Austin scores 14 in 4th quarter, Alabama women beat Missouri 65-48 at SEC Tournament

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GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Ace Austin scored all of her 14 points in the fourth quarter Wednesday night and Alabama beat Missouri 65-48 in the first round of the SEC Tournament and extend the Tigers' skid.

Alabama (22-9), which had lost back-to-back games and five of six, won its first conference tournament game since 2022. The Crimson Tide plays No. 6 seed Tennessee on Thursday.

Austin hit four 3s in a 12-2 run to open fourth that made it 14-point game with 6:39 remaining and the Tigers got no closer.

Diana Collins scored 13, Ta’Mia Scott finished with 12 points and three blocks, and Essence Cody added 10 points for Alabama. Karly Weathers scored just four points on 1-of-9 shooting, 1 of 8 from 3-point range, but finished with a career-high 16 rebounds, six assists, two steals and a block.

Missouri (16-16) has lost six games in a row. Jordana Reisma led the Tigers with 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting while Grace Slaughter had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

The Tigers hit just 25% and had more turnovers (eight) than made field goals (seven) before the intermission in their lowest-scoring half this season. Alabama made 11 of 34 (32%) from the field and had 10 assists before the break and took a 31-20 lead into halftime.

Then-No. 21 Crimson Tide won 74-63 at Missouri on Jan. 12 and Alabama leads the series 12-9, 2-1 at neutral sites.

Missouri: Season complete.

Alabama: Advances to the second round.

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