first lead of the night after converting on three of its next four shots with just under three minutes to go in the second. Mizzou responded by making two of its final three attempts to close out the opening half, heading into the locker room trailing 41-38. In total, the Tigers assisted nine of their 14 made baskets in the first 20 minutes.
Sotell’s second long ball gave Mizzou its first bucket of the second half before the teams began trading buckets down the stretch of the third quarter. A pair of free throws from Slaughter put the Tigers down 53-49 at the midway point of the frame, but the Longhorns responded with a 7-0 run to force a timeout.
Schreacke converted on a 27-footer at the end of the shot clock with 38 seconds to go in the third to end Mizzou’s offensive drought, putting the Tigers down 68-56 before the fourth.
Mizzou cut its deficit to 10 after Slaughter got to the rim for an uncontested layup to open the final frame of action. The Tigers managed to stay within striking distance of the Longhorns, as junior guard Lisa Thompson found Sotell in the corner for a 3-pointer with five minutes remaining.
Missouri was unable to close the gap and ultimately lost its first home contest to Texas as Southeastern Conference opponents.
UP NEXT
Mizzou’s first road contest of SEC action comes at No. 12 Kentucky on Sunday, Jan. 4, at 11 a.m. at Memorial Coliseum. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network.
