Box Score COLUMBIA, Mo. – No. 17-ranked Missouri won its ninth straight game Sunday, defeating SIUE 78-48 at Mizzou Arena.
The Cougars, now 3-5, were down by nine points at halftime (37-28) despite allowing 20 points to Missouri honorable mention All-American Sophie Cunningham in the opening 20 minutes.
"I thought we were right there," said SIUE Head Coach Paula Buscher. "We just didn't come out the first couple of minutes of the third quarter. They dialed it up, and we didn't."
The Tigers went on a 13-0 run midway through the third quarter after a three-pointer by SIUE's Jay'Nee Alston with 6:42 to play.
Cunningham added 15 points in the second half to finish with a game-high 35 points for the Tigers, which improved to 9-1. Cunningham hit seven three-pointers while shooting 11 of 16 from the field.
Missouri shot 46.5 percent from the field while holding SIUE to 25.8 percent shooting.
Buscher said the Cougars have the potential to play well on both ends of the floor for the full 40 minutes.
"We're going to keep pushing for that because once that happens this team is really going to click and get on a roll," she said.
Gwen Adams led SIUE in scoring with 12 points off the bench. The Cougar senior now needs 19 points to become the 25th player in school history to score 1,000 career points.
Noted Buscher, "Gwen is a very solid presence for us. She has good range is doing some good things for us."
Sydney Bauman grabbed a team-high seven rebounds despite the Cougars being outrebounded 46-32.
"I thought Sydney Bauman battled on the boards today," said Buscher. "Even some she didn't get, she made sure they didn't get them."
SIUE now has a full week between games. Next up for the Cougars in a Dec. 17 matchup against Northern Illinois at the Vadalabene Center. Game time is 2 p.m.
