COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Victoria Vivians made a go-ahead jumper with four seconds left and No. 2 Mississippi State continued its perfect season with a 57-53 road victory against No. 15 Missouri on Thursday night.

The Bulldogs and Tigers played a tight fourth quarter. Missouri’s Sophie Cunningham tied the game at 53 with nine seconds left with a 3-pointer.

Vivians then hit her shot to make it 55-53. After an offensive foul on Jordan Frericks, Teaira McCowan hit two free throws to seal the game for Mississippi State (23-0, 9-0 Southeastern Conference).

Blair Schaefer led the Bulldogs with a season-high 20 points, but Mississippi State struggled shooting the ball all night. However, the Bulldogs’ defense held Missouri (17-6, 5-4) to just 32 percent from the field in the second half.

McCowan finished with 17 points and 17 rebounds. Vivians added 15 points. Schaefer, McCowan and Vivians accounted for 52 of the Bulldogs’ 57 points, and Mississippi State shot just 31 percent from the field.

Missouri shot 48 percent in the first half, and posted a 25-16 rebounding edge at the break as well.

The game marked Mississippi State’s closest win in conference play. The Bulldogs had previously defeated each conference opponent by double digits.

BIG PICTURE:

Mississippi State: The Bulldogs barely escaped a tough Missouri team, but they remain perfect at 23-0. Mississippi State’s victory marked its second top-15 road win in the last four games. The Bulldogs defeated No. 6 Tennessee on Jan. 21.

Missouri: The Tigers came close to an impressive upset, but they’ve now lost three in a row after being on the cusp of reaching the top 10. The stretch, coming against three top-25 teams, has placed Missouri in the middle of the pack in the conference standings.

UP NEXT:

Mississippi State returns home Monday to face No. 7 South Carolina, which was blown out Thursday night by No. 1 Connecticut.

Missouri hosts Florida Monday.

— Associated Press —

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Kassius Robertson scored 22 points to help Missouri snap a three-game losing streak with a 69-60 victory over Alabama on Wednesday night.

Jontay Porter overcame foul trouble to score 13 points for the Tigers (14-8, 4-5 Southeastern Conference). Fresh from a win over No. 12 Oklahoma, the Crimson Tide (14-8, 5-4) fell behind by double digits in the first half and had an abysmal shooting performance after the break.

Missouri’s Jeremiah Tilmon scored 12 points and made all six shots before fouling out with more than five minutes left. Robertson had four assists and made 4 of 8 3-pointers.

Collin Sexton scored 23 points for Alabama despite a 7-of-16 shooting performance. Dazon Ingram was the only other Tide player in double digits with 10 points.

Alabama hit just 6 of 27 field goals in the second half (22.2 percent) after dropping more than 50 percent in the first.

Porter’s 3-pointer with 4:59 left pushed Missouri’s lead to 65-56. Alabama made enough defensive stops to produce a comeback, but couldn’t cash in with baskets on the other end. The Tide missed seven straight attempts down the stretch.

Alabama had whittled a 12-point Missouri lead down to 35-33 over the final five minutes of the opening half. Sexton’s 3-pointer at the buzzer sent the Tide heading to the locker room in a better mood. The Tigers went seven minutes without a field goal extending into the second half.

BIG PICTURE

Missouri: Got a big win after three straight double digit losses. Had four players with two fouls apiece before halftime, and Porter picked up his fourth with 17:12 left.

Alabama: Blew a chance to move into a four-way tie for second in the SEC. Had won five of six games to start looking like a strong NCAA Tournament candidate, but had a rare poor performance at Coleman Coliseum. The Tide had been 4-0 at home in SEC games.

UP NEXT

Missouri hosts No. 21 Kentucky Saturday.

Alabama visits No. 23 Florida Saturday afternoon and plays four of its next six games on the road.

— Associated Press —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Women’s Basketball junior Sophie Cunningham was named as one of the final 10 candidates for the 2018 Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year Award. Named after the three-time Naismith Player of the Year, the annual award in its inaugural year recognizes the top small forwards in women’s NCAA Division I college basketball.

Cunningham is putting together her best season yet, captaining Mizzou to a No. 15 ranking. The junior is averaging a team-high 18.4 points per game, reaching double figures 18 times in 20 games and scoring at least 20 points on nine different occasions, including three times in the last four games.

