Welcome, Grace Slaughter: 3 observations from Missouri women's basketball's win over Belmont
Missouri women's basketball opened up the basketball season at Mizzou Arena bright and early Monday, with an 11:30 a.m. tipoff.
That early start to the season showed in some rust that glared on the stat sheet in the form of 23 team fouls and 15 turnovers.
Missouri, thanks to its budding freshmen and its experienced seniors, overcame foul trouble and some rusty offense to stymie Belmont 72-61 and win its season opener.
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Even when Belmont clawed back within seven, the Tigers rallied after a fourth-quarter timeout by coach Robin Pintegon.
Here are three observations from Missouri's win over Belmont to open the 2023-2024 season.
Welcome, Grace Slaughter
Missouri had plenty of rust coming out of the gate.
It was 4-4 at the first media timeout of the game. Not much was working and almost nothing was falling on offense.
That's when Grace Slaughter introduced herself. In her first game as a Missouri Tiger, she scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the first double-double of the season.
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Slaughter earned the start in her first college game, too.
Slaughter was active on offense when no one else could get going. She started the game and helped finish it in the fourth.
When Belmont started to claw back into the game in the fourth quarter, Slaughter's action on both ends helped preserve the win. She also looked like the best player on the floor at times. Her bright future shined Monday.
Filling in during foul trouble
Hayley Frank was an All-SEC First-Team player for Missouri this preseason, but she spent time on and off the bench in foul trouble.
Frank returned in the fourth quarter in an effort to close out the game, but her foul trouble limited how aggressive she could be.
Instead, it was impressive how effective Missouri's freshmen were in the season opener. Slaughter, Hannah Linthacum and Abbey Schreake gave Missouri key production in the second and third quarters.
Linthacum helped fill in the gap when both Frank and center Angelique Ngalakulondi struggled with foul trouble. The youngest Linthacum had seven points and five rebounds and was effective as a stretch player who was active in the post and on the perimeter. Her athletics showed, too.
Pingeton's point guard predicament
Missouri got bad news last week when transfer point guard De'Myla Brown had her medical waiver denied by the NCAA. That news became devastating when Averi Kroenke suffered an injury that left her right foot in a cast.
Now, MU is down to one true point guard in Mama Dembele.
That predicament was tested early on against Belmont. Dembele was whistled for two fouls in the first quarter and Pingeton had to go to her bench.
With Dembele on the bench, freshman Abbey Schreake brought the ball up the court. The freshman from Quincy, Illinois, looked good in the first college minutes of her career.
But, that didn't last long. When Dembele got back on the court and shook off her rust, she was incredible. Dembele was quick with the ball on offense and was active in the passing lanes on defense. She had command of Pingeton's motion offense and opened up looks on offense with drives.
Dembele talked about working on finishing at the basket this offseason, and that showed with her 15 points.
However, Dembele can't be asked to play 40 minutes every game. Until Kroenke returns, Missouri needs to find a way to get Dembele rest.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: 3 observations from Missouri women's basketball's win over Belmont
