We turn the Starting Five preview to the women’s side today. In this feature, we’ll give you the anticipated starting lineups for each team, break down keys to a Missouri win and offer up a prediction. Here’s the breakdown of today’s SEC tournament semifinal matchup between Missouri (23-9) and Mississippi State (28-2).
OFF THE BENCH: Redshirt-junior Hannah Schuchts has been incredible off the bench for Missouri. Her three-point shooting gets most of the attention and deservingly so. Schuchts is 6-8 from deep in the SEC tournament. However, she showed an ability to be an anchor for the Tigers defense. Schuchts altered shots and protected the rim in 16 minutes against Kentucky. Senior Cierra Porter was in foul trouble for most of the first half and Schuchts provided a spark off the bench. She finished with six points, five rebounds, and two blocks in Missouri’s 70-68 win over the Wildcats. However, Schuchts only played nine minutes against Mississippi State on Jan 24. She’s shooting with extreme confidence in the SEC tournament, because of that Schuchts should pull her defender out of the paint. That will allow senior Sophie Cunningham to exploit mismatches on the block.
OFF THE BENCH: Sophomore Bre’Amber Scott had 12 of Mississippi State’s bench points in the Bulldogs 83-68 victory over Tennessee. Scott went 2-5 from the field with 10 points in the first matchup against Missouri. She was the Bulldogs leading scorer off the bench and averaged 6.7 points in 14.2 minutes a game. Scott hit two three-pointers in the first game and is second on the team in three-point percentage. The 5-foot-11 guard shot 42 percent from three this season and went 1-3 from deep against the Lady Vols on Friday. Missouri should key in on her defensively because the rest of Mississippi State’s bench combined for three points on three shots in the loss to Missouri.
TIP TIME INFORMATION
TIPOFF: 4:00 p.m. CT
LOCATION: Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, SC
TELEVISION: ESPNU
RADIO: KTGR 1580 AM
KEYS TO THE GAME
1. Continue Double-Teaming McCowan. Missouri’s defense was superb in the first game against Mississippi State. The Tigers held them to 39.7 percent shooting, the Bulldogs second-lowest shooting performance this season. However, Mississippi State still had 24 points in the paint. Half of those points came from senior Teaira McCowan; she went 4-11 from the floor and 4-6 from the free throw line. Missouri did a great job fronting McCowan in the post and throwing multiple defenders her way every time she touched the ball. That pressure led her to miss several makable layups throughout the game. Coach Vic Schaefer will find a way to get McCowan the ball and she will be expecting double and triple-teams this time. The Tigers need to be ready for McCowan to recognize the added pressure and make quicker decisions. McCowan over-dribbling or turning the ball over trying to pass out double-teams is the best-case scenario for Missouri. However, even if she can find open turnovers the Tigers must live with letting anyone else beat them. McCowan can’t establish deep post position and get opportunities to take her defender one-on-one.
2. Keep Anriel Howard out of the lane. Anriel Howard stepped up as McCowan struggle in the first matchup against Missouri. Howard finished with 21 points and six rebounds in the loss. She went 7-11 from the field and 3-5 from the three-point line. It was her season-high in made threes this season. Howard is the second leading scorer for Mississippi State, but she shot 32 percent from deep and made 23 threes this season. Howard, a 5-foot-11 guard, lives on finishing in paint and midrange jumpers. She has taken five or more threes in four games this season and went 7-23 in those games. Mississippi State is a talented offensive team and Missouri can’t defend everything. The Tigers should keep letting her shoot from three. McCowan not getting a deep post touch and Howard shooting a contested three is a good possession for the Tigers.
3. Limit Needless Turnovers. Turnovers were the Tigers biggest problem in their win over Kentucky. Missouri had 26 turnovers and the Wildcats had 17 points off those turnovers. It was the most turnovers the Tigers had all season. Most of them were completely avoidable. Mishandled passes, over-dribbling and bad passing on out of bounds plays kept Kentucky in the game. Missouri can’t afford to have that many turnovers against Mississippi State. The Tigers had 17 in the first matchup. Missouri must hold its own in the turnover battle to defeat Mississippi State again. The Tigers forced 18 turnovers and had 24 points off turnovers in their upset victory in Starkville. The Bulldogs mistakes swung the game for Missouri. Ball security must be a priority for the Tigers to make it to Sunday.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Mississippi State walked through the SEC regular season with only one misstep. The Bulldogs lost to Missouri at home. The Tigers were the more physical team and their defense was dominant. Mississippi State has legitimate NCAA Championship aspirations this season. They will come out and try to set the tone early in the SEC semifinal. However, if Cunningham is as effective as she was in the first game, it may not matter. She had 24 points and six rebounds in her “flu game” against Mississippi State. Also, Cunningham is coming off a 29-point performance against Kentucky. She sought out mismatches in the post and found ways to finish or get fouled down low. If she stays aggressive the Tigers have a good shot at defeating Mississippi State again.
Prediction: Missouri 70, Mississippi State 66
Player of the game: Cunningham becomes Missouri’s all-time leading scorer and adds another career-defining win to her resume with a 28-point game to propel the Tigers to their first SEC championship game.
