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 —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Baseball won its home opener, 7-3, Tuesday night (Feb. 27) over Alabama A&M. Freshman RHP Ian Bedell (Davenport, Iowa) earned his first Division I win, going 3.2 relief innings, a career-long. He allowed just one earned run on two hits while striking out three. Reigning SEC Player of the Week Brian Sharp (Liberty, Mo.) went 3-for-3 with a double and walk, scoring three runs. He is 9-for-his-last-9 since game two of last Saturday’s doubleheader. In that span, he has one double, one triple, two homers, nine RBI, two walks and has scored seven times.

The Tigers walked a season-high 11 times Tuesday. Junior OF Connor Brumfield (Columbia, Mo.) drove in a pair of runs and senior OF Trey Harris (Powder Spring, Ga.) had an RBI double in the sixth inning. Mizzou improves to 6-3 on the season while Alabama A&M falls to 3-5. The two will play the series finale Wednesday at 4 p.m.

TURNING POINT
Mizzou entered the bottom of the fifth inning, trailing 1-0 on a solo homer from Tyus O’Neal-El. That’s when Mizzou started to put together quality at-bats, getting a double from reigning SEC Player of the Week Brian Sharp (Liberty, Mo.). A&M starter Clayton Warner then walked three straight Mizzou batters as a bases-loaded walk to Cade Bormet (San Antonio, Texas) tied the game. CF Connor Brumfield (Columbia, Mo.) then hit a sacrifice fly to left, giving Mizzou a 2-1 lead.

Mizzou scored three more in the sixth, highlighted by a Trey Harris (Powder Springs, Ga.) double to score Kameron Misner (Poplar Bluff, Mo.) from first. The other two runs came in on bases-loaded walks. Mizzou held on from there, getting good bullpen work from Nolan Gromacki (Smithville, Mo.) and Giovanni Lopez (Goodyear, Ariz.).

NOTES
– Mizzou now leads the all-time series with Alabama A&M, 2-0

– Mizzou has won five of six home openers since joining the SEC and both under second-year head coach Steve Bieser.

– Junior 3B Brian Sharp extended his hitting streak to six games, the longest active streak the longest by a Mizzou player this season.

– Sharp tallied his second multi-hit game of the season Tuesday. Since Saturday, he is 9-for-9 with nine RBI, seven runs, two homers, two walks and a double and a triple.

– Freshman RHP Konnor Ash made his first career start Tuesday, going a career-long 3.0 innings, allowing three hits and one run on a solo homer. He walked two and struck out one.

– Freshman RHP Ian Bedell earned his first career win, pitching 3.2 relief innings, allowing just one earned run on two hits with three strikeouts.

– Mizzou walked a season-high 11 times Tuesday.

UP NEXT
Mizzou and Alabama A&M will play the final contest of a two-game series at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

— Mizzou Athletics —

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou junior guard Sophie Cunningham and redshirt senior Jordan Frericks received All-SEC recognition, as announced by the Southeastern Conference on Tuesday. Cunningham was named First Team All-SEC by both the Associated Press and the league’s coaches and Frericks was named Second Team All-SEC by the coaches.

Cunningham has now earned First Team All-SEC honors in back-to-back seasons, becoming the first Tiger to secure First Team All-Conference recognition in two consecutive campaigns since Evan Unrau in 2003 and 2004.

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.

Frericks received Second Team All-SEC recognition for the third time in her career. She is averaging 12.3 points and 7.6 rebounds in her final campaign at Mizzou. She has scored in double figures 19 times, including 12 times in the past 13 games to end the regular season in style. She’s also grabbed at least five rebounds 24 times in 29 games.

Frericks recently became just the third Tiger ever to reach 1,000 career points and 1,000 rebounds. She ranks third in program history in career rebounds with 1,010 and counting. Frericks has scored 1,414 career points and tallied 126 career blocked shots.

Mizzou continues its season at the 2018 SEC Tournament in Nashville this week. Mizzou tips off competition at 8:30 p.m. Thursday against either Florida or Ole Miss.

— Mizzou Athletics —