Cunningham already ranks 13th on Mizzou’s all-time scoring list with 1,356 points and counting. That’s the fifth-most among active SEC players and she is the only player in the top five on that list that is not a senior. Cunningham is the only player in the nation shooting at least 84 percent from the free throw line, 45 percent from the three-point range and 54 percent from the field.

In November, Cunningham was named as one of 20 preseason candidates for the Cheryl Miller award and is now just one of two SEC players on the 2018 Cheryl Miller Award watch list. The Selection Committee for the Cheryl Miller Award is composed of top women’s college basketball personnel including media members, head coaches, sports information directors and Hall of Famers.

In March, five finalists will be presented to Ms. Miller and the Hall of Fame’s selection committee. Fans will also have the opportunity to vote for their favorite finalist at www.hoophallawards.com. The winner of the 2018 Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year 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.

For more information on the 2018 Cheryl Miller Award, visit www.hoophallawards.com.

2018 Cheryl Miller Award Candidates
Gabby Williams Connecticut
Shakayla Thomas Florida St.
Jill Barta Gonzaga
Bridget Carleton Iowa St.
Kaila Charles Maryland
Sophie Cunningham Missouri
Jaime Nared Tennessee
Ariel Atkins Texas
Teana Muldrow West Virginia
Tashia Brown Western Kentucky

Mizzou faces No. 2 Mississippi State on Thursday on the SEC Network. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT at Mizzou Arena.

— Mizzou Athletics —

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — No. 9 South Carolina and No. 11 Missouri shook hands before the starting lineups were introduced. The pleasantries ended after that.

A’ja Wilson had 15 points, hitting the go-ahead basket with 4:13 left, and Gamecocks outlasted the Tigers 64-54 on Sunday night in a hard-fought game that included an on-court tussle and two Missouri ejections.

The bad feelings were stirred from a game three weeks ago at Missouri where Wilson fouled out and South Carolina coach Dawn Staley was ejected for arguing about the Tigers’ physical play. Things boiled over once more in the second quarter when Missouri’s Kayla Michael and South Carolina’s Alexis Jennings fought for a rebound and crashed hard to the floor. Players from both sides ran in as shoving and bumping took play. Missouri reserves Jordan Roundtree and Nadia Green were ejected for coming off the bench to join the scrum.

“Emotions, passion, I thought it was a battle,” Missouri coach Robin Pingeton said. “That was a tough one.”

And it came down to the final few minutes.

The Gamecocks (18-3, 7-2 Southeastern Conference) saw their 48-41, fourth-quarter lead evaporate after Amber Smith’s two straight buckets to tie the game at 49-all. That’s when South Carolina’s All-American in Wilson rebounded a miss by teammate LeLe Grissett and put it right back up to move the Gamecocks back on top.

Jennings, who had missed her first four shots, then followed with back-to-back baskets as South Carolina built a 57-49 lead in the final minute. The Tigers (17-4, 5-3) could not respond and the Gamecocks got a measure of revenge from their Missouri loss.

The crowd of more than 13,000 rarely let the Tigers forget their anger about that defeat. They booed Tigers star Sophie Cunningham nearly every time she touched the ball. The Missouri junior found her way into the tussle, first getting shoved by South Carolina’s Doniyah Cliney, then bumping Jennings hard were her shoulder as she walked off the court.

Officials took about 15 minutes looking at video of the altercation. Cunningham and Cliney were assessed unsportsmanlike fouls.

Cunningham led Missouri with 18 points and eight rebounds.

Missouri did not make players available to the media.

Wilson said the Gamecocks treated this game like every other one. Staley said her players studied film of their last two matchups — both Missouri wins — and knew they’d take some shots. “They just don’t want to go into a game unprotected,” Staley said. “Our first thing is making sure everyone’s OK.”

Cunningham kept grinding to the end, even sending Wilson a reminder of what might be ahead in the league tournament as the Missouri player bumped her on the way into the locker room after the final buzzer.

“It’s all love and game,” Wilson said, smiling.

Tyasha Harris had 19 points for South Carolina, which won its fourth straight, while Wilson had a game-best 15 rebounds for her 13th game with double figure points and rebounds this season. The two-time defending SEC player of the year also had four blocks.

