Missouri (15-4) desperately needed to make a statement against Georgia (12-6). The Tigers were reeling from a shocking loss in Gainesville against Florida on Jan 13. The narrative surrounding the team shifted away from Missouri’s 3-0 start in SEC play and towards the disappointment of losing 58-56 to the lowly Gators. Florida took away the Tigers momentum, leaving Thursday’s matchup against the Lady Bulldogs as a must win.
Senior Sophie Cunningham didn’t disappoint against Georgia. After a five-point performance against Florida, Cunningham rose to the moment in Mizzou Arena. The crowd erupted when Cunningham drained a three with 4:48 left in the fourth. The Tigers led by 20 and there was no more worrying about another fourth-quarter collapse.
Cunningham finished with 23 points and eight rebounds in a 61-35 dismantling of the Lady Bulldogs. This was Cunningham’s 40th career 20-point game and she was all smiles afterward.
“The past couple years that I’ve played Georgia we were just always on our heels,” Cunningham said. “Props to them because they are a really good defensive team. But, I really do think from top to bottom, even the players who didn’t play tonight, everyone leaned in and really bought into what we were going to do.”
Georgia is known for its physical play, especially on defense; that style helped the Lady Bulldogs knock off No. 13 Tennessee on Sunday. However, tonight Missouri was tougher and they looked like the defensive-minded team. The Tigers held Georgia to a season-low in scoring and 30.6 percent shooting from the field.
“Give Missouri credit,” Georgia Head Coach Joni Taylor said. “They did a great job tonight. They were the better team. We just weren’t ready on either end of the floor.”
Things started off slowly. Both teams were stuck at two points until the 4:25 mark in the first quarter. Senior Caliya Robinson, who gave Missouri fits last season, was active early. She had five points and two emphatic blocks on Cierra Porter in the first quarter. It looked like Georgia would be the stronger team once again, as in the Lady Bulldogs two double-digit victories over Missouri last season. But the Tigers finished the quarter on a 7-2 run. Then they took control in the second quarter with help from redshirt freshman Haley Troup.
Troup came off the bench and instantly gave Missouri quality minutes. With 5:43 left in the second, Troup set up her defender, used a hard crossover and drew weak side help. Then she found a wide-open Cunningham on the right block for an easy bucket.
The following possession Missouri was completely lost and the shot clock was down to two when Troup received the ball. She didn't even look at the basket, but her last-second heave fell and the crowd roared. The Tigers were up by 10 and cruised to a 25-13 lead at halftime.
Georgia inched back in the third momentarily. The Lady Bulldogs went on a 7-0 run to bring the lead down to five with 5:26 left. However, the Tigers offense began to heat up. Missouri shot 46 percent from the field, went 3-3 from the three-point line and finished the quarter on a 17-8 burst. There was no way the Tigers would have back-to-back second-half collapses.
Missouri finished the blowout by outscoring Georgia 19-7 in the fourth and ended the game on a 10-0 run. The Tigers were fully aware of the importance of putting the game away and the optics that the loss to Florida presented.
“They know," Coach Robin Pingeton said. “They were there. They experienced it. I came to the huddle and [the team] was talking about the Florida game… We learned something from that and we needed to. There were a lot of teachable moments from that Florida game.”
Cunningham and Amber Smith combined for 13 points against the Gators, but the duo responded with 31 against Georgia. They outscored the Lady Bulldogs top three scorers this season. Robinson, Gabby Connally, and Taja Cole combined for just 22 points against the Tigers. Also, Georgia got nothing from fourth-leading scorer Jenna Staiti. She was in foul trouble the entire game and went scoreless in six minutes of action.
Now that Missouri took care of Georgia the focus shifts to No.15 South Carolina (12-5) on Monday, Jan 21 at 6 p.m. The Gamecocks are coming off an 89-74 loss to No. 7 Mississippi State on Thursday and both teams are 4-1 in conference play.
It’s the beginning of potentially the most important two-game stretch of the season for Missouri. The Tigers have two wins over top-25 teams this season: No. 21 West Virginia and No. 10 Tennessee. Missouri has a chance to double that in the span of three days. After South Carolina, the Tigers travel to No. 16 Kentucky (16-3) on Thursday, Jan 24.
