NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Amber Smith had 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists and No. 14 Missouri beat Mississippi 59-50 in the second round of the SEC Tournament on Thursday night.

Sophie Cunningham added all 11 of her points in the second half and sixth-seeded Missouri advanced the quarterfinals to face No. 3 seed Georgia on Friday night. During the regular season, Missouri lost its only meeting with Georgia on the road 62-50.

Missouri never trailed although 14th-seeded Ole Miss closed the first half on a 12-3 run to go into halftime down 28-26. The Tigers outscored the Rebels 13-4 in the third quarter and mostly led in double digits throughout the fourth.

Smith was 6 of 9 from the field and the Tigers made 17 of 35 in winning their first SEC Tournament game in six tries.

Madinah Muhammad had 20 points and Alissa Alston added 10 for the Rebels.

— Associated Press —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Baseball completed a midweek series sweep of Alabama A&M with a 14-0 win Wednesday afternoon at Taylor Stadium. Mizzou walked a season-high 16 times, the most for Mizzou since 2005, finishing the two-game set with 27 walks. Mizzou turned a fifth-inning triple play to highlight the game, Mizzou’s first triple play since Feb. 23, 2015, in a 1-0 win over Purdue. Mizzou also got a sixth-inning grand slam from senior OF Trey Harris (Powder Springs, Ga.), who drove in a career-high six runs in the win.

Mizzou RHP Cameron Dulle (St. Louis, Mo.) earned the win, his first of the season, after going 2.2 shutout innings, striking out three and allowing just two hits. He came in with the bases loaded and one out in the third inning and got a pair of strikeouts as Mizzou seized momentum from there. Alabama A&M’s Quentin Alsbrooks took the loss, falling to 1-0.

TURNING POINT
While Mizzou scored four runs over the first two innings, the turning point of the game came in the bottom of the third. Alabama A&M loaded the bases with one out, threatening to cut into Mizzou’s lead. Head coach Steve Bieser brought in righty Cameron Dulle (St. Louis, Mo.) and he picked up a pair of strikeouts to end the threat. Mizzou then exploded for six runs in the bottom of the fourth and four more in the sixth, all on Harris’ slam, to put the game away.

NOTES
– Mizzou now leads the all-time series with Alabama A&M, 3-0.

– Mizzou is now 2-0 on Wednesdays, outscoring opponents 23-0 in those games.

– Mizzou is now 20-13 at home under second-year head coach Steve Bieser.

– Junior 3B Brian Sharp extended his hitting streak to seven games, the longest active streak by a Tiger while matching the longest by any Mizzou player this season. He’s reached base in eight straight games.

– Mizzou turned its first triple play since Feb. 23, 2015, against Purdue in a 1-0 win at the Kleberg Bank College Classic.

– Senior OF Trey Harris tallied his first career grand slam in the sixth inning. It was Mizzou’s second grand slam of the season and second in four games after Brian Sharp hit one in the second game of last Saturday’s doubleheader vs. Northeastern. He drove in a career-high six RBI Wednesday.

– As far as we can tell by looking in the record book, it is the first time that Mizzou has turned a triple play and hit a grand slam in the same game.

– Mizzou turned in its second shutout of the season, the first since last Wednesday at No. 24 Miami in a 9-0 win.

– Freshman RHP Cameron Pferrer made his collegiate debut, pitching the top of the eighth inning.

– Freshman RHP Drake Greenwood also made his collegiate debut, pitching the ninth inning.

– Mizzou’s 16 walks drawn were its most since March 20, 2005, vs. North Dakota when it also walked 18 times.

UP NEXT
Mizzou will host Maryland-Baltimore County this weekend in its first home weekend series of 2018. The series beings Friday at 6:30 p.m.

— Mizzou Athletics —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou junior guard Sophie Cunningham has been announced as one of five finalists for the 2018 Cheryl Miller Award. The annual award in its inaugural year recognizes the top small forwards in women’s NCAA Division I college basketball.

A national committee of top women’s college basketball personnel including media members, head coaches, sports information directors and Hall of Famers narrowed the original award watch list of 20 players to 10 candidates and now just five finalists. In March, the five finalists will be presented to Ms. Miller and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee. The winner of the 2018 Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year Award will be determined by a combination of fan votes and input from the Basketball Hall of Fame’s selection committee. Fans are encouraged to visit www.HoophallAwards.com to cast their votes March 2-23.

The other four finalists for the 2018 Cheryl Miller Award are Gabby Williams (Connecticut), Shakayla Thomas (Florida St.), Jaime Nared (Tennessee), and Teana Muldrow (West Virginia).

