The first quarter was a pretty great start to the season for the Missouri Tigers.

The second, third and fourth quarters … not so much.

The Tigers scored 20 points in the first quarter and 26 the rest of the game in a 62-46 loss to the Vermont Catamounts on Monday in Vermont, opening the season with a loss to the second-place finishers in last year’s WNIT.

It was Vermont’s first win against an SEC team in program history.

Missouri jumped out to a 6-0 lead when Laniah Randle drove for a layup for her first points as a Tiger then hit two free throws before turning a steal into a Grace Slaughter layup.

Randle ended with 11 points, five rebounds and two steals. Slaughter led the team with 16 points and three rebounds.

But turnovers started to plague the Tigers, allowing Vermont to come back to tie the game at 8 after Anna Olson scored the first of her game-high 18 points.

The Catamounts were able to take a 19-14 lead after a Keira Hanson 3, then led 23-17 before Ashton Judd hit a 3-pointer off a Tilda Sjokvist assist with 0:03 left on the clock in the first quarter to cut the lead to 23-20 at the first break.

Both offenses went quiet in the second quarter, with the teams combining for just 15 points after combining for 43 in the first quarter.

Vermont was able to extend as far as a 30-23 lead late in the second quarter before Angelique Ngalakulondi hit a layup with 1:31 left to create the halftime margin of 30-25.

A Ngalakulondi free throw with 6:32 left in the third cut the lead to 32-28, but Vermont used a 10-0 run to create a lead that would only keep growing.

Bella Vito hit a jumper with 10 seconds left in the third to send the Catamounts into the final break up 44-32.

Both offenses worked better in the fourth quarter, but Missouri never cut the lead to fewer than 15 while Vermont extended it as far as 20.

Missouri shot 6-of-10 overall in the first quarter, but just 12-of-30 overall in the game. The Tigers made 2-of-5 attempts from 3 and 20-of-25 at the free-throw line.

Vermont shot 26-of-51 overall, 6-of-18 from 3 and 4-of-5 at the free-throw line.

That shot disparity came from Missouri’s 26 turnovers to Vermont’s 19, leading to Vermont winning 30-18 in points off turnovers. Vermont also won the rebounding battle 25-22 with 10 offensive boards.

Missouri (0-1) will play Southern in the home opener at Mizzou Arena at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Head on over to the Tiger Walk to discuss this game and so much more.