The last time Missouri women’s basketball played Kentucky, it was a bitter two-point loss. The Tigers’ first loss of the year on Jan. 5 was the beginning of a three-game losing streak.
But Monday night was a different story. The Tigers entered the evening on a four-game winning streak, matching their longest conference winning streak since joining the Southeastern Conference in 2012, and extended that streak to five with a 73-67 victory over the Wildcats.
Missouri head coach Robin Pingeton was glad her team was able to rebound from its first loss to Kentucky.
“We didn’t want those losses to be empty…we want to grow from them,” Pingeton said. “And if we can do that, then it wasn’t a bad thing.”
Monday’s win pushes Missouri to a tie with Kentucky for third place in the SEC.
Kentucky entered the game ranked 25th in the nation, making this the second time this season the Tigers have beaten a nationally ranked opponent at home, the other being Texas A&M.
Missouri took the initiative and jumped ahead at the beginning of the game, but it ultimately became a close battle between the two teams in the first quarter. Sophomore Cierra Porter and senior Sierra Michaelis did much of the scoring, but freshman Amber Smith shot an excellent 4-6 from the field in the first half.
Fans booed constantly in the second quarter as the officials called 10 fouls on the Tigers in just 10 minutes. While Missouri shot far better than the Wildcats in the second quarter, the points from the fouls helped Kentucky edge a 17-15 point lead at halftime.
While fouls hurt the Tigers in the first half, they ended up benefitting from them in the second.
“One of our keys was to be aggressive, attacking the basket because as we know, they don’t go super deep,” Porter said. “If we can get them into foul trouble, that would benefit us.”
With the Tigers driving to the basket, the Wildcats’ defense began to fall apart.
“We just broke down with our fundamentals,” Kentucky head coach Matthew Mitchell said. “We didn’t take any charges in the second half. We tried to not just let them drive to baseline, but [they] just drove to baseline relentlessly.”
Michaelis and Porter each had big nights, pouring in 19 and 17 points, respectively. Porter, who was fouled often in the second half, made all 11 of her free throws, setting a career high. Sophomore Sophie Cunningham contributed 14 points. But it was Smith who received special praise from both Pingeton and Mitchell, effectively boxing out the rim and scoring a majority of her 15 points in the paint.
“I was impressed by Amber Smith tonight,” Mitchell said. “She had some really good moves and hustling.”
**Next up:** Missouri faces Mississippi State Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in Starkville.
_Edited by Eli Lederman | elederman@themaneater.com_
