By Jaelyn Murry

The Missouri women’s basketball team is headed into postseason play, closing its regular season 9-10 overall and 5-9 in the SEC after a big win Sunday over Mississippi State. Sunday’s matchup was the 12th all-time meeting between the two schools. Bulldogs leading the series with an 9-2 advantage, but that all changed after the Tigers took a 20 point win over the Bulldogs 57-77.  

Mizzou had a low scoring game, never trailing and had a high leading advantage of as many as 27 points. Although the Tigers have scored higher in double figures this season, Sunday Shug Dickson , Aijha Blackwell, Hayley Frank and  Shannon Dufficy combined for 54 points.

 To begin the game, Blackwell and Dufficy took control of the game scoring seven and five points alone in the opening of the game. Collectively, Mizzou shot 43.8 percent from the field (28-of-64), making this the 13th time this season the Tigers have shot 40 percent or better. 

As for the Bulldogs, they shot 40 percent from the free throw line during sundays matchup. Sophomore Myah Taylor, Junior Yemiyah Morris and  SEC Freshman of the Week Aliyah Matharu were responsible for most of the teams scoring. As for the teams defense, they forced 18 turnovers in the game, which aided Missouri in getting the win. The Bulldogs close out their regular season 10-8 and 5-7 in the SEC. 

Next up for the Tigers, they will be heading to Greenville, S.C. to be 10th seed in the SEC tournament. Last year, Missouri won the SEC tournament opener against Ole Miss 64-53 but fell the next game 64-51 to Tennessee. This year, the Tigers are looking to continue building on its best conference tournament, since the team’s last semifinal appearance in 2019.

Missouri is set to open against the No. 7-seed Alabama on Thursday, March 4. Tip off is scheduled for 5 p.m CT, on the SEC Network inside Bon Secours Arena. 

The 2021 SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament Bracket:

Edited by Emma Moloney