Mississippi State upset by Sophie Cunningham, Missouri
Led by senior Sophie Cunningham’s 24 points, the Tigers take down the Bulldogs 75-67 in Starkville for the first time in program history. (2:26)
Missouri’s Sophie Cunningham was too sick to participate in pregame shootaround. Mississippi State was coming off handing Tennessee its worst-ever SEC loss. And the Tigers had never won before in Starkville, Mississippi, trailing the series 1-7 coming into Thursday night’s game.
So how did the Tigers pull off their 75-67 upset of the No. 5 Bulldogs? They hit 3-pointers (11 of 26) and held the Bulldogs to a very uncharacteristic 39.7 percent shooting from the field. It was Mississippi State’s first regular-season SEC loss since Feb. 26, 2017, when Tennessee won in Starkville.
Baylor was awarded the top overall seed in the NCAA women’s basketball selection committee’s first reveal of the top 16 overall seeds for the tournament. The Lady Bears are joined by fellow No. 1 seeds Louisville, Oregon and Mississippi State.
Megan Gustafson is leading Division I in scoring for a second consecutive season, despite opponents trying different defenses against her.
Mississippi State was 16-0 in the SEC last season but lost the league tournament title game to an A’ja Wilson-led South Carolina team. The Bulldogs had started SEC play 10-0 this season, and had lost only one game overall on Dec. 18 at Oregon.
But the Bulldogs didn’t look like themselves most of Thursday, with senior star center Teaira McCowan struggling to make shots she usually puts in easily. She was just 4-of-11 from the field, finishing with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Mississippi State was listed as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA selection committee’s early reveal Monday. But ESPN bracketologist Charlie Crème projects that the loss drops the Bulldogs to a No. 2 seed and elevates UConn back to No. 1, reversing their order in the Albany region.
Cunningham finished with 24 points in 38 minutes, moving within 112 from Missouri’s career scoring record of 2,126 points that has stood since 1985. The Tigers (19-7) also took over fourth place in the SEC at 8-4. Last season, they took the Bulldogs to the wire in Columbia, Missouri, but Mississippi State won that game 57-53.
This time, though, they held on for their first victory at Mississippi State. Missouri, which joined the SEC for the 2012-13 season, won at Tennessee for the first time in January.
The loss drops Mississippi State into a first-place tie with No. 11 South Carolina, which held off an upset bid from Georgia on Thursday, 65-57. The Bulldogs beat the Gamecocks in Starkville in January, and the teams will meet again in the regular-season finale March 3 in Columbia, South Carolina.