Mizzou’s Aijha Blackwell grabs a rebound during the Tigers’ 83-73 loss to Arkansas on Sunday. (Photo courtesy: Mizzou Athletics)

Score by Period	1	2	3	4	Final
Missouri (13-3, 2-1)	12	18	18	23	73
Arkansas (11-5, 1-2)	19	28	15	21	83

by Cedric Williams
Senior Editor

The University of Missouri women’s basketball team fell behind big in the early going of its first Southeastern Conference road game of the season, Sunday afternoon against Arkansas.

The host Razorbacks jumped out to a 25-12 lead early in the second quarter, then went on a 20-10 run in the final five minutes to push their lead to 47-30 at halftime.

And though it did rally some in the second half, that deficit turned out to be too much for Missouri to overcome. So the Tigers eventually lost to the Razorbacks, 83-73.

Mizzou junior Hayley Frank led all scorers with 22 points, which came on nine-of-13 shooting and included four three-pointers. Teammates Mama Dembele (16 points), Aijha Blackwell (11 points), and Lauren Hansen (10 points) all scored in double-figures as well.

But Arkansas had five players score in double-figures, led by senior Amber Rodriguez, who had 21 points, and sophomores Makayla Daniels and Rylee Langerman, who both scored 17 points.

Missouri played much better in the second half and actually outscored Arkansas in both the third and fourth quarters, but even with their strong second half effort, the Tigers could never get closer than nine points in the fourth quarter.

A key stretch in that final stanza came following a Frank layup that made the score 64-55 Arkansas. The Razorbacks had possession and missed three shots, but got the offensive rebound on each of them before finally getting a basket to push their lead back over double-digits.

Then, after a missed shot on its next possession by Mizzou, Arkansas again missed a shot, but again got the offensive rebound and scored to go ahead 68-55.

The Tigers never got closer than 11 points the rest of the game, before Arkansas finally won by 10.

The loss dropped Mizzou’s overall record to 13-3 and its SEC record to 2-1. Arkansas, which came into the game having lost its three previous games, raised its record to 11-5 overall and 1-2 in league play.

Mizzou will be back in action on Thursday, January 13, when the Tigers will be on the road again for a matchup against No. 21-ranked LSU at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge.

The Tigers’ next home game will be on Monday, January 17, when they’ll host another ranked team – No. 13 Georgia. That contest will be played at Mizzou Arena in Columbia and will be televised nationally on the SEC Network.

Missouri 73

##	Player	GS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	ORB-DRB	REB	PF	A	TO	BLK	STL	PTS
43	Hayley Frank	*	37	9-13	4-7	0-0	1-4	5	2	0	3	0	1	22
04	Mama Dembele	*	36	5-7	3-3	3-4	1-1	2	4	5	2	0	1	16
33	Aijha Blackwell	*	34	3-12	0-2	5-7	5-9	14	2	2	3	0	0	11
01	Lauren Hansen	*	34	4-13	2-9	0-0	1-2	3	3	4	1	0	0	10
00	LaDazhia Williams	*	11	0-3	0-0	0-0	0-1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0
30	Izzy Higginbottom		22	3-6	0-0	0-0	2-0	2	1	3	0	0	0	6
02	Sara-Rose Smith		17	2-5	1-4	1-2	1-3	4	3	0	1	0	0	6
24	Kiya Dorroh		9	1-2	0-0	0-0	0-1	1	0	0	1	0	0	2
TM	TEAM		0	0-0	0-0	0-0	3-3	6	0	0	2	0	0	0
	TOTALS	–	200	27-61	10-25	9-13	14-24	38	15	14	13	1	2	73

Arkansas 83

##	Player	GS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	ORB-DRB	REB	PF	A	TO	BLK	STL	PTS
23	Amber Ramirez	*	39	4-16	2-8	11-12	0-6	6	1	4	1	0	2	21
43	Makayla Daniels	*	38	6-11	2-3	3-4	4-4	8	1	4	0	0	2	17
24	Jersey Wolfenbarger	*	31	4-6	0-1	3-4	3-2	5	2	0	0	0	0	11
13	Sasha Goforth	*	32	4-9	1-5	1-2	0-1	1	3	0	0	3	1	10
02	Samara Spencer	*	17	1-4	1-3	0-0	0-4	4	3	3	1	0	0	3
11	Rylee Langerman		25	6-10	5-6	0-0	2-3	5	1	0	0	1	1	17
55	Emrie Ellis		9	2-5	0-0	0-0	0-2	2	0	1	0	0	0	4
03	Elauna Eaton		9	0-1	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
TM	TEAM		0	0-0	0-0	0-0	1-0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
	TOTALS	–	200	27-62	11-27	18-22	10-22	32	11	13	2	4	6	83

Mizzou Tigers Women’s Basketball Upcoming Schedule

Thu., January 13 — at #21 LSU — 7 pm

Mon., January 17 — vs. #13 Georgia — 6 pm

Thu., January 20 — at Vanderbilt — 7 pm

Sun., January 23 — vs. #25 Texas A&M — 5 pm

Thu., January 27 — at Mississippi State — 5:30 pm

All Mizzou home basketball games will be played at Mizzou Arena.