The Missouri women’s basketball team traveled to the Bahamas over Thanksgiving break to compete in the Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship, where they went 1-1.

The Tigers entered the season with big goals, returning with a veteran team and a few new faces. Looking to top their 18-13 record from last season, prior to their trip to the Bahamas, the team had already secured four wins on their home court and one away.

Missouri started the trip playing Wake Forest and finished with a 69-47 upset.

With solid defense early in the game, the Tigers forced 14 consecutive missed field goal attempts from the Demon Deacons in the first half. As a result, Wake Forest’s 7-point quarter marked the seventh time this season that the Tigers’ defense held its opponent to single-digits within a quarter.

The turning point of the game came in the second quarter’s offensive end when the Tigers went on a 22-2 run, giving them a 20-point lead at halftime.

Five-foot-10 graduate guard Katlyn Gilbert contributed 11 points in the quarter, shooting 5-5 in the quarter with 6-foot-1 senior forward Hayley Frank adding 7. Missouri converted 11 of its 14 field goal attempts in the period–the highest in a single quarter since Missouri’s 2021-22 matchup against Ole Miss, when it shot 85.7% from the field.

Throughout the second half Missouri did not let up on defense, only allowing Wake Forest to shoot 28.8% from the field—the lowest the Tigers have allowed this season.

Frank led the scoring with 20 points, which is the most by any Tiger so far this season. Gilbert went on to record a season-high 11 points and five assists, while contributing two rebounds, one block and one steal.

Six-foot-3 junior center Jayla Kelly was just 1 point away from a double-double, finishing with a career-high 10 rebounds and 9 points. Five-foot-6 junior guard Mama Dembele returned for the Tigers after sitting out two games due to a nose injury. In her 17 minutes of play, she contributed 2 points, three rebounds and four assists.

With the 69-47 upset, the Tigers advanced to 6-0 to start the season, marking the first time in program history that the Tigers have reached this mark in consecutive seasons, following their 8-0 start from last season.

Two days later, in its second game of the tournament, Missouri faced No. 11 Virginia Tech, falling 73-57 to the Hokies.

Starting strong offensively, the Tigers led the Hokies 28-26 at the half. Five-foot-10 graduate guard Haley Troup led the Tigers’ scoring in the first half, tallying 10 points, while the team as a whole shot 54.5% from the field.

On the defensive end, Missouri held its own in the first half, holding Virginia Tech to 30.3% from the floor and holding Atlantic Coast Conference player of the Year Elizabeth Kitley to only 6 points on 3-10 shooting.

Through the remainder of the contest, however, the Hokies took the lead. Though Troup claimed a pair of 3s to cut the lead to 9 with 8:36 left to play, the Tigers came up short and fell 73-57, marking the first loss of their season.

Troup led the team in scoring with 21 points, tying her career-high and shooting 6-12 from the field and 4-7 from the 3-point range. Six-foot-1 freshman guard Ashton Judd added 7 points and was perfect from the free throw line, shooting 4-for-4. Frank contributed 8 points, four rebounds and two assists, while 6-foot-4 redshirt junior Micah Linthacum earned a career-high five points.

Missouri now sits at 6-1 and is back in action Wednesday, returning home to face Saint Louis at 7 p.m.

Edited by Matt Guzman | mguzman@themaneater.com

Copy edited by Grace Knight and Jacob Richey