Missouri challenged Kentucky until their defeat on Feb. 20
Missouri junior guard Ashton Judd shoots the ball onFeb. 20, 2025, at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Mo. Judd played a total of 26 minutes during the game. (Maddie Steuber/TheManeater)
Missouri women’s basketball lost to Kentucky in a close game on Feb. 20. The game ended with a score of 73-65, with the Tigers facing a height disadvantage and foul trouble.
Missouri took an 8-4 lead with two layups from Laniah Randle and Angelique Ngalakulondi. Kentucky’s defense disrupted the flow of the Tigers’ offense, struggling to hold a lead.
Missouri built a strong 16-12 lead with jumpers from Randle and Grace Slaughter. Foul trouble with Ngalakulondi resulted in Kentucky responding with a 6-0 run. Randle made one final layup, tying up the score 18-18 as the first quarter came to a close.
Kentucky came in with physically advanced players, with Teonni Key standing at 6-foot-4, Clara Strack at 6-foot-5 and Amelia Hassett at 6-foot-3. This height advantage played into the Wildcats’ favor, winning in points in the paint 38-32.
Laniah Randle, Missouri senior forward, dribbles the ball down court on Feb. 20, 2025 at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Mo. The Tigers fell to the Wildcats 73-65. (Maddie Steuber/TheManeater)
“It’s a game of chess,” head coach Robin Pingeton said when asked about the height advantage. “They’ve got big so we got to try to pull them out and stretch them and make them guard some of our action.”
Slaughter took control with back-to-back three pointers followed by Ashton Judd’s three pointer, giving Missouri a four-point lead.
A quick timeout from Kentucky shook up the Tigers’ flow, as a pair of Wildcat buckets tied up the score 31-31. Randle regained the Missouri advantage with a layup and free throw to wrap up the first half ahead 34-31.
Kentucky took control in the third, playing swift offense and strong defense whereas the Tigers couldn’t seem to find a rhythm and struggled to get around Kentucky forcing uncoordinated shots.
Slaughter made a three pointer and Hannah Linthacum made two free throws, but it wasn’t enough to pull ahead of Kentucky. The third quarter concluded with the Wildcats holding a seven point lead of 54-47.
University of Missouri guard Averi Kroenke pushes to defend Kentucky graduate student guard Georgia Amoore on Feb. 20, 2025 at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Mo. Kroenke scored a total of 7 points throughout the game. (Maddie Steuber/TheManeater)
Missouri cut the lead down to 67-65 behind eight fourth quarter points from Averi Kroenke.
The Tigers used all of their timeouts to stall for time, but continuous fouls only gave Kentucky free points. As the clock ran out, Missouri fell to Kentucky 73-65.
Randle was the top scorer and defender with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Slaughter followed closely behind with 18 points and five rebounds. The Tigers struggled with foul trouble once again as Randle, Kroenke and Ngalakulondi walked away with four personal fouls.
The Tigers traveled to Mississippi to face Ole Miss at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 23 at The Pavillion.
Edited by Colin Simmons l csimmons@themaneater.com
Copyedited by Hannah Taylor | htaylor@themaneater.com
Edited by Annie Goodykoontz | agoodykoontz@themaneater.com