Lady Vols hurt by Mizzou's 3-point barrage in 66-64 loss

Tennessee's Rennia Davis reacts after being called for a foul during Sunday's game against Missouri at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville.
Tennessee's Rennia Davis reacts after being called for a foul during Sunday's game against Missouri at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville.

KNOXVILLE - For the second time this season, an opponent reached double digits in 3-pointers made against Tennessee.

For the second time this season, the Lady Volunteers lost.

Missouri knocked down 10 long-range shots - six in the second half - and led for all but 14 seconds in the fourth quarter of a 66-64 win over the 10th-ranked Lady Vols on Sunday in front of 9,113 at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Missouri (13-3, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) has won five straight games. Tennessee (12-2, 1-1), which had won four straight, will return to competition with Thursday's 7 p.m. home game against No. 16 Kentucky (14-2, 1-1).

Stanford made 14 shots from behind the arc in a 95-85 win Dec. 18 in Knoxville. Like the Cardinal, Missouri kept four or five players on the court who could shoot - and make - 3-pointers. It caused some matchup problems because the Lady Vols like to use their biggest players to pound the glass for rebounds, but they aren't as quick on the perimeter - and once Stanford and Missouri players were able to penetrate the lane, that left kickouts for open shots.

Cheridene Green - a 6-foot-3 senior and the Lady Vols' primary inside player - was limited to 20 minutes against Stanford. She played 30 minutes Sunday and had 13 points and 14 rebounds (seven offensive), but at times she may have been the odd person out against the Tigers' constant motion offense.

"It's really a chess match. Cheridene is scoring well, and we put Kasi in there," Tennessee coach Holly Warlick said of 6-foot-4 sophomore Kasiyahna Kushkituah. "We thought we could take advantage of the inside, and I thought that Cheridene did, but at times it limits what you can do defensively.

"Today it appeared to be our guards that were giving up a lot of 3s."

Rennia Davis and Evina Westbrook each scored 16 points to lead the Lady Vols. While Davis shot 6-for-12 from the field, Westbrook was 5-for-19 and missed four of her 10 free throws. Zaay Green added 11 points, but Meme Jackson, Tennessee's third-leading scorer and top 3-point shooter this season, missed all nine of her shots and was 0-for-3 from 3-point range.

Tennessee had seasons lows in shooting (35 percent) and assists (seven) as the offense appeared to become stagnant against a Missouri defense that packed things in.

"We were getting good looks, they just weren't going in," Westbrook said. "One of our top scorers (Jackson) didn't have a good shooting night, but we have to be able to help her up as she did for us in the past.

"The effort was there overall; we just couldn't finish it tonight."

Missouri senior Sophie Cunningham had 20 points, six rebounds and six assists, but she spent the afternoon embroiled in controversy. She was called for an intentional foul after elbowing Davis in the face on a drive to the basket, and after the game she was seen on video taking offense to a Lady Vols staff member refusing to shake hands with her.

Cunningham stopped, grabbed Janet McGee - her title is assistant to the head coach - and demanded a handshake, which she received. The video then shows Cunningham exchanging words with Tennessee senior Lou Brown - out this season with an injury - and freshman forward Rae Burrell.

"I just thought it was a hard-fought win," Cunningham said. "Everyone was going at it. At the end of the day, it was a great crowd for women's basketball, and you have to give credit where credit's due. I wanted to make sure she tapped my hand, because we're going to meet again and I wanted to leave on good terms."

Missouri redshirt freshman Haley Troup, who entered the game having averaged 2.4 points per game this season, finished with 16 points on 4-for-6 shooting from 3-point range. Lauren Aldridge scored 12 points.

Tennessee led 11-10 after the first quarter and 25-24 at halftime, but Missouri slid in front late in the third quarter, using back-to-back 3s by Aldridge to go ahead 46-42.

The Tigers, who led 48-46 entering the fourth, were ahead 65-60 with 1:37 to play, but Zaay Green scored on a three-point play to trim the lead to two. Then, after the Lady Vols made a stop, Westbrook was fouled on a drive and split a pair of free throws.

Tennessee forced another stop and set up a play for Davis, who missed on a runner with five seconds to go. Cunningham split a pair at the line, and Davis missed another shot that would have tied the game at the end.

"I loved our energy," Warlick said. "We played so hard, which is why it's a tough one for our kids. At times we didn't play smart, and the little things that we did on defense were magnified.

"The bottom line is we gave up too many 3s, and against a team like this, you make mistakes and they take advantage of them. You can't give up wide-open 3s and expect it to be OK."

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.

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