Auburn women’s basketball fell to the Missouri Tigers, 69-55, Sunday afternoon, Feb. 21, in Auburn Arena, snapping the team’s impressive five-game conference winning streak.
After a slow start by both teams, Missouri (21-6, 8-6 SEC) made eight of its 11 shots in the second quarter to build a 36-27 halftime lead. Missouri’s lead stretched to 21 points with 2:57 to play in the final quarter and shot 52 percent for the game to go along with eight 3-pointers.
“Definitely not one of our better defensive days,” said Auburn coach Terri Williams-Flournoy. “We knew we had to defend Missouri at the 3-point line so to come out here and give them 17 attempts definitely was not good. We wanted to force them into turnovers, which we did. We forced them into 22 turnovers. We wanted to attack the basket and get to the free-throw line. We did everything that we were supposed to do and that we wanted to do through the game plan, except give up the three.”
Katie Frerking had to leave the game early in the first quarter with an elbow injury after a midair collision with Missouri guard Cierra Porter. Frerking walked off with help from the team trainer and returned in the second half to finish with seven points. Frerking’s injury will require stitches, according to Williams-Flournoy.
Senior Cabriana Capers took advantage of Frerking's absence, tying her career-high in scoring with 10 points in 20 minutes of action. Janiah McKay added 12 points and 4 assists. Auburn’s leading scorer Brandy Montgomery had a rough outing, finishing with zero points on 0-of-9 shooting — her second scoreless game this season (0-of-11 vs. Towson on Dec. 20).
“I knew when Katie [Frerking] went down, I needed to step up for my team,” Capers said. “I always do that for my team in practice and in games, so when Katie went down I knew I had to step up and take her spot until she was able to come back.”
Sophie Cunningham led the way for Missouri with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Jordan Frericks contributed 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
“We’re going to bounce back," Capers said. “Everybody’s head is focused. This loss was just a turning point for us. We kind of got complacent after the wins, but now we know.”
Auburn (18-8, 8-6 SEC) outscored Missouri 17-8 in bench points, but shot just 37 percent from the floor for the game.
Auburn’s final home game of the season before the SEC Tournament will be Thursday, Feb. 25 against Texas A&M.
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