On a night where not much went right for the Tigers of Auburn, the home Tigers of Missouri took full advantage.
Missouri’s suffocating defense held the visitors to 30 percent shooting, overwhelming and defeating Auburn, 68-53 on Thursday night in Colombia, Missouri.
“I thought we became a little stagnant,” Auburn head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. “When you’re playing Missouri, you’ve got to let the game come to you. You’ve got to be patient offensively. You can’t just stop and stand because people aren’t being guarded. We moved slowly offensively and defensively.”
Missouri shot 53 percent for the night, led by junior forward Bri Porter. Porter dominated Auburn down low, converting 10 of 14 attempts. Auburn as a team only hit 17 shots in the entire game. Lindsey Cunningham and Amber Smith efficiently anchored the Missouri backcourt, scoring 12 and 13 points respectively. Senior guard Lianna Doty assumed the primary role of offensive maestro, dishing out 4 assists.
The slight offense that Auburn could produce was headed by Janiah McKay. The sophomore scored 14, but shot only 3 for 9. Brandy Montgomery appeared to be well on her way to another effective performance, however she was unable to score past her 6 first quarter points. Katie Frerking got off to yet another cold start, dooming her to an abysmal 29 percent shooting. The senior finished with 10 points and only scored on 1 of 5 three-point attempts.
“We’re a defensive team and have to get defensive stops.” Williams-Flournoy said. “We didn’t get stops against Kentucky we didn’t get stops against Missouri. We just can’t play like this. We begin to stand around, and that’s not who we are. We have to be a better defensive team.”
As per usual, Auburn won the turnover battle, 16-12. However, like in their loss to Kentucky on Sunday, the steals were overshadowed by an inability to convert extra possessions into consistent points. The Tigers scored 17 points off Mizzou turnovers, but were plagued by 59 percent free throw shooting and 25 percent three-point shooting.
Missouri came out hot and didn’t let up, evident in the fact that Auburn led for a whopping 30 seconds in the contest. Missouri becomes the latest team to attempt to climb into the upper-echelon of the SEC, moving to 5-3 in the conference and 15-7 overall. Auburn finds themselves reeling out of such ranks, dropping their second in a row. Auburn is now 4-3 in the SEC and 14-7 overall, good for sixth in the SEC.
Auburn continues their road trip with a visit to arch-rival Alabama on Sunday in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The in-state showdown tips off at 5 p.m. CST on the SEC Network.
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