After losing to LSU 69-65 on Thursday night, No. 15 Missouri (13-2, 1-1 SEC) has another shot to defend its home court this Sunday.
It won’t be easy.
Missouri will face the defending national champion, No. 4 South Carolina (13-1, 2-0) in an SEC showdown. Last year, Missouri gave South Carolina its last loss of the season, 62-60, off of a game-winning layup was from none other than Sophie Cunningham, who is now nursing a knee injury. It’s unclear yet if Cunningham will play.
With or without Cunningham, the Tigers have made it clear they will defend their home court to the best of their ability, and the Gamecocks will probably come in looking to avenge that loss last year. That will make for a exciting Sunday afternoon at Mizzou Arena.
Here’s what to keep an eye on:
SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM'S HEALTH
Cunningham’s absence was felt deeply on Thursday night against LSU. Not just her shot — she leads the Tigers in scoring, averaging 18.2 points a game — but her defensive attack, too. Missouri coach Robin Pingeton said Cunningham wasn’t cleared to play on Thursday night, and it’s unknown if the junior guard will play on Sunday.
Other players will have to step up to fill the void of Missouri’s star and to avoid a South Carolina whooping. The potential for them to do that is there, but it’s important they step up early and throughout the entire game.
Amber Smith had a career-high 27 points Thursday night. She has a mean jumper, and she can shoot so far beyond the arc that defenders don’t even know she’s about to take a shot. But Smith didn’t really show up until late in the third quarter. If Missouri wants to win on Sunday, Smith needs to start taking and making shots right away.
BATTLE ON THE BOARDS
On Thursday, Jordan Frericks became the fourth Tiger in program history to surpass 900 career rebounds. The redshirt senior had five offensive rebounds and 10 defensive rebounds, which gave Missouri a lot of control over the game, especially early in the first half. In addition, Frericks had 19 points and one block on Thursday night.
LSU coach Nikki Fargas summed up Frericks pretty well: “She’s a beast.”
Missouri has to control the game against South Carolina, which means Frericks will need to stay aggressive and continue grabbing rebounds on both sides of the court. After Thursday’s game, she said it was important to dominate the boards, and she thought her team did a good job of that throughout the game.
Sunday will have to be more of the same, combined with making more shots in Cunningham’s potential absence.
STOP THE TOP GAMECOCK
Even with a higher shooting percentage and dominating the boards, the Tigers are still facing the defending national champions and a very good team with very good players.
By far the leader on the Gamecocks is A’ja Wilson. The senior forward was the SEC Player of the Year and an All-American after leading her team to the national championship a year ago. Wilson leads her team in scoring and rebounds, averaging 24.6 points a game and 11.4 rebounds a game. She’s third in the nation in points per game, 14th in rebounds per game and eighth in blocked shots per game (3.23). She’s also only 14 points away from scoring 2,000 career points. Controlling Wilson will be Missouri’s toughest challenge on Sunday.
Wilson is good, there’s no doubt about that. But she’s not the only one, and that’s what makes South Carolina so dangerous.
Four players are averaging more than 10 points per game: Wilson, Alexis Jennings, Lindsey Spann and Tyasha Harris. In the Gamecocks’ 88-62 win against Ole Miss on Thursday, there were five players to score in double figures. South Carolina’s offense is versatile and has range. Missouri will need to figure out how to stop that offense — without committing too many fouls — to have a chance at knocking off the No. 4 team in the nation.
