Mizzou women’s basketball was defeated by Troy 100-82 on Thursday morning at Mizzou Arena. The game, attended by over 3,000 people, coincided with Columbia Public School’s field trip day.
Junior guard Shannon Dowell led the Tigers with 25 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Dowell scored 20 of her points in the first half, making her the first Mizzou player to record 20 or more points in one half since Sophie Cunningham achieved this feat against Auburn on January 27, 2019.
Junior guard Grace Slaughter contributed 21 points and made all five of her free throw attempts. Sophomore guard Chloe Sotell added 11 points, connecting on three of four shots from beyond the arc and securing a team-high seven rebounds.
Mizzou started strong with an early three-point lead after Slaughter converted an and-1 play and junior guard Lisa Thompson hit a three-pointer on the team’s opening possessions. The Trojans responded quickly, resulting in both teams exchanging scores for much of the first quarter. Dowell’s late three-pointer gave Mizzou a five-point advantage with just over a minute left in the period, but Troy finished the quarter ahead 31-30.
The Tigers were effective from long range early on, making five of six attempts from behind the arc in the first period. Both teams continued to trade leads throughout the second quarter; Sotell intercepted a pass that set up Slaughter for a fast break layup. The Tigers also capitalized on free throws to briefly take a one-point lead before halftime. By the end of the first half, there had been eight lead changes and Troy held a 61-54 advantage.
In the third quarter, Troy extended its lead to twelve before Slaughter’s three-pointer reduced it to nine. However, Troy continued to build its advantage during this period. Although Mizzou outscored Troy in the fourth quarter, they were unable to overcome the deficit.
A notable statistic from the game was Mizzou’s perfect performance at the free throw line; they made all 21 attempts. This marks only the second time in program history that Missouri has gone perfect from the line with at least twenty attempts—the previous occurrence was on January 28, 2004 against Oklahoma.
Next up for Mizzou is a matchup against Washington State in the WBCA Classic at 2 p.m. Sunday at World Wide Sports Complex in Kissimmee, Florida.
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