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Tigers back on track

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The play was crumbling, but Jordan Frericks was just getting started.

Lauren Aldridge and Kentucky guard Taylor Murray were fighting for the ball when it popped out of their grasps. Two seconds left on the clock.

Frericks scooped up the ball and took two steps. She jumped, the buzzer sounded, and the ball rolled in the net. Quarter one ended with the Tigers on top.

Quarter four ended that way too, and Missouri (19-5, 7-4 SEC) won its second straight with a 83-78 victory over Kentucky (12-13, 4-7).

Solid first-half offense propelled the Tigers Thursday night.

“We have transitioned to this 2-3 zone, and I think it had people off balance for awhile,” Kentucky head coach Matthew Mitchell, whose squad had won three out of the last four before tonight, said. “But Robin (Pingeton) and her staff did a great job of scheming early on, and we were just not playing that correctly. It really gashed us there in the first quarter.”

Cierra Porter followed her 27-point night on Monday against Florida with a double-double: 16 points and 11 rebounds. Frericks was one rebound away from a double-double; she had 15 points and nine rebounds.

She’s at the point of the season where everything is just rolling, she said.

“I think just our ball movement was working well,” Frericks said. “I think (Kentucky) kind of got lost in our movement offensively and the girls were able to find me under the basket.”

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Frericks was part of a big offensive effort on Thursday
Frericks was part of a big offensive effort on Thursday (Jordan Kodner)

Sophie Cunningham left the game late in the first half to get her wrist and thumb taped, but she was back on the court in her usual fashion once the second half commenced. She said it was just a sprain after the game and it would be fine.

Like SEC Network analyst Nell Fortner said, “It’s Sophie Cunningham.”

With her right wrist and thumb taped, Missouri’s leading scoring notched 29 points Thursday night.

Again, she made it seem like nothing.

“I do assess the situation quite a bit, but I’m not going force anything,” Cunningham said. “If someone is going off, I’m going to get them the ball. Like (Frericks) in the first half – they weren’t guarding her, so we’re going to feed her. Then Amber (Smith), then (Porter). I know when I need to take over, but I think everyone did a really nice job of just staying in their own lane.”

Shots kept falling for the Tigers in the first half. After Kayla Michael sunk a three-ball, Missouri was shooting 71 percent with four minutes left in the half.

Missouri’s offense was everything, until the fourth quarter. Pingeton has emphasized that no SEC win is easy, and Thursday night’s was no different.

Kentucky slowly cut the lead to nine, then six, then three. And then there were nine seconds left. Free throws put Missouri on top, but Kentucky made some tough shots on a not-so-tough Missouri defense.

“They just flat out don’t stop,” Robin Pingeton said. “I didn’t think they were going to go away. They were really in attack mode, aggressive going to the rim.”

With league play winding down and the SEC Tournament in sight, Missouri is back on a winning streak. The Tigers have to stay consistent and efficient in their last five regular-season games; then maybe they can grab their first SEC Tournament win in program history.

“We’re at a point where we can put everything we’ve learned throughout the season together, so I think just taking time to do that,” Frericks said. “I’m still going to take this last opportunity, this last year to just enjoy it and stay present and have fun with these team. Putting everything I’ve learned throughout these five years, just trying to dial it in and stay confident.”

For Frericks, in her last year as a Tiger, that means doing everything she can to make a broken play right again.

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