It was clear that senior Sophie Cunningham wanted to play Florida. Cunningham said so last week. Her wish was granted on Wednesday night when the Gators beat Ole Miss 64-57 in the first round of the SEC Tournament.
Cunningham went 2-5 from the field with four points in the first matchup between the two teams; it was her worst SEC game of the season. She fouled out late in the fourth quarter and the Gators finished with on a 10-0 run to steal a game Missouri needed badly in the end.
This time around Cunningham didn’t disappoint. She had 13 points in Missouri’s 87-56 victory over Florida in the second round of the SEC Tournament. The 31-point victory over the Gators is Missouri’s largest margin of victory in a tournament game since 1985.
The score was knotted at 20 after the first quarter when the Tigers took over. Junior Amber Smith was held to nine points in the first matchup. She led all scorers with 18 points as Missouri shot 52.5 percent from the field and 38.2 percent from three.
The Tigers lead the SEC in three-point percentage this season and made 13 of them against Florida. It was the team’s second straight game with double-digit three-pointers. Missouri has 11 games with 10 or more threes this season.
Redshirt-Junior Hannah Schuchts led the team with four threes and finished with 16 points. Schuchts’ points and minutes declined after non-conference play, but she came up big against Florida.
Missouri outscored Florida 67-36 in the final three quarter. Florida went 1-8 from deep and shot 36.7 percent from the field. It was an improvement from 40.8 percent on Jan 13. Redshirt-sophomore Danielle Rainey had a game-high 16 points in the first matchup. She went 3-9 from the field with seven points this time around. Senior Funda Nakkassoglu led the Gators with 14 points.
Missouri (22-9) will face No. 13 Kentucky (24-6) on Friday afternoon. The Tigers lost to the Wildcats 52-41 on Jan 24. Missouri had a 21-18 lead at halftime, then was outscored 18-7 in the third quarter.
