The Tiger offense never got rolling.

For the first time this season, Missouri failed to score 20 points in a quarter as it fell to Norfolk State 57-54 at Mizzou Arena on Sunday.

“We’ve got a lot of new players that are continuing to figure out how to play together,” Missouri coach Robin Pingeton said.

The game was off to a poor start from the opening jump as the Tigers tipped the ball, but Anjanae Richardson grabbed it sprinting toward the basket alone for a layup to put the Spartans up two seconds into the game.

The Tigers jumped ahead 9-6 after a Laniah Randle layup, but Diamond Johnson answered with a layup, her first made shot of a 17-point day for Norfolk State.

Missouri led 12-8 after an Abbey Schreacke 3-pointer with 3:12 left in the first quarter, the first of her five made 3s in a team-high 15-point performance.

”It’s always just a good look seeing the ball go through the net,” Schreacke said.

But the Spartans got a 3 from Niya Fields with 51 seconds left in the first quarter to take a 13-12 lead into the first break.

Missouri came back to tie after Ashton Judd hit a 3 with 6:57 left before halftime, but the Spartans were in control for much of the second quarter, extending as far as a five-point lead after Richardson hit a 3 with 2:27 left before the break.

The Spartans took a 26-23 lead into halftime after a Tionna Herron layup cut the lead for the Tigers. It was Herron’s first appearance this season as she continues her recovery from open-heart surgery her freshman year.

“It was good to see Tree (Herron) out there in her minutes,” Pingeton said. “And probably would have gotten her a few more minutes if Angie (Ngalakulondi) wasn’t having the half that she was having.”

The Spartans extended the lead to 33-25 after a Kierra Wheeler fast break layup, two of her 14 points, with 8:25 left in the third, then Norfolk State held a multi-possession lead throughout the third until Schreacke connected on right-wing transition 3 with 53 seconds left to send the teams into the final break with the Spartans up 42-40.

“I thought Abbey did a tremendous job for us tonight,” Pingeton said.

Schreacke kept the hot hand early in the fourth quarter, connecting on three consecutive 3s with the third putting the Tigers up for the first time since the first quarter at 53-51 with 5:12 left to play.

But Johnson got to work, pouring in nine of her 17 points in the fourth quarter, as she and Wheeler, who ended with 14 points, put the Spartans back in front for good at 56-54.

Missouri had a final chance on an inbound from the baseline, but struggled to get the ball in on multiple tries, leading to a final heave from a poor position, which fell off the mark, handing the Tigers their second loss.

Missouri shot 21-of-55 (38.2 percent) from the field, 7-of-15 (46.7 percent) from 3 and 5-of-8 (62.5 percent) at the free-throw line.

Missouri lost the rebounding battle 39-34, but forced 16 turnovers and committed 14, a season low for the Tigers.

“Got to do a better job taking care of the ball,” Pingeton said. “It was slightly better today, but still too many unforced. Got to do a better job from a rebounding standpoint. I think as coaches, we’ve got to look at our offense, see what we need to tweak a little bit. … How can we put our players in a better position to be successful? Because we’ve been a little bit stagnant.”

Missouri (1-2) will return to the court hosting Tulane at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

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