BIG PICTURE

Missouri: When the Tigers get Cunningham some help, they are a ferocious group. That was far from the case against the Gamecocks and Missouri paid for it. Starters Jordan Frericks and Amber Smith were a combined 8-of-20 shooting. Another starter in Cierra Porter played just nine minutes because of foul trouble.

South Carolina: The Gamecocks got their pivot stretch off to the right start. With last year’s starters in Alaina Coates, Allisha Gray and Kaela Davis off to the WNBA, many wondered if South Carolina had enough pieces to make another run in the SEC and beyond. They’ve got a couple of more tests ahead, starting Thursday night against undefeated and top-ranked UConn. After that the Gamecocks travel to No. 2 Mississippi State, a team that lost three times — including the SEC and NCAA title games — to the Gamecocks.

STAYING FOCUSED

Wilson spent zero time thinking about South Carolina’s upcoming matchup with No. 1 UConn leading up to Missouri. She believes that approach will help this week as they prep for the playing the Huskies for a fourth straight season. “I don’t think this is a confidence booster,” she said. “We know who we are and we’re going to continue to be who we are.”

TAKING AFFRONT

South Carolina point guard Tyasha Harris was bothered that Missouri sagged off her at times to concentrate on the Gamecocks post players down low. So Harris gladly made them pay. She hit two of the Gamecocks’ seven 3-pointers and came up with clutch outside shooting whenever South Carolina saw its margin shrink. “It’s a little disrespectful,” Harris said. “I took it to heart.”

UP NEXT

Missouri plays its third straight ranked opponent when it faces No. 2 Mississippi State on Thursday night.

South Carolina looks to break its 0-5 mark all-time against No. 1 UConn at home Thursday night.

— Associated Press —

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Quinndary Weatherspoon scored a team-high 20 points as Mississippi State defeated Missouri 74-62 on Saturday night.

The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Bulldogs (15-6, 3-5 SEC). Abdul Ado and Nick Weatherspoon each had 12 points for Mississippi State while Tyson Carter added 10 points.

Kassius Robertson had 20 points to lead Missouri (13-8, 3-5) while Kevin Puryear added 10 points.

“I was really pleased tonight with our effort,” said Mississippi State head coach Ben Howland. “We got off to a rocky start, offensively, but found our way back. In the first half, our bigs did a good job of scoring and in the second half, it came from the perimeter. We only attempted 16 shots on 3 pointers, which is nice. We have to keep getting it inside to have that balance.”

Nick Weatherspoon scored all 12 of his points in the second half for the Bulldogs while Lamar Peters finished with a career-high nine assists. Nick Weatherspoon was 0 of 5 from the field in the first half before making 5 of 8 shots in the final half.

“My coaches came to me and said the first half was over and to not focus on it,” said Nick Weatherspoon. “We all know I had a bad first half and they told me to just go play my game. I knew my jumper was not working so I tried to sneak behind the defense.”

The Bulldogs opened the second half on a 6-0 run and never relinquished the lead the remainder of the game. Missouri did get within five points twice in the second half but the Bulldogs closed the game out on a 10-4 run.

Mississippi State shot 54.7 percent for the game, including 66.7 percent in the second half. Missouri shot just 45.6 percent for the game and had 19 turnovers. The Tigers did hold a 34-27 advantage on the backboards while Mississippi State had 15 turnovers.

“We had a five-point lead late in the first half,” said Missouri head coach Cuonzo Martin. “We gave that up and didn’t get it going early in the second half. We had a lot of breakdowns on defense late in the first half and it carried over to the second half.”

The first half featured four lead changes and three ties. Missouri jumped out to a 17-10 advantage in the opening seven minutes before Mississippi State responded with an 11-4 run to tie the game at 21.

The Tigers then reeled off eight straight points to regain the lead at 29-24 only to see Mississippi State tie the game at 31 following Holman’s buzzer-beater to end the first half.

Mississippi State shot 42.3 percent in the first half and has nine turnovers. Missouri show just 39.4 percent in the first half and had seven turnovers.

BIG PICTURE

Missouri: The Tigers have now lost four of their last five SEC games. The road only gets tougher for Missouri with a trip to Alabama on Tuesday and the Crimson Tide are fresh off a win over No. 12 Oklahoma.

Mississippi State: After losing five of their last six SEC games, the Bulldogs were in dire need of a conference win. Mississippi State is now 14-1 at Humphrey Coliseum this season.

