Missouri’s Ashton Judd goes for a layup during Wednesday’s NCAA women’s basketball game against Texas A&M. (Photo: Thomas Grove)

NCAA Women’s Basketball	1	2	3	4	Final
Texas A&M (15-4, 3-3)	15	16	17	21	69
Missouri (11-9, 2-5)	6	19	19	23	67

Nora Nichols
Staff Writer

COLUMBIA, MO — The University of Missouri women’s basketball team huddled up with head coach Robin Pingeton for another key last-second play to could potentially tie or win the game, Wednesday night at Mizzou Arena against Texas A&M. The Tigers had found themselves in yet another dogfight and were trailing 67-65 with 20.1 seconds remaining. For the Tigers to win, it would require the same grit and resilience that brought them to the point.

“You expect it to be a dogfight,” Aggies coach Joni Taylor said of Missouri. “They’re tough, they’re disciplined, they know where they’re gonna get their shots from and they are never out of the game because of how well they shoot the ball.”

But all of the air was quickly popped out of the Tigers’ balloon. On two of Missouri’s last three possessions, Mama Dembele lost control on passes, turning the ball over.

The turnovers allowed Texas A&M to hold on to the lead, winning 69-67 and handing Missouri its second straight loss and its fifth overall of the conference season.

Missouri has become all too familiar with games falling out of their hands in the final minutes. Just four days prior to losing to Texas A&M, the Tigers had lost by five to Kentucky after tying the game at 71 with 1:15 remaining. Out of their nine losses on the year, five have been decided by less than 10 points.

“We’ve got to make the adjustments but just really being able to be locked in for 40 minutes,” Pingeton said of what the team needs to do better in close games. “I think their focus is where it needs to be but the importance of one possession at a time.”

Though the close loss stings for Missouri, it took plenty of resilience to make Thursday’s game as close as it ended up being. In the first quarter, the Tigers looked lifeless on offense. They were unable to find any opening to the lid of the net, shooting 2-for-18.

“We just needed to relax a little bit,” Pingeton said. “I just think it took some time to adjust to it. We got some really good looks that just were rushed or, we didn’t play with great pace.”

It was the Tigers defensive play, however, that kept them in the game. Texas A&M was not shooting much better, firing 8-of-21 from the field in the first quarter. Missouri only trailed 15-6 at the end of the quarter.

The Missouri offense found a way to come to life in the second half by way of three three-point makes from graduate forward Hayley Frank and a pair of back-to-back threes from freshman guard Grace Slaughter.

The second of Slaughter’s three-point makes with seven minutes remaining gave Missouri its first lead since the seven minute mark of the first quarter. Slaughter’s composure all season in tense moments has been noticeable and unique for a freshman. She credits the team’s shared mindset during times of adversity for her and the team being able to rally back.

“We definitely dug ourselves a hole in the first quarter,” Slaughter said. “We do pride ourselves on keeping our energy high. And being really locked in is what helped us find our way back and then maintain that throughout the game and make it a game in the end.”

But Missouri ultimately made too many mistakes in the closing minutes. The Tigers have shown plenty of times that they can go punch for punch with opponents but have yet to finish at a consistent level.

The Tigers now fall to 11-9 on the season and 2-5 in SEC play. They’ll look to bounce back this Sunday when they host Arkansas. Tip off is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Texas A&M 69

##	Player	GS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	ORB-DRB	REB	PF	A	TO	BLK	STL	PTS
32	Ware,Lauren	*	36	10-13	0-0	2-4	3-6	9	3	0	1	0	1	22
24	Jones,Sahara	*	32	6-11	1-5	1-2	2-6	8	2	1	1	0	3	14
03	Hylton,Tineya	*	26	2-5	2-3	4-4	1-2	3	4	6	1	0	1	10
05	Coulibaly,Aicha	*	32	4-10	0-0	1-2	5-2	7	4	6	5	0	1	9
01	Rogers,Endyia	*	34	3-11	1-5	0-0	0-4	4	4	3	1	0	1	7
15	Williams,Solè		6	1-3	0-1	1-1	0-0	0	1	0	1	0	0	3
04	Green,Kay Kay		14	1-1	0-0	0-0	0-1	1	0	2	1	0	0	2
14	Johnson,Maliyah		9	1-3	0-0	0-0	0-2	2	1	1	4	0	0	2
00	Bowles,Sydney		11	0-3	0-2	0-0	0-0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
TM	TEAM		0	0-0	0-0	0-0	2-1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Totals	–	200	28-60	4-16	9-13	13-24	37	21	19	15	0	7	69

Missouri 67

##	Player	GS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	ORB-DRB	REB	PF	A	TO	BLK	STL	PTS
43	Frank, Hayley	*	38	8-18	4-7	6-6	2-5	7	2	1	1	0	0	26
00	Slaughter, Grace	*	38	4-9	2-3	3-3	0-3	3	1	1	2	0	1	13
04	Dembele, Mama	*	36	2-4	0-0	7-11	0-4	4	3	7	6	0	1	11
24	Judd, Ashton	*	36	5-8	0-1	0-0	1-6	7	3	0	0	0	2	10
34	Linthacum, Hannah	*	11	0-0	0-0	2-2	1-0	1	2	0	2	0	0	2
23	Schreacke, Abbey		22	2-4	1-2	0-0	0-0	0	2	1	0	1	0	5
14	Feit, Abby		12	0-4	0-3	0-0	0-1	1	1	0	2	1	0	0
05	Feldrappe, Hilke		7	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	2	0	0	0	0
20	Linthacum, Sarah		0+	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
40	Linthacum, Micah		0+	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TM	TEAM		0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Totals	–	200	21-47	7-16	18-22	4-21	25	15	12	13	2	4	67

2023-24 Missouri Tigers Women’s Basketball Schedule

Date	Time	At	Opponent	Location	TV
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