Missouri led most of Friday's SEC Tournament quarterfinal game against Kentucky. The Wildcats didn’t take their first lead until there were six minutes left in the fourth quarter. But Kentucky overcame shooting 18 percent from the field in the first half and erased a 12-point third quarter deficit to force overtime.
There were less than four minutes left in overtime when senior Cierra Porter dumped the ball into the paint for senior Sophie Cunningham. It was a matchup Missouri relied on heavily late in the game. Senior Maci Morris had four fouls and was helpless as the bigger Cunningham put her head down and finished at the rim. There was nothing stopping her from propelling Missouri to its first SEC tournament semifinal. That basket tied Cunningham with Renee Kelly for second in Missouri scoring history and evened the score at 61.
Cunningham had seven points and drained three free throws in overtime to ice the game for Missouri. She finished with 29 points in the Tigers 70-68 overtime victory over No. 13 Kentucky, leaving her just two shy of tying Joni Davis' school scoring record.
This game will go down as yet another example of why Cunningham is one of the greatest players to wear the black and gold. She has 42 points through two games in the SEC Tournament. Cunningham is the second leading scorer in program history and three points away from taking the title, something that's likely to happen early in Saturday's matchup against No. 5 Mississippi State.
“It’s my senior year and I’m giving it everything I’ve got,” Cunningham said on ESPN after the game. “Hard work pays off. It really does and I’ve had to work for everything I’ve ever had to get. You know what? This team is all about that.”
Kentucky started 0-10 from the field and Missouri jumped to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. The Wildcats shot 35 percent in the first matchup this season and continued to struggle early in this game. Kentucky had seven points in the first quarter and1-13 from the field.
Turnovers were the only thing that kept the Wildcats in the game. The Tigers averaged 15.8 turnovers a game before the SEC quarterfinals but had 13 turnovers that led to nine points for Kentucky in the first half alone. Missouri finished with 26 turnovers, which UK converted to 22 points.
Freshman Rhyne Howard and Morris were held to six points combined in the first half. Howard and Morris shot 2-11 from the field and experienced the same struggles they had in the first game against the Tigers.
That all changed in the second half for Howard. She finished with 25 points and six rebounds. More importantly, Howard scored 11 of Kentucky’s 18 points in the fourth quarter. She went on to score the Wildcats first six points in overtime en route to one her best games this season.
Morris finished with just eight points. She was one of the conference's best three-point shooters this season, however, she went 0-3 from deep in two games against the Tigers. Kentucky went 0-16 from the three-point line as a team.
Missouri moves on to face No. 5 Mississippi State in the SEC tournament semifinal. The Tigers dealt Mississippi State its lone conference loss in the regular season. Missouri upset the Bulldogs 75-67 in Starkville on Feb. 14. Mississippi State has gone 6-0 since that loss, including two top-25 wins and an average margin of victory of 16 points. The Bulldogs dominated Tennessee 83-68 in their first game of the SEC tournament on Friday afternoon. Anriel Howard had 26 points and four rebounds.
The Tigers have the first semifinal matchup of the night. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. CT and the game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
