NASHVILLE -- Sophie Cunningham did not step to the free throw line one time on Friday night.
The last time Missouri played Georgia, she was a perfect 6-for-6 on the line. Cunningham is an 83 percent free-throw shooter off of 119-143 from the line and, when she’s not shooting 47 percent from three or recording one of her 92 season assists, she’s driving to the hoop.
Cunningham’s lack of a free throw Friday night perhaps best encapsulates a frustrating game for No. 14 Missouri (24-7), who fell 55-41 to No. 19 Georgia (25-5) in the SEC Tournament quarterfinal.
In the third quarter, Cunningham was issued a flagrant foul for elbowing Georgia’s Haley Clark in what seemed to be a jump ball situation. Cunningham went to grab the ball while Clark looked to fall on top of Cunningham. Cunningham’s elbows swung and connected with Clark, which is what the officials reviewed.
Crowds of Georgia red, Tennessee orange, and Mississippi State and South Carolina maroon booed loudly when the officials declared an unsportsmanlike conduct on Missouri’s No. 3.
“I think if you re-watch it, I actually got hit in the face twice,” Cunningham said. “But then I got the foul. So I really don’t know.
“I’m all about being physical. I think everyone around the whole nation knows that. Tough game. Really tough game.”
Cunningham was held to only seven points and was 3-17 from the field. She fouled out with a little over a minute to go. She declined to comment on not having any free throw attempts.
Georgia head coach Joni Taylor said it was a goal to put enough pressure on Cunningham to not let her make any shots.
“We just tried as much as possible to keep her covered up, where she couldn’t catch the basketball, whether that was through ball pressure or her not being able to see anything,” Taylor said. “When you’ve got a player like Sophie who can score at all three levels… it makes it difficult for us. Our challenge was to never let her be open. If she can’t catch it, she can’t score it.”
Georgia’s defense suffocated Missouri from early on, and the physicality wore down on the Tigers, who were already fatigued from Thursday night’s win over Mississippi.
Any sign of momentum was quickly put away by a Bulldog run.
Back-to-back three-pointers from Cunningham and Amber Smith, followed by a rejection on the other end of the court from Kayla Michael gave Missouri a three-point lead heading into halftime. That lead quickly faded at the start of the third quarter.
“I swear if we didn’t have halftime, that would have been something good,” Cunningham said.
But Missouri’s offensive output never materialized. There were almost no looks at the basket, and when the Tigers got one, the ball bounced off the rim--or sometimes never even got there. Missouri shot 27 percent from the field and 21 percent from beyond the arc, both horrendous season lows.
Jordan Frericks led Missouri scorers with 10 points, Smith added eight. Cierra Porter had 12 rebounds.
A good sign, if any? Only 14 turnovers — 10 fewer than Thursday night.
"I would have thought if we had 14 turnovers, we would have put ourselves in a good chance to have success,” Missouri head coach Robin Pingeton said.
Those turnovers, although minimal in number compared to what Missouri usually has, turned into 22 points for Georgia. The Bulldogs sped up the pace, flustered the Tigers and found the basket in transition.
Missouri’s conference tournament is over, but it still has the NCAA Tournament ahead. A win Friday night would have locked a hosting opportunity, but now the Tigers have to wait to see how the rest of the conferences play out, and who those Top-16 seeds are come selection day.
“We’re not over,” Cunningham said. “This team, we still have a lot to prove, honestly — clearly. We’re ready for the big dance. I’m just hoping we can host so we can have a crazy atmosphere at Mizzou Arena to help prove our point a little bit.”
After Friday night, it seemed as though Cunningham might have something to prove as well.