UP NEXT

Missouri remains on the road and will travel to Alabama on Tuesday.

Mississippi State returns to the road as the Bulldogs travel to South Carolina on Wednesday.

— Associated Press —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri Head Softball Coach Ehren Earleywine has been relieved of his coaching duties, Mizzou Director of Athletics Jim Sterk announced Friday.

“I met with Coach Earleywine this morning and informed him of our decision to make a change in leadership within the softball program effective immediately,” Sterk said. “We do not take action of this magnitude without careful thought and consideration, however, we have lost confidence in Coach Earleywine’s leadership to foster the type of healthy environment we expect for our student-athletes, and as a result, believe it is in the program’s best interest to make a change at this time.

“Since my arrival at Mizzou, I have had a chance to consider concerns within the softball program that arose before my time and observe Coach Earleywine’s leadership of our program,” he added. “This decision was based upon a culmination of leadership concerns, not just one incident, which caused me to reevaluate his position within our softball program at this time.”

In 11 seasons as the Tigers head coach from 2007-17, Earleywine compiled a record of 482-182 (.726), while guiding the program to 11-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances with eight NCAA Super Regionals and three Women’s College World Series trips.

“While we are appreciative of the many successes Coach Earleywine’s teams have enjoyed on the field during his Mizzou tenure, we had serious concerns about the culture within the softball program and the experience our student-athletes were being provided as a result,” Sterk said. “I recognize that the timing is less than ideal, but I did not believe I could hold off in making a decision to ensure that our student-athletes experience a constructive environment that is consistent with the department’s expectations and values.”

Earleywine will be paid based upon the terms of his contract, which expires June 30, 2018, and an interim successor for the 2018 season is expected to be appointed early next week.

Missouri opens the 2018 season at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz., against San Jose State, Feb. 8.

— MU Athletics —

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Caliya Robinson recorded a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds and No. 21 Georgia celebrated its return to the Top 25 by beating No. 11 Missouri 62-50 on Thursday night.

Que Morrison had 17 points and Haley Clark had 14 in the Lady Bulldogs’ sixth straight win.

Georgia (18-2, 6-1 Southeastern Conference) broke a second-place tie in the league with Mizzou (17-3, 5-2). Sophie Cunningham led the Tigers with 20 points.

With 1:21 remaining, Robinson missed two free throws. Morrison rebounded the second miss and passed back to Robinson, who made a layup for a 56-48 lead.

Georgia entered the Top 25 this week for the first time since Feb. 9, 2015.

Georgia made only one of its last 11 shots from the field in the third quarter. Missouri’s Amber Smith sank a 3-pointer late in the period to cut the Lady Bulldogs’ lead to 40-39.

The Lady Bulldogs opened the final period with a 10-3 run that included back-to-back baskets by Mackenzie Engram.

— Associated Press —

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Jared Harper scored 21 points, Bryce Brown and Desean Murray each added 16, and No. 19 Auburn pulled away from Missouri in a 91-73 victory Wednesday night.

Five players scored in double figures for Auburn, including Mustapha Heron — who had 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

After the teams went back and forth for the first 25 minutes, Auburn (18-2, 6-1 Southeastern Conference) used a 20-2 run to put away Missouri. The stretch featured spot-up shooting and a fast-break offense that keys the SEC’s highest-scoring team.

Kassius Robertson led Missouri (13-7, 3-4) with 21 points, but his team hurt itself with 21 turnovers to 10 for Auburn. Jordan Barnett broke out of a scoring slump with 19 points.

Despite outrebounding Auburn 40-31, Missouri had nine shots blocked. Anfernee McLemore had six blocks for Auburn, adding to his conference-leading total of 61.

Missouri relied heavily on 3-pointers, which accounted for 11 of the team’s 21 field goals. Barnett went 5 of 8 and Robertson was 3 for 10 from long range.

BIG PICTURE

Auburn: The Tigers have rebounded nicely from their second loss of the season.

Missouri: Sloppy offense cost Missouri, and in the end, these Tigers simply couldn’t keep up with Auburn. Missouri continues to pride itself on defense, but it hasn’t always been able to make up for its offensive deficiencies.

UP NEXT

Auburn returns home to play LSU on Saturday.

Missouri visits Mississippi State on Saturday, the first stop on a two-game road trip.

