COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Women’s Basketball used a well-balanced offensive attack to run past Tennessee-Martin, 80-69, on an icy Saturday afternoon in Mid-Missouri. Four players scored in double-figures, marking the sixth time Mizzou has accomplished that this season, as the Tigers shot 27-for-56 from the floor and held off a comeback attempt from the Skyhawks in the fourth quarter for the win. Mizzou improves to 9-3 on the season.
Senior guard Sierra Michaelis (Mercer, Mo.) poured in a game-high 23 points to lead Mizzou. The reigning SEC Co-Player of the Week has reached the 20-point plateau in two of the last three games. She drained five three-pointers Saturday and moved to third all-time in program history for career three-pointers made with 143 triples.
Sophomore guard Sophie Cunningham (Columbia, Mo.) tallied 21 points, six rebounds and three assists and sophomore Cierra Porter (Columbia, Mo.) posted 19 points and 14 rebounds to secure her fifth double-double of the season. The 14 boards for Porter were one shy of a career-high. Senior Lindsey Cunningham (Columbia, Mo.) added 13 points, five rebounds and two assists in the win.
Mizzou dominated the first half of play thanks to Sophie Cunningham and Porter. Together, they were responsible for Mizzou’s first 14 points. The Tigers raced out to a 25-17 lead after a bucket down low from Cunningham.
Mizzou went on to outscore UT-Martin, 26-4, in the opening half of action. The dominance in the paint allowed the Tigers to string together a 13-3 second-quarter run and build a 16-point advantage. The Cunningham-Porter duo combined for 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting with 11 rebounds and two assists in the first half as Mizzou entered halftime up 43-27.
Coming out in the second half, Michaelis caught fire, connecting on back-to-back triples to get Mizzou’s offense going. She stayed hot, finishing with five 3-pointers in the third quarter alone.
UT-Martin cut the lead to just nine points midway through the fourth quarter, but Mizzou was able to hang on behind efficient free throw shooting and stout defense, limiting UT-Martin to just 2-for-9 shooting down the stretch. The Tigers finished 18-of-23 from the foul line.
Mizzou will be back in action Monday against UC-Riverside at 7 p.m. inside Mizzou Arena.
— Mizzou Athletics —