Mizzou notebook: SEC coaches tab Tiger women seventh

Missouri was picked eighth in preseason voting by media covering the SEC last month, but the conference’s coaches are slightly more optimistic.

The Tigers, who are ranked 24th nationally, were picked seventh in the SEC Coaches’ poll, which was released Thursday by the conference office.

Mizzou also had one player, sophomore guard Sophie Cunningham, picked for the preseason All-SEC first team.

Cunningham was the SEC freshman of the year last season after averaging a team-high 14.0 points and starting all 32 games. She also won a record six weekly conference awards.

SEC preseason women’s basketball coaches’ poll

1. South Carolina, 2. Mississippi State, 3. Tennessee, 4. Florida, 5. Kentucky, 6. Auburn, 7. Missouri, 8. Texas A&M, 9. Vanderbilt, 10. Arkansas, 11. LSU, 12. Georgia, 13. Alabama, 14. Mississippi.

Player of the year: A’ja Wilson, South Carolina

First-team All-SEC

Jessica Jackson, Arkansas; Ronni Williams, Florida; Makayla Epps, Kentucky; Victoria Vivians, Mississippi State; Sophie Cunningham, Missouri; A’ja Wilson, South Carolina; Alaina Coates, South Carolina; Diamond DeShields, Tennessee.

Second-team All-SEC

Brandy Montgomery, Auburn; Eleanna Christinaki, Florida; Shandricka Sessom, Mississippi; Dominique Dillingham, Mississippi State; Morgan William, Mississippi State; Mercedes Russell, Tennessee; Marqu’es Webb, Vanderbilt.

Mizzou football trio goes under knife

Missouri senior linebacker Michael Scherer, sophomore defensive tackle Terry Beckner Jr. and redshirt tight end Brendan Scales all underwent surgery Thursday in Columbia.

Scherer, a three-year starter who was the Tigers’ leading tackler at the time, suffered a torn ACL and MCL in his right knee during the first quarter Oct. 22 against Middle Tennessee, and Beckner tore the ACL in his left knee during the fourth quarter of the same game.

Scales — a true freshman from Lafayette High in Wildwood, Mo., who had yet to play this season — suffered a Jones fracture in his foot Tuesday during practice.

Chadwick joins national team

Missouri senior swimmer Michael Chadwick was chosen to represent the United States at the 2016 FINA World Championships Dec. 6-11 in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

Chadwick, who is the most-decorated swimmer in Tigers history with six first-team All-America swims and nine honorable mentions, will swim the 540- and 100-meter freestyle events.

Soccer suffers shootout loss at SEC tourney

Missouri women’s soccer erased a two-goal deficit in the second half late Wednesday night against No. 15 Florida in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament in Orange Beach, Ala.

Ultimately, the Tigers fell 8-7 on penalty kicks after finishing tied 3-3 in regulation plus overtime.

Mizzou jumped in front on junior Jessica Johnson’s third-minute goal, but the Gators responded with three consecutive tallies, taking a 3-1 lead early in the second half.

Senior Melanie Donaldson pulled back a goal in the 61st minute and senior Erin Webb added the equalizer less than a minute later.

Donaldson missed a penalty kick in the 86th minute after freshman Sarah Luebbert was taken down in Florida’s penalty, which would have won the game in regulation.

Sophomore goalkeeper Kelsey Dossey made a career-high seven saves but couldn’t keep the Gators at bay in the shootout, which ended after junior Savannah Trujillo’s eighth-round miss.

This story was originally published November 3, 2016 at 6:48 PM with the headline "Mizzou notebook: SEC coaches tab Tiger women seventh."