The Missouri Tigers women’s basketball team fought back from a sizable first quarter deficit, but ultimately lost a heartbreaker to the Tennessee Lady Volunteers 68-65 Sunday afternoon at Mizzou Arena.

After falling behind by as much as 23-11 in the first quarter, and trailing by six at halftime, the Tigers outscored Tennessee in the second half. Hayley Frank, who had 26 points in the game, led the Tigers’ resurgence with 19 of those points after the break.

“It all came down to my teammates being willing to set screens for me to get me open,” said Frank.

It appeared as if the Tigers wrapped things up when they took a 65-60 lead with just over a minute remaining and possession of the ball. However, Missouri grew lackadaisical in the final minute, allowing Tennessee to tie the game with 40 seconds remaining, and Rickea Jackson to win it for the Lady Vols with just a second left on the clock.

“We just did not have the sense of urgency that you need to have at the end of a game,” said coach Robin Pingeton.

Jayla Kelly had a big day for the Tigers with 14 points and 9 rebounds, while Averi Kroenke played 33 strong minutes off the bench, adding 7 points and 4 rebounds. Mizzou shot 30.3% from the field and 18.2% from deep in the first half, but improved to 61.5% from the field and 55.5% from deep in the second half.

Sara Puckett had a big day for the victorious Lady Vols with 17 points on 7 of 9 shooting from the field, and 3 of 3 from deep, while also picking up 5 rebounds. The aforementioned Jackson had 15 points and 4 rebounds for Tennessee in the win.

Mizzou (14-6, 3-4) will look to snap a four-game skid when it travels to Georgia Thursday night. Meanwhile, Tennessee (16-6, 8-0) will look for its 10th straight win when it hosts UConn Thursday night.