The first half didn’t look good on either side of the floor. Missouri was giving up 3 after 3 and the Tigers were repeatedly driving into double teams and failing to hit open looks against the Lipscomb Bison.

But coach Robin Pingeton wasn’t worried about the second half because of what she heard during the break.

“At halftime, I walked in and they had some great stuff on the whiteboard talking about things that they knew they needed to adjust,” Pingeton said. “And so you always appreciate that as a coach, when it’s player led. They can kind of take some ownership and have some self awareness. And so, other than getting out my frustration, I didn’t have to say much at halftime.”

The players knew exactly what needed to be changed on the way to a 78-57 win Sunday at Mizzou Arena. It was the fifth consecutive win for Mizzou.

The Tigers had taken a 36-35 lead into halftime after De’Myla Brown turned a steal into a layup in the final seconds, then Lipscomb took the lead with an early layup in the third quarter. But the Tigers took the lead for good just seconds later when Ashton Judd hit two free throws, two of her 10 points, with 8:42 left in the third.

Grace Slaughter hit a jumper, two of her 13 points - nine of which came in the third quarter - then Judd connected on a 3 and Slaughter turned a Hannah Linthacum offensive rebound into a second-chance jumper to put the Tigers up 44-36 with 5:36 left.

"Grace is another one of our players offensively that’s very talented, … I think she’s got elite-level footwork,” Pingeton said. “She can score on three levels.”

The Bison cut the lead back to two at 46-44, but Slaughter hit a 3 then added a layup off a Laniah Randle steal before Averi Kroenke hit a jumper to build the advantage back to 53-44 with 1:42 left before the break.

The lead became 10 for the first time when birthday girl Abbey Schreacke connected on a 3, three of her 16 points, with 47 seconds left.

The Tigers would take the 56-46 lead into the fourth.

“I think it starts with our effort after 50-50 balls,” Schreacke said of the difference in the second half. “I think in the first half, there’s so many times we could have been on the floor and we weren’t. And whether we get those or not, I feel like it’s still an energy changer. That second half, we forced a lot of jump balls and I think that really changes the momentum for us.”

The lead hung around 10 points through the opening minutes of the fourth, but a Brown second-chance layup off a Kroenke offensive board put the Tigers up 63-52 and a Randle fastbreak layup off a Nyah Wilson assist made it 70-54 with 3:25 left to play.

Schreacke hit another 3, then a layup, then a final 3 - highlighted with a ‘Night-night’ celebration - to celebrate her 20th birthday and end the game on her own 8-0 run to give the Tigers their final 21-point lead.

Ball control was an issue for the Tigers in the first half as Missouri went into halftime with 10 turnovers, while both teams shot 12-of-26 before the break with four made 3-pointers. The difference was the Tigers were 7-of-7 at the free throw line to Lipscomb’s 6-of-9.

“It’s a little bit different when they transition to a five-out, we did that a lot last year when Frankie (Haley Frank) played the 5 for us,” Pingeton said. “So we’re familiar with how hard that can be for teams to match up and I think it really makes it hard on our bigs when they’re not used to playing against that style.”

The Tigers had five players end in double figures as Brown added 13 points and Randle had 12.

“You’ve just got to stay ready so you don’t have to get ready,” Brown said. “Once I got the opportunity, just knowing what I can do and what I’ve always been able to do, just shows. So it feels really good to finally have that breakout game.”

Judd added six rebounds, while Slaughter, Kroenke and Randle each had five. Kroenke led the team with three assists, the Tigers had only five.

Randle also had four steals.

“Offensively, I think that’s one of our biggest challenges,” Pingeton said. “... We have so many players that, to their credit, have worked really hard on their craft, so they’re very confident in their one-on-one abilities. But the importance of, you know, trusting the ball movement and trusting that it’s going to come back to you is something that, you know, I think we’ve had some hiccups on early in the season.”

After starting the season 1-2, Missouri has won nine of its past 10 games, including a stretch of five consecutive wins after Sunday.

Next up, the Tigers will try to make it six when they host Oral Roberts at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

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