Missouri women fall just short at Kentucky

The Missouri women were unable to follow their home win over Georgia in the SEC opener on Sunday with a second straight victory in SEC play.

The Tigers lost to No. 24 Kentucky 64-62 on Thursday night.

Missouri took the lead early — 15-8 at the end of the first quarter — but Kentucky took control with a dominating second period. Kentucky outscored Mizzou 26-6 with the help of six three-pointers and used a season-best 17-0 run for a 34-21 lead at the half.

Missouri almost chased Kentucky down in second half, but the clock was not on the Tigers’ side. Missouri cut it to 63-60 with 9 seconds left on a Sophie Cunningham layup and then to 64-62 just before the buzzer on another bucket by Cunningham as the Wildcats were able to keep just enough distance to notch the victory.

The Wildcats had only nine turnovers, but Missouri forced five of those in the fourth quarter.

Sierra Michaelis led the Tigers with 22 points. Michaelis got 12 of her 22 on 4-of-12 three-point shooting. Cunningham added 16 points for Missouri.

Makayla Epps led Kentucky with 17 points.

Missouri, which dropped to 11-5, 1-1, plays host to Alabama on Sunday.

Kentucky improved to 10-5, 1-1. The Wildcats were coming off road losses to Duke and Tennessee.

This story was originally published January 5, 2017 at 8:26 PM with the headline "Missouri women fall just short at Kentucky."