South Carolina took control early with a 15-0 run to take a 23-7 lead late in the first quarter. Mizzou fought tooth and nail to make the score look respectable, but the Tigers ended up falling 112-71 in Columbia east after a 4th quarter Gamecock push.
Mizzou’s lack of size continues to be an issue against the elite teams of the SEC. The Gamecocks finished with a 19-6 advantage in offensive rebounds, which in turn led to outscoring Mizzou 28-0 in second chance opportunities. South Carolina found easy points thanks to 15 Mizzou turnovers which they turned into 26 points heading the other way.
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This marked the most points that Mizzou has allowed under head coach Kellie Harper, now allowing their opponents to reach triple digits two games in a row. The Gamecocks finished shooting 44-84 on a highly efficient and high volume attack.
The Mizzou offense looked better than it has in recent games, cracking 70 points for the first time in the last five games. Four different Tigers ended the game with double-digit points. Grace Slaughter led the scoring once again with 21 points while shooting 6-17 from the field, 4-11 from three and 5-6 on free throws.
Jayla Smith was the second-leading scorer with 16 points with five rebounds on 6-13 field goals. This marked the most points Smith has scored in SEC play this season.
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Here is how the game played out from start to finish:
The Gamecocks controlled this game from the jump, ending the first quarter ahead 33-13. South Carolina built the separation with a 15-0 run in just under three minutes to take a commanding 23-7 lead. The Tigers failed to break through an outstanding Gamecock defense, finishing the quarter shooting 4-16 from the field compared to 12-22 for South Carolina. Slaughter carried the bulk of the offense, scoring 12 of the team’s 13 points in the frame. Slaughter finished the quarter 4-7 from the field, 2-3 from three and 2-2 on free throws to try and jumpstart a practically dead Tiger offense.
Mizzou looked better in the second quarter, but South Carolina was still the better team with a five-point advantage in the quarter for a 57-32 lead at halftime. As a whole the Gamecocks dominated the glass in the first half with a 27-17 rebounding advantage and a 21-0 edge in second chance points. The Mizzou offense this quarter was shouldered by Shannon Dowell and Jayla Smith, who combined for 13 points.
The two offenses came out of halftime firing, with Mizzou holding a 31-28 edge in the third quarter. The Tigers built this advantage behind the three-point line, finishing the quarter 7-12 from beyond-the-arc. Abbey Schreacke led the offensive attack in the frame with 9 points on a perfect 3-3 on triples. Smith had another strong quarter with 8 points on 3-5 shooting from the field and 2-4 from deep, pushing her into double-digits for the game.
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South Carolina piled on the points in the fourth, scoring 27 points to build a 41-point lead. The Mizzou offense dried up after the third quarter offensive explosion with only eight points in the final 10 minutes. The team shot a measly 3-14 from the field as every player struggled to find their shot late.
This marked the fifth consecutive loss for Mizzou, marking the longest losing streak in the first year under Harper. Some of this can be put on the schedule, with three of those losses coming against teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25.
Another part of this slump can be put on injuries as starting forward Jordana Reisma missed another game with a nagging lower body injury. The issue may be getting worse, as Schreacke went down with an apparent tweak to one of her legs while attempting to draw a charge. Her status for the remainder of the season is currently unknown.
Mizzou closes the regular season with a Senior Night showdown against old Big 8 rival Oklahoma at 3 p.m. on Sunday in Columbia. The game will be available to watch on SEC Network+ through the ESPN app. As part of the massive sports weekend, fans can take their tickets from one of the many games and use it to get into the other games on the slate free of charge.
