Missouri fell in their first road matchup at the hands of Saint Louis University 93-85. The Tigers were outscored 22-8 in the final 4:25. 

Missouri struggled with fouls all game, racking up 29 compared to just nine for the Billikens. Saint Louis capitalized, making 23 of their 28 free throw attempts.

Graduate forward Angelique Ngalakulondi tallied two fouls in the first 2:22 of the game, causing her to sit the rest of the first half as a result. Her woes continued into the second half, fouling out after picking up her fifth foul early in the fourth quarter. In 37 minutes this season, Ngalakulondi has picked up 10 total fouls.

“We need to go back and look at the film and kind of break it down,” said head coach Robin Pingeton. “To make sure we’re helping her understand what the officials are saying.”

The foul issues continued up and down the roster, as sophomore guard Ashton Judd and senior guard Mama Dembele both fouled out late in the fourth quarter. 

Dembele tallied a double-double in the loss with 13 points and 14 assists. She has led the team in assists in all three games this year, averaging nine per game.

Judd kept her hand hot, scoring 21 points while shooting 56% from the field. She tied with freshman guard Grace Slaughter for the lead in points for the game. Both players have now tallied three consecutive games in double-digits.

“[Judd and Slaughter’s] ability to step up and be so consistent for us,” Pingeton said. “You know, that’s huge.”

Slaughter stretched the lead to six points with a late triple, as Missouri led 77-71. Saint Louis refused to go away, hitting a flurry of shots down the stretch to upset the Tigers on their home court.

“They’re just relentless,” Pingeton said. “They played really, really hard.”

Saint Louis pulled away with their potent offense, scoring 36 points in the 4th quarter alone. Missouri has not given up 90 points since their 91-88 loss to Arkansas on Jan. 3, 2021.

“One of the things that we really pride ourselves on is the connectivity,” Pingeton said. “Defensively, there’s just too many possessions that we weren’t connected on the level that we needed to be in.”

Missouri failed to gain any major contributions from its bench, with 16 points compared to 46 for the Billikens. Sophomore guard Brooklyn Gray and graduate guard Camreé Clegg combined for 44 of Saint Louis’ bench points, using their aggressiveness to draw fouls and gain shot opportunities at the rim. 

The Tigers shrunk their bench down to only eight players in the second half, and all of their bench points came from freshman guard Abby Schreacke and graduate guard Abby Feit.

“We get to learn from it and we’ve got to move forward,” Pingeton said.

Missouri (2-1) looks to bounce back at Mizzou Arena on Tuesday, Nov. 14 against North Alabama (1-1) at 7 p.m.

Edited by Quentin Corpuel | qcorpuel@themaneater.com 

Copy edited by Sterling Sewell | ssewell@themaneater.com