Turnovers sink Mizzou women’s opportunity against Tennessee

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The Missouri Tigers got off to a hot-enough start to set up an upset over the No. 18 Tennessee Volunteers.

But after jumping out to a double-digit lead, the Tigers struggled once again with ball control and breaking the Volunteer press, leading to 24 turnovers on the way to a 76-71 loss on Sunday in Mizzou Arena.

“They play a lot of players, they go deep,” Missouri coach Robin Pingeton said. “… They just send two and three at you and they’re long, they’re athletic. They take away vision, passing angles.”

The Tigers hit their first four shots to open the game, then a Grace Slaughter 3 from the right wing extended Missouri’s initial lead to 12-2 with 6:17 left in the first quarter.

“I think we’re getting a lot closer to putting a 40-minute game together,” Pingeton said.

Abbey Schreacke added a 3 and Averi Kroenke hit a free throw to put the Tigers ahead 16-5 with 4:04 left in the first quarter.

But then the turnovers began. The Tigers struggled to inbound the ball or get past half court when they could, leading to four Tiger turnovers in the rest of the quarter as Tennessee charged back to cut the lead to 22-20 after the first 10 minutes.

“Tennessee is a team that can really take advantage of just any kind of miscues in a hurry,” Pingeton said.

An Ashton Judd 3 put the Tigers ahead by five early in the second, but Tennessee came back to tie for the first time at 25 with 6:48 left before halftime, then took the lead for the first time at 30-29 with 2:56 left.

A Judd jumper got the Tigers the lead back, then a Tess Darby 3 put the Vols back in front before a Slaughter jumper sent the teams into halftime tied at 33.

“We know it’s a game of runs and I think the biggest thing is, Tennessee plays a very chaotic style, a very disruptive style,” Pingeton said.

The Tigers jumped ahead again in the third with layups from Angelique Ngalakulondi and Slaughter, then the teams tied at 37 and traded the lead twice in the coming minutes before Tennessee extended to a 44-39 advantage.

The Tigers came back to take a 45-44 lead after two Laniah Randle free throws, then took a 48-47 lead on an Schreacke 3, but after a Judd putback layup tied the game at 50, the Volunteers went on a 9-0 run to build a 59-52 lead going into the fourth quarter.

“I think that stretch in the third with 2 minutes left,” Pingeton said. “I think we were down 2, then in a minute, you’re down nine. That’s just how quickly they can pounce on you and take advantage of miscues.”

Unlike earlier in the season, the Tigers didn’t go quietly after the late run, Missouri fought to get back within three at 62-59 after two Nyah Wilson free throws with 6:31 left, but Tennessee was able to quickly extend to a 69-59 lead with 5:57 to go with the help of a Tiger turnover and foul.

A De’Myla Brown 3, three of her season-high 18 points with 14 coming in the fourth quarter, brought Missouri within 74-68, then Tennessee was called for a foul and a technical, sending Missouri to the line for four attempts with possession afterward.

But after starting the game 13-of-15 at the free-throw line, the Tigers finished just 2-of-8, including 1-of-3 in the prime opportunity, cutting the lead to just 74-69.

A Slaughter layup made it 74-71 on the ensuing possession.

“It could have been our ball down 2, and maybe even tied,” Pingeton said. “But, it’s a 40-minute game and these girls work really hard. I’ve got a lot of confidence in any of them when they go to the free-throw line.”

Instead of a chance to tie or take the lead, the Tigers settled for a three-point deficit.

Which was nearly enough as a Tennessee turnover gave the Tigers the ball with 33 seconds left.

“We were going to go for it if we could get a 3,” Pingeton said. “Otherwise, we’re going to drive it and try and get an and-1.”

But the 3 wasn’t there and the Tigers settled for a poor look on a Ngalakulondi layup, which was off the side of the backboard, leading to a Tennessee timeout and two free throws.

The Tigers committed 24 turnovers, including seven when the team was either unable to get the ball in play on an inbounds attempt, or couldn’t get the ball past half court in time.

The Tigers outrebounded Tennessee 40-39, but 16 offensive rebounds led the Volunteers to a 20-12 lead in second-chance points.

Brown led the Tigers with 18 points to go with three rebounds, while Slaughter had 16 points, Randle had a double-double of 10 points, 11 boards and four assists and Judd had 13 points and six rebounds. Kroenke added eight assists to lead the Tigers, who assisted on 17-of-25 made shots.

Missouri shot 25-of-55 (45.5 percent) from the field, 6-of-16 (37.5 percent) from 3 and 15-of-23 (65.2 percent) from the free-throw line.

Missouri (12-12, 1-8 SEC) will host LSU at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

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