By: D.J. Diaz

The Missouri Tigers (19-6) hosted the Alabama Crimson Tide (14-11) at Mizzou Arena Thursday, and came out with a 63-52 victory.

The game started off with both teams scoring efficiently and consistently. Alabama’s Karyla Middlebrook dominated the first quarter with six points and five rebounds, and was the backbone to the Crimson Tide’s first quarter 19-17 lead.

However, Missouri’s defense came to life in the second quarter by forcing four Alabama turnovers in a 4:31 span. The Tigers seized the lead going into half by a score of 37-28.

Alabama came back out in the third quarter and clawed their way back into the game by going on a 6-0 run, and limiting Missouri to no field goals in four and a half minutes.

Alabama fed off of their strong third quarter to regain the lead in the fourth quarter with 8:48 to play, but the Tigers rallied and began to put the game out of reach. Missouri went on a 7-0 shortly after the Crimson Tide got the lead back, and they kept the lead until the final buzzer.

Missouri had five players that finished with double-digit points, but it was Alabama’s Hannah Cook who led all players with 15 points. Missouri’s Kayla McDowell was a huge spark off the bench scoring 11 points and going perfect from the field (5-5 FG).

The Tigers snapped a two-game losing streak and will look forward to this Sunday when they play the Arkansas Razorbacks (10-15), while the Crimson Tide take a week off to play the Razorbacks as well, as they seek their first road victory of the season.