Mizzou’s Ashton Judd defends against Vanderbilt’s Jordyn Cambridge, while teammates Abby Feit (14) and Abbey Schreacke (23) look on during Sunday’s SEC women’s basketball game at Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gymnasium. (Photo: Thomas Grove)

NCAA Women’s Basketball	1	2	3	4	Final
Missouri (10-7, 1-3)	13	11	20	21	65
#25 Vanderbilt (16-2, 3-1)	14	15	23	11	63

Nora Nichols
Staff Writer

NASHVILLE, TN — The University of Missouri women’s basketball team earned its first win of 2024 —- and first in Southeastern Conference play -— thanks to a dominant fourth-quarter comeback, which led the Tigers to a 65-63 victory over No. 25 Vanderbilt, Sunday at Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gymnasium.

Missouri trailed 52-44 heading into the fourth quarter, but outscored the Commodores 21-11 in the final period to snag what proved to be a thrilling victory.

“Really proud of their resiliency,” Missouri head coach Robin Pingeton said. “It was hard not to get deflated. I give a lot of credit to our seniors with the way they showed up and modeled the composure that they did.”

Missouri is now 10-7 on the season and 1-3 in SEC play, after earning a win that left the entire team fired up as it left the court. Sunday’s contest was a back-and-forth battle early on, but Vanderbilt, which is now 16-2 overall and 3-1 in the SEC, took control in the third quarter and led by as many as 12 points before Mizzou began to mount its comeback.

And that comeback began with an 11-1 un midway through the fourth quarter that saw Mizzou take its first lead since the first quarter, when sophomore Ashton Judd made a fast break layup to put the Tigers up 55-53 with 5:32 to go.

Vanderbilt responded and was able to tie the score at 58, before Mizzou freshman Grace Slaughter drilled a three-pointer from the left corner that gave the Tigers the lead for good at 61-58. Slaughter added a driving layup and Judd hit a jumper with the shot clock running down to put Mizzou up 65-60 with 1:54 to go.

Vanderbilt’s Iyana Moore hit a three to cut into the deficit to two for the Commodores with 34 seconds left. Then the home team caught another break, when Mizzou’s Abby Feit traveled on a layup attempt to give the ball back to Vanderbilt with 15 seconds left.

But Mizzou’s defense made two fantastic plays to preserve the win in the final seconds.

First, point guard Mama Dembele knocked the ball out of Moore’s hands on a drive attempt down the lane. Moore tried to recover the ball, but stepped out of bounds before she could pass it to anyone.

Then, after Vanderbilt stole an inbounds pass, Khamil Pierre attempted a layup that could have tied the score, but Slaughter raced back and forced a miss, which was then rebounded by Judd, giving Mizzou possession with 1.3 seconds left. Hayley Frank threw the inbounds pass to the other end of the court, where it was deflected by Vanderbilt’s defenders, but no one could do anything with it as time expired giving Missouri the victory.

“I don’t think we’ve wavered at all in what our belief is for what we can get done,” Pingeton said. “No doubt, a win like this on the road against a Top 25 team only adds to the confidence. I think we have a really confident team and a confident locker room.”

MU made it a point to get Hayley Frank going from deep. The senior knocked down five triples in eight attempts while playing the entire 40 minutes. She finished with 17 points, a team-high eight rebounds, three steals, and one assist. She also took three charges to help energize the Mizzou defense.

“I thought our approach and mentality we played with against South Carolina and LSU, (we) needed to bottle that up,” Frank said. “No night is going to be easy in the SEC, and I thought we used that to our advantage tonight.”

Frank was aided by Judd, who came alive in the second half, scoring 15 of her 19 points in the third and fourth quarters. She added seven rebounds and a steal.

The duel between Jordyn Cambridge and Mizzou’s Dembele was a matchup between two of the best guards in the SEC.

Dembele, who missed Thursday’s game against No. 1 South Carolina, rejoined the starting lineup Sunday and did not miss a beat, finishing with six points, nine assists, five rebounds and an impressive six steals.

“She’s the heartbeat of this team,” Frank said. “She makes us go. I know she was in a lot of pain still, but she’s as tough as they come. (I’m) just really proud of her for battling it out, and we’re glad we could have her out there tonight.”