— Associated Press —

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Sophie Cunningham scored 22 points to lead five Missouri players in double figures and the No. 11 Tigers beat Arkansas 88-54 on Sunday.

Kayla Michael and Lauren Aldridge had 13 points apiece, while Jordan Chavis and Jordan Frericks each scored 12, for Missouri (17-2, 5-1 SEC).

Michael and Aldridge each hit 3-pointers as the Tigers took an 8-0 lead fewer than two minutes in and Amber Smith made a 3 and then a short jumper to cap a 9-0 run that made it 27-11 late in the first quarter. Kiara Williams made jumpers to close the first and open the second quarters that pulled Arkansas within 10 points, but Aldridge answered with a 3-pointer before Cunningham scored six points to make it 37-18 with seven minutes left in the half and Missouri led by at least 15 points the rest of the way.

Williams and Jailyn Mason led Arkansas (11-9, 2-5) with 14 points apiece. Malica Monk added 11 points.

Missouri outscored the Razorbacks 21-2 from the free-throw line and shot 52 percent from the field (27 of 52) and from 3-point range (13 of 25).

— Associated Press —

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Texas A&M, once ranked No. 5 nationally to start Southeastern Conference play, believes it’s finally back on track following its second consecutive league victory.

“It’s good to get back to the way we’re capable of playing on the defensive end and taking care of the ball offensively,” A&M coach Billy Kennedy said following the Aggies’ 60-49 victory over Missouri on Saturday.

Tonny Trocha-Morelos scored a season-high 14 points and the Aggies (13-6, 2-5) continued a tedious recovery from an 0-5 start in SEC play in which they dropped out of the rankings along the way.

“We lost five straight and to come back with two straight wins shows we really care, and that we really want to prove to everybody that we want to win this,” Trocha-Morelos said.

On Saturday both teams shot poorly from the field, as A&M converted 39.1 percent (25 of 64) of its shots and Missouri made 27.8 percent (15 of 54) of its attempts.

Missouri was held to season lows in points and shooting percentage, in the Tigers’ seventh straight loss to A&M. The Aggies led 29-20 at halftime and were aided in the second half by two rare swishes from the right baseline by the senior center Trocha-Morelos, along with his 15-foot jumper from the free-throw line that put the game out of reach at 58-46 with 1:38 remaining.

“It was the tough, physical game that we expected,” said Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin, pointing out A&M’s early SEC troubles were primarily because of injuries. “They have a very talented team.”

No one from the Tigers (13-6, 3-3) scored in double digits, as Jordan Geist, Jeremiah Tilmon and Jordan Barnett scored nine points each. Both teams struggled from the 3-point line, with A&M making 3 of 17 (17.6 percent) and Missouri 4 of 18 (22.2 percent).

A&M center Tyler Davis was the only player with double-digit rebounds with 14 and he also collected a game-high three blocks.

BIG PICTURE

Texas A&M: The Aggies continue to try and work their way back into the NCAA Tournament mix with their second consecutive win in SEC play, following the 0-5 start that included one-point losses at home to LSU and on the road at Kentucky. The talented Aggies are as healthy as they’ve been all season, and their confidence continues to grow early in SEC action.

Missouri: The Tigers defeated South Carolina by double-digits in their SEC opener, so they’ve proven they can win on the road in league play. They only held a brief lead early in the second half on Saturday, however, as the surging Aggies kept them at arm’s length for most of the final 20 minutes. The outcome never seemed in doubt, and Missouri often appeared overmatched against A&M big men Robert Williams and Davis.

STAT OF THE NIGHT

The Aggies committed a season-low four turnovers, with their next lowest total this season 10. Forward Robert Williams committed two of the miscues, with no other A&M player having more than one.

ON THE BENCH

A&M point guard J.J. Caldwell didn’t log any minutes, as Kennedy said it was coach’s decision to go with fellow freshman T.J. Starks to try and provide some offense. The move worked, with Starks scoring 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field.

UP NEXT

Texas A&M: Following consecutive home games, the Aggies play at LSU on Tuesday night. LSU beat A&M on a last-second 3-pointer by Tremont Waters in College Station on Jan. 6.

Missouri: The Tigers play host to Auburn on Wednesday before going back on the road for their next two games at Mississippi State and Alabama.

— Associated Press —