Missouri women fall to Georgia in SEC Tournament
The Missouri women’s basketball team entered the SEC Tournament already missing three players who suffered season-ending injuries. The Tigers’ reinforcements got even lighter Thursday night.
Top scorer Jordan Frericks fouled out in the second half and guard Lindsey Cunningham missed the final seven minutes after banging her head on the floor. Without those key pieces, the Tigers never could erase an early deficit in losing to Georgia 75-64, their third consecutive SEC Tournament loss.
Sierra Michaelis scored a career-high 29 points and Morgan Stock added 11 for the Tigers, who entered the tournament on a four-game winning streak. But Frericks, who led Missouri with 13.6 points per game this season, scored 5 points in 22 minutes and fouled out with 10:53 to go. Later, Cunningham banged her head on the court with 7:17 left and was helped to the locker room.
“Jordan is such a huge part of what we do, and I think Lindsey brings a lot of the intangibles to the table,” Missouri coach Robin Pingeton said. “But I felt really good about the kids that were on the court.”
No. 7 seed Missouri (7-13), which is now hoping for a WNIT bid, was held to 38.2 percent shooting and let Georgia make 26 of 29 free throws. But Pingeton said the most damaging stat was Georgia’s holding a 39-26 rebounding edge. Krista Donald had 15 rebounds, and the 10th-seeded Bulldogs scored 21 second-chance points off 16 offensive rebounds.
“We had a hard time eliminating those second-chance opportunities,” Pingeton said.
Missouri still kept charging back.
Georgia took a lead when Missouri fell into a two for 12 shooting slump over a 13-minute stretch of the first half. The Bulldogs used runs of 10-0 and 10-3 to build a 25-14 lead with 5:35 left in the first half. But, Stock and Michaelis each hit three-pointers, and Juanita Robinson’s jumper at the first-half buzzer cut Missouri’s deficit to 32-27.
Missouri got within two points three times in the second half, and within 40-39 with 11:52 left, but never could take a lead. The Tigers’ last charge came after Frericks and Cunningham had left the game and two Michaelis free throws cut the deficit to 56-54. But the rally was halted when Tiara Griffin, who had 21 points, made a jumper that sparked an 8-0 run.
“Our energy was there,” Stock said. “I think we needed to stick together. I just think there were some things that just didn’t fall in place for us that we needed to.”
SEC women’s tournament schedule
In North Little Rock, Ark.
Wednesday’s first round
(13) Auburn 71, (12) Florida 49
(11) Vanderbilt 66, (14) Alabama 56
Thursday’s second round
(9) Arkansas 72, (8) Mississippi 61
(5) Texas A&M 57, (13) Auburn 47
(10) Georgia 75, (7) Missouri 64
(6) Kentucky 67, (11) Vanderbilt 61
Friday’s quarterfinals
(1) South Carolina vs. (9) Arkansas, noon (SEC Network)
(4) LSU vs. (5) Texas A&M, 2:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
(2) Tennessee vs. (10) Georgia, 6 p.m. (SEC Network)
(3) Mississippi State vs. (6) Kentucky, 8:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
Saturday’s semifinals
Quarterfinal winners, 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
Sunday’s championship
Semifinal winners, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN)
This story was originally published March 5, 2015 at 9:23 PM with the headline "Missouri women fall to Georgia in SEC Tournament."