Mizzou women’s basketball closed on a 14-2 run to earn a 88-80 victory over Mississippi State on Sunday afternoon at Humphrey Coliseum.
Junior guard Shannon Dowell paced Mizzou (15-9, 3-6 SEC) with 21 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Junior guard Grace Slaughter tallied 18 points, three boards and a pair of assists.
Senior guard Saniah Tyler scored a season-high 12 points.
Junior guard Abbey Schreacke contributed 13 points, three assists and three steals.
Mizzou scored the first five points of the contest to ease out to an early 8-5 lead as sophomore guard Chloe Sotell and Slaughter registered triples in the opening minutes. Knotted at 16 midway through the frame, the Tigers buried five of their last six shots with a pair of baskets from senior forward Jordana Reisma and Slaughter as Mizzou led 22-20 after one.
Mississippi State garnered a one-point lead in the first minutes of the second, but a long-range make by redshirt senior guard Jayla Smith quickly turned the advantage back to the Tigers. The frame turned into a back-and-forth affair as the lead was exchanged multiple times before the half.
Slaughter hit a 3-pointer with just under three minutes remaining to put Mizzou back in front after a quick deficit and Tyler converted from beyond the arc in the final seconds, but the bucket was answered by the Bulldogs on the final possession of the half. As a result, Mizzou trailed 44-43 headed into the break.
After the half, Schreacke paced the Tigers’ offense with a pair of triples in the opening two minutes. Despite the push by the junior, Mississippi State claimed a five-point lead. Dowell halted the hosts’ momentum with a 3-point play before Sotell and Tyler tallied triples to give Mizzou a one-point lead.
The Tigers distributed the scoring in the final minutes of the period and held a 68-65 advantage at the start of the fourth quarter.
The game tightened up defensively with just five points in the opening four minutes of the final frame.
Schreacke sank a 3-pointer from the corner to hand Mizzou a five-point lead with just over five minutes remaining, its largest of the contest to that point.
The Bulldogs responded to the offensive push with an eight-point swing to regain the lead.
Trailing by four, Mizzou ignited the late run as Slaughter hit a pair of crucial triples to give Missouri a two-point lead with just over a minute remaining.
Dowell absorbed contact and extended the lead with a layup that extended the lead to four. Moments later, Slaughter finished around the rim to put Mizzou up six before the Tigers closed the contest at the free-throw line.
The lead changed hands 20 times in the contest. With the victory, Missouri matched its win total from a season ago.
UP NEXT
Mizzou will travel to face Arkansas at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday at Bud Walton Arena. The road contest will be broadcast on SECN+ and the Tiger Radio Network.
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