The winner of the 2018 Cheryl Miller Small Forward Award will be announced during ESPN2’s telecast of the national semifinal games in the 2018 NCAA Women’s Final Four in Columbus, Ohio on Friday, March 30. The award will then be presented to the student-athlete on Saturday, March 31 at a new awards reception presented by the Basketball Hall of Fame and the WBCA and held at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

Cunningham is currently the only player in the nation shooting above 47 percent from 3-point range, 56 percent from the field and 83 percent from the free throw line. She leads the SEC and ranks third in the NCAA in 3-point field goal percentage, making 47.5 of her attempts from long range. Cunningham also ranks fourth in the league in free throw percentage and seventh in the league in field goal percentage.

Cunningham is averaging a career-best 18.6 points per game, scoring in double figures 26 times in 28 games. She has scored at least 20 points 12 times, including seven times in conference play, and at least 25 points seven times. Cunningham has racked up 1,510 career points, which is fifth among active SEC players and ninth in Mizzou history.

Mizzou begins action at the SEC Tournament on Thursday when it faces Ole Miss at 8:30 p.m.

— Mizzou Athletics —

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Jontay Porter ended his shooting slump and Missouri ended its three-game losing streak.

Porter scored a career-high 24 points, including four 3-pointers in the Tigers’ 74-66 win at Vanderbilt on Tuesday night.

“That was pretty refreshing because I haven’t been shooting the ball very well lately,” Porter said. “The pick and pop, first half, was really open and then they went to zone. That’s when I felt like I really had the chance to exploit that, like go in the middle kicking it or shooting it.”

Porter hit 9 of 10 from the floor, including all four of his 3-point attempts. The 6-foot-11 freshman enjoyed a strong overall game with seven rebounds and six assists.

Jordan Barnett added 17 points for the Tigers (19-11, 9-8 Southeastern Conference), who spoiled the Commodores’ home finale.

“They were in their zone kind of really spread out, so Jontay was just open a lot,” Barnett said. “So, I mean, if he’s open we’re going to throw it to him every single time. And he was able to hit a ton of shots tonight in a huge game.”

Missouri shot 58 percent from the field on 26 of 45 shooting, including 12 of 22 from distance.

“We like our chances when teams play zone — you flash and get in the middle,” Tigers coach Cuonzo Martin said. “We’ve spent a lot of time in that area since the (Texas) A&M game because we had opportunities like that and didn’t capitalize. Jontay did a great job of making adjustments, reading it and shooting the ball in rhythm.”

Senior Jeff Roberson led last-place Vanderbilt (11-19, 5-12) with 19 points in his final game at Memorial Gym.

Fellow senior Riley LaChance exited with 17 points, including five 3-pointers. Both players received standing ovations from the crowd of 8,812 when leaving the court during the final seconds.

“It’s actually a little bit emotional when you think about everything you’ve been through,” Roberson said.

The Tigers rallied to take the lead with an 18-4 run the second half as they shot 65 percent from the floor during the last 20 minutes.

Vanderbilt made 8 of its first 15 shots from 3-point range to take a 32-30 halftime lead.

BIG PICTURE

Missouri: The Tigers improved their NCAA Tournament credentials with an SEC road win.

Vanderbilt: The Commodores lost their third straight game.

PORTER JR. STILL OUT

Missouri freshman Michael Porter Jr., out since back surgery in November, warmed up with the Tigers, but didn’t play against Vanderbilt. He was cleared to practice Thursday, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The 6-10 forward was named to the Associated Press preseason All-America team and he was the SEC preseason Co-Player of the Year. He was the nation’s top overall recruit out of Nathan Hale High School in Seattle.

“He’s looking a lot better,” Martin said. “Who knows? We’ll see.”

HONORARY START

Vanderbilt senior Matthew Fisher-Davis, out with a season-ending shoulder injury, made his final start at Memorial Gym.

The Commodores fouled immediately to get him out of the game safely. Fisher-Davis ranks sixth in school history with 269 career 3-pointers and he scored 1,219 career points.

“We spent basically three and a half years together and it was great having him out there even if it was just for a second because I know he wanted to be out there playing as hard as he could if he could,” Roberson said.

SECONDARY SCORING

Roberson and LaChance broke into double figures, but Vanderbilt didn’t get enough scoring support from the rest of the team. “Obviously, when we get that third and fourth option getting double figures that’s when we’ve been successful,” Vandy coach Bryce Drew said. “Unfortunately, we just couldn’t get to that point tonight. Once Missouri got in rhythm, they never let us get back in it and really make a good run at them.”

UP NEXT

Missouri hosts Arkansas in its regular-season finale Saturday. The Razorbacks entered Tuesday’s games as the SEC’s second-highest scoring team (82.2 ppg).

Vanderbilt ends its season at Ole Miss (12-17) on Saturday. The Commodores are 0-10 in road games.

— Associated Press —