Senior LaDazhia Williams had a game-high 25 points to lead the Tigers to a 72-63 victory at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Mo. (Photo: Nathan Assata)

Score by Period	1	2	3	4	OT	Final
Auburn (8-5, 0-2)	17	15	10	17	4	63
Missouri (13-2, 2-0)	13	15	17	14	13	72

by Cedric Williams
Senior Editor

COLUMBIA, MO — After going six days without practicing, and seven days since it last played a game, the University of Missouri women’s basketball team returned to the court Tuesday night, with a matchup against up and coming Southeastern Conference foe Auburn.

And just as it did last week in its upset of No. 1-ranked South Carolina, Missouri started a little slow and needed more than regulation time to close the game out. But the host Tigers eventually found their flow and pulled out a thrilling 72-63 win over the visiting Tigers at Mizzou Arena.

Senior forward LaDazhia Williams led the way for Mizzou, with 25 points and seven rebounds, on nine-of-12 shooting from the floor and seven made free throws.

Teammates Lauren Hansen and Hayley Frank, the SEC Co-Players of the Week this week, after their dual brilliant performance in the game against South Carolina, added 17 and 15 points, respectively as well.

Hansen made three three-pointers in the game, including the first shot of overtime, to give Mizzou the lead for good. And Frank completed three three-point plays in the game, including one with 46 seconds left in overtime that helped the Tigers put the game away.

Junior standout Aijha Blackwell, who was making her return after having sat out last week’s game against South Carolina due to Covid, had 13 points and 14 rebounds — her 10th double-double of the season. Blackwell also scored her 1000th career point in the game, as she came off the bench for the first time since her freshman year.

Auburn’s Sania Wells had 20 points to lead the visiting Tigers. Thirteen of those points came in the first half, as Auburn grabbed an early lead that continued through halftime and became as high as 40-33 midway through the third quarter.

But Missouri bounced back to take its first lead of the second half, thanks to a 12-0 run late in the third, which included a three-pointer by Hansen, a pair of free throws by Williams, a three-point play by Frank, and two dazzling buckets at the rim by Blackwell.

Auburn regained the lead early in the fourth, and pushed its edge to as many as five points, following a steal and layup by native St. Louisan Mar’shaun Bostic. But Mizzou responded with a 10-2 run to go back ahead by three with 90 seconds left.

Auburn was able to send the game to overtime on a jumper by Wells with 20 seconds left in regulation that tied the score at 59.

In the extra session though, it was all Mizzou, as the host Tigers outscored the visiting Tigers 13-2 to close out the game. Hansen hit a three to give Mizzou the lead, then Blackwell added a bucket, followed by a driving layup by Williams.

Mizzou’s defense was also key in overtime, as it only allowed Auburn to make two of the 10 shots it took, with one of those coming in the final 38 seconds, after the outcome had already been decided.

The victory lifted Missouri’s record to 13-2 overall and 2-0 in conference play, while Auburn fell to 8-5 and 0-2. Mizzou’s next game will be Sunday, January 9, when the Tigers will go on the road to take on Arkansas.

Mizzou’s next home contest will be on Monday, January 17, when the Tigers will host No. 13 Georgia at Mizzou Arena.

Auburn 63

##	Player	GS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	ORB-DRB	REB	PF	A	TO	BLK	STL	PTS
02	Sania Wells	*	44	9-20	1-4	1-1	0-4	4	2	0	3	0	1	20
23	Honesty Scott-Grayson	*	43	6-15	0-1	3-3	1-1	2	3	3	2	1	1	15
05	Aicha Coulibaly	*	40	7-16	1-4	0-2	6-2	8	4	1	3	1	1	15
03	Annie Hughes	*	30	3-8	1-3	0-0	0-2	2	0	1	0	0	1	7
10	Kiyae’ White	*	31	1-6	0-0	2-4	5-4	9	5	0	1	1	0	4
12	Mar’shaun Bostic		14	1-1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	2	2	0	0	1	2
14	Jala Jordan		12	0-5	0-2	0-0	0-2	2	1	0	0	1	1	0
01	Xaria Wiggins		9	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	2	0	2	0	0	0
00	Amaura Graves		2	0-0	0-0	0-0	1-0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
TM	TEAM		0	0-0	0-0	0-0	2-4	6	0	0	2	0	0	0
	TOTALS	–	225	27-71	3-14	6-10	15-19	34	19	7	13	4	6	63

Missouri 72

##	Player	GS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	ORB-DRB	REB	PF	A	TO	BLK	STL	PTS
00	LaDazhia Williams	*	41	9-12	0-0	7-8	3-4	7	2	1	2	1	0	25
01	Lauren Hansen	*	41	6-9	3-4	2-2	0-2	2	3	1	4	0	1	17
43	Hayley Frank	*	39	4-9	1-3	6-7	0-8	8	4	1	1	4	1	15
02	Sara-Rose Smith	*	10	1-2	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	2	0	2	0	0	2
04	Mama Dembele	*	42	0-2	0-2	0-0	0-4	4	1	5	5	0	3	0
33	Aijha Blackwell		38	6-12	0-1	1-2	3-11	14	2	1	3	0	0	13
30	Izzy Higginbottom		11	0-5	0-2	0-0	0-0	0	0	2	1	0	0	0
24	Kiya Dorroh		3	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
20	Sarah Linthacum		0+	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
32	Jayla Kelly		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	1-2	3	0	0	2	0	0	0
	TOTALS	–	225	26-51	4-13	16-19	7-31	38	15	11	20	5	5	72

Mizzou Tigers Women’s Basketball Upcoming Schedule

Sun., January 9 — at Arkansas — 2 pm

Thu., January 13 — at #21 LSU — 7 pm

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

Thu., January 20 — at Vanderbilt — TBA

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.