Cambridge, meanwhile, was held under her average of 14.7 points to 12 on 3-of-9 shooting. Pierre led the Commodores 16 points and 12 rebounds.

The victory extended Mizzou’s all-time record against Vanderbilt to 10-3, and the Tigers also handed the Commodores their first loss since November 29.

The Tigers will be back in action on Thursday, when they’ll host Georgia. That contest at Mizzou Arena is set for a 7 p.m. tipoff.

Missouri 65

##	Player	GS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	ORB-DRB	REB	PF	A	TO	BLK	STL	PTS
24	Judd, Ashton	*	39	8-13	1-4	2-2	1-6	7	2	0	4	0	1	19
43	Frank, Hayley	*	40	6-12	5-8	0-0	0-8	8	3	1	1	0	3	17
00	Slaughter, Grace	*	31	5-9	2-3	0-2	0-2	2	0	1	0	0	0	12
04	Dembele, Mama	*	34	2-8	0-0	2-2	0-5	5	2	9	2	0	6	6
34	Linthacum, Hannah	*	12	0-1	0-0	0-2	0-2	2	2	0	1	0	0	0
14	Feit, Abby		23	4-8	1-4	2-3	0-4	4	4	1	1	2	0	11
23	Schreacke, Abbey		11	0-2	0-2	0-0	0-0	0	1	2	1	0	0	0
05	Feldrappe, Hilke		8	0-1	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
20	Linthacum, Sarah		2	0-1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TM	TEAM		0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Totals	–	200	25-55	9-22	6-11	1-27	28	14	14	10	2	10	65

#25 Vanderbilt 63

##	Player	GS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	ORB-DRB	REB	PF	A	TO	BLK	STL	PTS
03	Cambridge,Jordyn	*	31	3-9	1-5	5-6	0-4	4	3	2	2	0	2	12
35	Washington,Sacha	*	22	3-6	0-0	3-3	2-5	7	0	0	1	2	0	9
11	Oliver,Jordyn	*	35	4-7	0-0	0-0	3-5	8	4	3	0	0	2	8
13	Pissott,Justine	*	31	3-8	1-6	0-0	1-3	4	1	0	2	1	0	7
23	Moore,Iyana	*	36	1-8	1-4	2-2	0-3	3	4	5	1	0	2	5
12	Pierre,Khamil		21	6-12	1-1	3-7	5-7	12	1	1	4	0	2	16
05	Allen,Ryanne		9	2-4	2-4	0-0	0-1	1	2	0	1	0	0	6
24	Makurat,Aga		11	0-4	0-3	0-0	0-0	0	1	1	2	0	0	0
21	LaChance,Bella		4	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
TM	TEAM		0	0-0	0-0	0-0	2-3	5	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Totals	–	200	22-58	6-23	13-18	13-31	44	17	12	14	3	8	63

Missouri Tigers 2023-24 Women’s Basketball Schedule

Date	Time	At	Opponent	Location	TV
January 18, 2024 (Thursday)	7 p.m.	Home	Georgia	Mizzou Arena
January 21, 2024 (Sunday)	1 p.m.	Away	Kentucky	Lexington, Ky.
January 25, 2024 (Thursday)	8 p.m.	Home	Texas A&M	Mizzou Arena
January 28, 2024 (Sunday)	2 p.m.	Home	Arkansas	Mizzou Arena
February 4, 2024 (Sunday)	1 p.m.	Away	Tennessee	Knoxville, Tenn.
February 8, 2024 (Thursday)	6 p.m.	Away	South Carolina	Columbia, S.C.
February 11, 2024 (Sunday)	1 p.m.	Home	Auburn	Mizzou Arena
February 18, 2024 (Sunday)	3 p.m.	Away	Arkansas	Fayetteville, Ark.
February 22, 2024 (Thursday)	5 p.m.	Away	Florida	Gainesville, Fla.
February 26, 2024 (Monday)	6 p.m.	Home	Ole Miss	Mizzou Arena
February 29, 2024 (Thursday)	7 p.m.	Home	Vanderbilt	Mizzou Arena
March 3, 2024 (Sunday)	2 p.m.	Away	Mississippi State	Starkville, Miss.
March 6-10, 2024	TBA	Neutral	SEC Tournament	Greenville, S.C. / Bon Secours Wellness Arena