The Missouri Tigers dominated the paint on the way to a 79-45 win against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks at Mizzou Arena on Sunday.

The Tigers won the rebounding battle 42-30 with a 50-18 advantage in points in the paint in the matchup.

“We did a good job of attacking the paint,” Missouri coach Robin Pingeton said. “I thought we did a good job getting out and running in transition. I thought we could get some good looks in transition against this team and we did.”

And that dominance came with the Tigers starting a guard-heavy lineup.

For the second consecutive game, Missouri sat usual starting forward Angelique Ngalakulondi, opting for a lineup of Grace Slaughter, Laniah Randle, Nyah Wilson, Averi Kroenke and Ashton Judd.

“We’ve got a lot of players that could potentially be in that lineup,” Pingeton said. “No. 1, never want to get comfortable. Want to keep these girls, young ladies, competing in practice. Sometimes it’s matchups, sometimes we think we can get more out of players that we’re not getting. I need Angie to be a lot more aggressive from a rebounding standpoint.”

The Tigers never trailed in the matchup as a Wilson free throw put Missouri in front for good with 8:58 left in the first quarter.

Slaughter added a layup, the first of her co-game-high 15 points, off a steal and a Wilson assist, then Randle grabbed an offensive rebound and hit a putback to create a 7-2 advantage. Randle would end with 15 points and 10 rebounds, her second double-double of the young season.

Judd, who ended with 12 points, added a layup to make it 12-2 Missouri at the 6:30 mark of the first quarter.

“Just letting the game come to me, just credit to my teammates for finding me,” Judd said. “... Just getting downhill and getting two feet, just trying to get in a window.”

Missouri extended as far as a 13-point lead in the first quarter three times, the last of which came on a Hannah Linthacum fastbreak layup off a Tilda Sjokvist assist. Linthacum ended with a season-high nine points, her second highest career total behind a 20-point performance against UMKC last year, to go with five rebounds, while Sjovkist dished out a game-high six assists.

The layup made it 23-10 Missouri at the first break.

The Tigers used a 7-0 run midway through the second quarter, ending with a Linthacum offensive board and putback, to extend to a 34-15 lead with 6:26 left before halftime, then a De’Myla Brown layup extended the lead past 20 points for the first time at 36-15.

“I think it’s just super important, especially down low, being physical, like hitting them first, not letting them get in position,” Linthacum said of her development in the paint.

The run would end at 9-0.

Missouri maintained at least an 18-point lead the rest of the half and took a 41-22 advantage into the break.

“It’s good to see Judd start to settle in for us, she’s going to be a key part of what we do this season,” Pingeton said.

The first half of the third quarter was rough for both teams, with only a combined 11 points scored in the first 5:53 of the third quarter, but Missouri’s offense got rolling at the end.

Randle hit a layup, then Ngalakulondi hit one off a Slaughter assist before another Randle layup made it 54-26 with 2:11 left in the third.

The lead got past 30 for the first time on a Randle steal-turned-layup with 38 seconds left to make it 59-28.

Ngalakulondi then added a layup off a Sjokvist assist to make it 61-28 after three quarters.

“She’s just so fun to play with, like, super unselfish getting those six assists,” Linthacum said of Sjovkist’s performance. “She is also just such a positive energy, always just such a positive voice.”

Missouri cruised through the fourth, extending to a 40-point lead after Abbey Schreacke hit a 3 to make it 68-28 with 8:05 left. The lead would not be 40 again, but Jacksonville State never got back within 30.

Missouri shot 32-of-61 (52.5 percent) from the field, 4-of-15 (26.7 percent) from 3 and 11-of-15 (73.3 percent) from the free-throw line.

Four Tigers reached double figures with Schreacke joining Ngalakulondi with 12 points, while Slaughter and Randle had 15.

“We had some good stretches,” Pingeton said. “I feel like we're just kind of learning and growing and just learning how to play together.”

Missouri is 7-3 through its first 10 games and will host SMU at 8 p.m. Thursday.

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