In its penultimate game of non-conference play, Mizzou women’s basketball rolled to an 84-57 win over North Alabama. The Tigers have now won seven of their last eight games.
Grace Slaughter and Jayla Smith each had stellar offensive outings, as the two combined for 32 of Mizzou’s 38 first-half points and 42 of its 84 total points.
Slaughter started the game white-hot, scoring Mizzou’s first 13 points on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting. She got into the paint early and often, and North Alabama couldn’t do
much to contain her. Slaughter ended the first quarter with 16 points, three more than North Alabama’s entire team. She cooled off in the second quarter, scoring four points on 2-of-6 shooting, but Smith picked up the slack, scoring nine points in the second frame.
The Tigers didn’t live at the charity stripe as they had in previous games, converting nine of 11 attempts (both of which were their second-lowest totals this season). But they tallied high volume and high efficiency from the field, which made their lack of free-throw atttempts a moot point.
From beyond the arc, MU shot 15-of-38, with Smith and Abbey Schreacke combining for seven makes in 12 attempts. Chloe Sotell shot just 3-of-11 from beyond the arc, but she logged a game-high (and career-high) 13 rebounds. She has 30 rebounds over her past three games.
MU spread the sugar effectively on offense, as all nine Tigers who saw the floor made at least one field goal. Reka Toman, who knocked down a corner 3-pointer late in the third quarter, scored her first points since MU’s win over Washington State on Nov. 23. Elsewhere, 22 of Mizzou’s 30 made field goals were assisted.
On the other end of the floor, North Alabama couldn’t get much going. The Lions shot just 32% from the field and 21.4% from beyond the arc. Alexsandra Alvarado, who entered Sunday as UNA’s leading scorer, scored just three points on 1-of-11 shooting.
Mizzou still played well offensively despite being without Shannon Dowell, whose left foot was in a boot. One of MU’s top scorers (16.4 points per game, second behind Slaughter) is reportedly day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
The Tigers will close its non-conference slate at home against Kansas City next Sunday. Tip-off is scheduled for noon C.T. The Roos have yet to beat a Division I opponent this season, although they only lost road contests t0 Kansas and Arkansas by 10 and 15 points, respectively.
