#10 Lady Vols Fend Off Mizzou, 56-50

Sunday, February 23, 2014
Jason Yellin

Columbia, Mo. -- A year after suffering an upset defeat at Missouri, Tennessee withstood a pesky Tigers team to win 56-50 on Sunday afternoon. The 10th-ranked Lady Vols improved to 22-5 overall and 11-3 in the SEC while Missouri is now 16-11 and 5-9 in the league.

Meighan Simmons led Tennessee with 20 points while Bashaara Graves added 11 as the only other Lady Vol in double-figures. Isabelle Harrison had just five points -- but the final four iced the victory.

Missouri was led by Bri Kulas (22) and Morgan Eye (15) as the Tigers overcame 29.2 percent shooting from the floor (19-of-65).

Mizzou, known for proficiency from 3-point range, made just 21.9 percent (7-of-32).

The Tigers trailed by as many as 16 in the second half. But, they made a late charge to come within three points at 50-47 on a jumper by Kulas with 1:20 left in regulation.

Missouri had a chance to tie the game in the final minute as Sierra Michaelis' 3-pointer didn't fall with 34 seconds on the clock.

Isabelle Harrison, who was mired in foul trouble all game, knocked down two free throws with 34.7 seconds left - to give the Lady Vols a two-possession lead, 52-47 -- and secure the victory. Those were just the second and third points of the game for Harrison.

After Missouri missed a layup, Cierra Burdick grabbed the loose ball giving the Lady Vols possession. Andraya Carter was fouled and missed the ensuing free throw. But the Lady Vols got the rebound again and Harrison converted two more free throws for the victory.

Kulis banked in a desperation 3-pointer with 1.7 seconds for Missouri's final points of the day. Simmons closed the game with a pair of foul shots for the final 56-50.

Tennessee outrebounded Missouri, 48-35 as both Mercedes Russell (11) and Isabelle Harrison (10) had double-figure boards.

The Lady Vols led a low-scoring first half, 25-22. Tennessee's defense limited Mizzou to 2-of-15 on 3-pointers and just 28.6 percent over the first 20 minutes.

Simmons led all scorers with 10 points in the first half while Russell had eight first-half boards.

The Lady Vols return to action on Thursday as they travel to Baton Rouge to take on LSU at 9 p.m. ET. That game airs on CSS and can be heard on the Lady Vol Network.

Tennessee vs Mizzou
2/23/14 1 p.m. at Mizzou Arena

Tennessee 56

			Total	3-point		Rebounds
##	Player	p	fgm-fga	fgm-fga	ftm-fta	off-def	tot	pf	tp	a	to	blk	stl	min
11	Burdick, Cierra	f	2-10	0-1	0-0	0-4	4	0	4	2	3	0	1	37
12	Graves, Bashaara	f	4-6	0-0	3-5	2-2	4	2	11	1	2	0	0	32
20	Harrison, Isabelle	c	0-2	0-0	5-6	3-7	10	3	5	3	4	1	0	18
10	Simmons, Meighan	g	6-16	2-5	6-6	1-2	3	0	20	0	4	0	2	37
14	Carter, Andraya	g	4-9	0-2	0-1	1-5	6	3	8	0	1	0	1	38
02	Jones, Jasmine	-	1-5	0-0	0-0	0-2	2	3	2	0	0	0	1	18
21	Russell, Mercedes	-	3-5	0-0	0-0	2-9	11	1	6	0	2	2	0	20
TM	TEAM	-	-	-	-	3-5	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Totals..............	-	20-53	2-8	14-18	12-36	48	12	56	6	16	3	5	200
			37.7%	25.0%	77.8%
	Team summary:		FG	3FG	FT
	1st Half:		11-31	2-7	1-2
			35.5%	28.6%	50.0%
	2nd Half:		9-22	0-1	13-16
			40.9%	0.0%	81.3%

Mizzou 50

			Total	3-point		Rebounds
##	Player	p	fgm-fga	fgm-fga	ftm-fta	off-def	tot	pf	tp	a	to	blk	stl	min
13	Kulas,Bri	f	9-25	2-10	2-2	2-4	6	4	22	1	0	0	3	33
20	McDowell,Kayla	f	4-10	1-2	0-0	3-3	6	1	9	0	1	1	1	31
01	Doty,Lianna	g	0-1	0-1	0-0	0-2	2	4	0	4	3	0	2	28
24	Michaelis,Sierra	g	2-9	0-4	0-0	2-5	7	4	4	0	2	0	2	26
30	Eye,Morgan	g	4-13	4-12	3-4	0-5	5	0	15	1	0	0	0	37
02	Stock,Morgan	-	0-1	0-1	0-0	1-1	2	0	0	2	2	0	0	10
03	Fowler,Bree	-	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2
10	Stock,Maddie	-	0-2	0-2	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4
11	Cunningham,Lindsey	-	0-1	0-0	0-0	1-1	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	13
22	Frericks,Jordan	-	0-3	0-0	0-0	0-1	1	2	0	1	2	0	1	16
TM	TEAM	-	-	-	-	2-2	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Totals..............	-	19-65	7-32	5-6	11-24	35	15	50	10	11	1	9	200
			29.2%	21.9%	83.3%
	Team summary:		FG	3FG	FT
	1st Half:		10-35	2-15	0-0
			28.6%	13.3%	0.0%
	2nd Half:		9-30	5-17	5-6
			30.0%	29.4%	83.3%