Two Mizzou Women's Basketball Players Earn SEC Honors
The 2023-'24 regular season didn't go too great for Missouri women's basketball but two Tigers were recognized for their play with SEC awards.
Senior guard Mama Dembele earned a spot on the All-Defensive team for the first time in her career and was also named the Scholar Athlete of the Year. Dembele was Missouri's defensive leader, averaging 3.3 steals per game, the second most in the conference. Academically, she was also placed on the Winter SEC Academic Honor Roll in 2021 and 2022.
Freshman guard Grace Slaughter was named to the All-Freshman team after averaging 11.4 points and 34 minutes per game. Slaughter lived up to expectations after coming into Missouri's program as the No. 53 recruit in the country.
This is the second straight season that Missouri placed a player on the All-Freshman team as guard Ashton Judd made the team last season.
Slaughter and Dembele were two bright spots on an otherwise uninspiring Missouri team that finished with an 11-8, 2-14 record. The Tigers defeated Georgia on Jan. 18 but failed to win another game after that.
Missouri does have a spot in the SEC tournament which will kick off Wednesday. Their first matchup will be against 14-14 Florida in Greenville, Sc. The Tigers faced off against the Gators on Feb. 22. A first quarter where the Tigers were outscored 36-to-13 was much too deep of a hole for Missouri to dig themselves out of despite a strong second half of play.
Looking ahead to next season, Dembele will have one more year of eligibility she could choose to utilize and it seems that the best is yet to come for the young Slaughter.
