Mizzou WBB vs. Georgia Preview
By: James Stanley
The 21st ranked Mizzou women’s basketball team is coming back to Columbia after a 60-46 win on Sunday at Ole Miss. Although Missouri came away with the win, the team had a not-so-stellar second quarter, where they only scored four points.
Junior guard Sierra Michaelis lead the Tigers with 20 points, after starting out cold in the first half with four points, two of them coming from the free throw line – also not to mention a technical foul.
Freshman guard Sophie Cunningham has been in a slump since a 21-point showing against Texas State at Mizzou Arena in December. Cunningham had a great game in Mizzou’s 66-54 win to the No. 6 Mississippi State Bulldogs on Jan. 14, but that outing was an outlier. In eight of the last 10 games, Cunningham has scored fewer than 10 points.
Missouri’s bench has been fantastic this year picking up slack from teammates who may not be having the best night. However, against Ole Miss, the Tigers bench scored only two points on a pair of free throws by senior guard Maddie Stock in the first half.
Despite Missouri’s offensive struggle against the Rebels, Head Coach Robin Pingeton said in anticipation to playing the Georgia Bulldogs, “I feel like there are a number of areas we need to shore up. Defensively, we’ve been pretty [dang] solid, our offense seems a little [clanky] right now.” She continued, “[We’re] anxious to get back to work and try to clean that up before we play a really good Georgia team.”
The Tigers defeated the Georgia Bulldogs earlier this season in Athens, Ga. 54-48. Cunningham, still in the midst of her slump, scored seven points on a pair of field goals and a three pointer. “I think we are more prepared than we were when we were down there,” Cunningham said. “I know they are coming after us, but I think the coaches are going to prepare us just as well.”
Georgia is coming into Columbia with a 16-6 record and a 4-5 record in the SEC. The Tigers will be looking to improve their 18-4 overall and 5-4 conference record with a win on Thursday, Feb. 4th at Mizzou Arena. Live coverage for the game can be found on KCO2 starting with the tipoff at 7 p.m.