Mizzou’s Hayley Frank fires a shot during Thursday’s NCAA women’s basketball game at Mizzou Arena. (Photo: Terrance Williams)

NCAA Women’s Basketball	1	2	3	4	Final
Georgia (10-8, 1-4)	12	14	15	16	57
Missouri (11-7, 2-3)	18	19	22	10	69

Nora Nichols
Staff Writer

COLUMBIA, MO — The University of Missouri women’s basketball team delivered its second straight dynamite performance and earned its second straight Southeastern Conference win, Thursday night, when it defeated visiting Georgia, 69-57, in a game at Mizzou Arena.

The Tigers led from start to finish and controlled the action from the outset. The win lifted Missouri’s overall record to 11-7 and its SEC mark to 2-3.

“I’m proud of our players,” Missouri head coach Robin Pingeton said. “I don’t think any of us are satisfied. We know we have to learn and grown and continue to work on some things. But that’s the most special thing about this team, their work ethic, and them buying into the sisterhood that they’ve created in the locker room. It’s fun to see them have the success on the court.”

Senior forward Hayley Frank led the Tigers with 24 points on 10 made field goals, one shy of a career-high. The performance marked Frank’s fifth 20-plus point game of the season and the 30th of her collegiate tenure. Frank also grabbed four rebounds, while dishing out a season-high five assists.

Freshman guard Grace Slaughter contributed 18 points for the Tigers, marking her highest-scoring game in conference play. Slaughter added four rebounds and two assists to her stat line. The freshman matched a career-best with three makes from beyond the arc.

Senior point guard Mama Dembele was among a trio of Tigers who scored six points against the Bulldogs (10-8, 1-4 SEC) alongside sophomore Ashton Judd and freshman Hannah Linthacum. Dembele snagged a career-high nine rebounds to complement five assists.

“Frankie (played great), obviously,” Pingeton said. “That first half was critical for us in the way she showed up. Her and Mama just kind of navigate the pace and we did a really good job of pushing in transition.”

Missouri earned a quick advantage following the opening tip. Catapulted by an and-one conversion by Frank, the Tigers saw an early 11-6 lead. Frank finished with nine points and three rebounds in the first as the Tigers were in front, 18-12.

Missouri opened the second on an 11-7 run as freshman Grace Slaughter capped the charge with a coast-to-coast layup. The bucket extended the Tigers’ lead to double-digits at 29-19 with a little over seven minutes remaining before the break. Frank added six of her own in the frame to give the Tigers their largest halftime lead in SEC play this season at 37-29.

Missouri boasted a well-rounded scoring effort in the third quarter as six different Tigers’ recorded buckets. Frank and freshman Abbey Schreacke ended the quarter with back-to-back triples to give Mizzou a 59-41 edge.

Georgia tried to close the gap in the fourth with a 6-0 scoring run but late buckets, by Frank and Judd maintained the Tigers’ commanding advantage to the final buzzer.

Missouri converted 53 percent (28-of-53) of their shot attempts on the evening while holding Georgia to just 34 percent (19-of-56).

The Tigers will be back in action on Sunday, when they’ll travel down to Lexington to play Kentucky.

Mizzou’s next home game is next Thursday, January 25, when the Tigers will host Texas A&M. That game will be televised nationally on the SEC Network.

Georgia 57

##	Player	GS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	ORB-DRB	REB	PF	A	TO	BLK	STL	PTS
10	Flournoy,De’Mauri	*	36	4-18	2-9	4-4	0-2	2	2	1	1	0	1	14
12	Thompson,Taniyah	*	35	5-15	0-1	2-6	1-2	3	1	2	0	0	0	12
35	Nicholson,Javyn	*	27	3-10	0-0	4-4	3-4	7	2	0	3	0	1	10
20	Cole,Jordan	*	22	2-2	0-0	6-6	0-5	5	4	0	3	1	1	10
11	Avinger,Asia	*	27	2-5	0-2	0-0	0-4	4	3	4	2	0	0	4
33	Thomas,Destiny		26	2-4	0-0	0-0	4-0	4	1	0	2	0	2	4
21	Diakhate,Fatima		5	1-1	0-0	1-2	1-1	2	1	0	0	1	0	3
01	Chapman,Chloe		15	0-1	0-0	0-0	0-1	1	0	1	2	0	1	0
13	Ingram,Stefanie		4	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
02	Henderson,Savannah		3	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
TM	TEAM		0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Totals	–	200	19-56	2-12	17-22	9-21	30	14	9	13	2	6	57

Missouri 69

##	Player	GS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	ORB-DRB	REB	PF	A	TO	BLK	STL	PTS
43	Frank, Hayley	*	32	10-18	1-8	3-3	0-4	4	5	5	1	0	1	24
00	Slaughter, Grace	*	37	6-10	3-3	1-2	0-4	4	2	2	3	0	1	16
04	Dembele, Mama	*	35	2-4	2-3	0-0	0-9	9	4	5	5	0	0	6
24	Judd, Ashton	*	30	2-8	1-3	1-2	0-3	3	1	3	3	0	0	6
34	Linthacum, Hannah	*	16	3-3	0-0	0-0	0-4	4	4	1	1	0	0	6
23	Schreacke, Abbey		21	2-5	1-2	0-0	0-1	1	1	1	2	0	2	5
14	Feit, Abby		17	2-3	0-1	0-0	1-1	2	2	1	2	0	1	4
05	Feldrappe, Hilke		9	1-2	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	2	0	2	0	1	2
20	Linthacum, Sarah		3	0-0	0-0	0-0	1-0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
TM	TEAM		0	0-0	0-0	0-0	1-5	6	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Totals	–	200	28-53	8-21	5-7	3-31	34	21	18	19	0	6	69

2023-24 Missouri Tigers Women’s Basketball Schedule

Date	Time	At	Opponent	Location	TV
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