After a weeklong bye, Alabama women’s basketball returned to Coleman Coliseum. Unfortunately for the Crimson Tide, their winning ways didn’t make the trip back from Auburn with them. 

Alabama fell to the Missouri Tigers 77-61 Sunday night. This is the Crimson Tide’s seventh conference loss this season. 

It’s never easy facing a team coming off of a loss, but that’s what Alabama had to do on Sunday. The Tigers dropped a frustrating 77-62 loss to the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Jan. 27. Missouri committed 20 turnovers during the loss. 

“You’re not giving yourself a chance when you have 20 turnovers,” Missouri head coach Robin Pingeton said.

The Tigers came out on fire, and Alabama couldn’t do much to weather the storm. 

Alabama scored its opening bucket from downtown, courtesy of guard Megan Abrams. But the second-ranked team in 3-point scoring in the SEC showed just how lethal it can be. After missing its first bucket, Mizzou made 6 of its next shots in the first quarter. 

That stretch included four 3-pointers. 

“When you can give a team confidence early, you have to — at some point — step up and be a little different,” Alabama head coach Kristy Curry said. “We just weren’t able to do that consistently.” 

The Crimson Tide didn’t shoot the ball terribly in the first quarter. Alabama went 58% from 2-point range and 57% from 3-point range. But the team did commit five turnovers. Those turnovers led to quick transition looks for the Tigers. 

Despite all this, Alabama was only down 8 points after the first 10 minutes of the game. 

But the Tigers continued to pressure the Crimson Tide in the second quarter. Mizzou continued to take advantage of Alabama’s turnovers. The Tigers forced five turnovers in the second quarter, which led to 6 points for Mizzou. 

The Tigers’ bench also had great production on the court. Forward LaDazhia Williams made all five of her shots coming off the bench. Williams also notched a defensive rebound. 

Alabama limited the Tigers’ effectiveness from 3-point range. After going 4-for-5 in the first quarter, Mizzou just made one 3-pointer in the second. 

But the Crimson Tide also allowed Mizzou to go on a 10-0 scoring run and found themselves down 42-29 going into the locker room. 

Alabama did come out hot at the beginning of the second half, going on a 7-0 run early in the third quarter. But the early second-half energy fizzled out, and Mizzou strengthened its grip on the game.

“Just [have to] credit Missouri,” Curry said. “I thought they kind of looked amazingly. I thought tonight, they really played well. They had some adversity a few days ago and really responded.” 

Three players — Abrams and guards JaMya Mingo-Young and Hannah Barber — scored in the double digits. Abrams led the Crimson Tide with 14 points. Guard Brittany Davis snagged five rebounds, and Mingo-Young had three steals. 

Mingo-Young, center Jada Rice and forward Allie Craig Cruce all finished the game in foul trouble. Alabama only had 5 points from off the bench. 

The schedule doesn’t get any easier for the Crimson Tide. Alabama will travel to Columbia, South Carolina, to take on the top-ranked Gamecocks on Feb. 3. Tipoff from Colonial Life Arena is set for 6 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast on SEC Network+. 

Questions? Email the Sports desk at [email protected].