Mizzou Tigers: Women’s Basketball Loses 81-77

Mizzou Tigers lose despite great performances from Porter, Frericks.

The Mizzou Tigers lost in an overtime thriller Thursday night, defeating/falling to Texas A&M 81-77 in College Station. The game started out poorly for the Tigers; Mizzou didn’t score until 7:53 remained in the first quarter. However, the Tigers fell behind 13-4 midway through the first. At that point the Tigers kicked into gear, going on a 15-2 run during the first and second quarter. During that run, G Sierra Michaelis was great from the beyond the arc, nailing three threes in a minute and a half.

The Aggies came storming back before halftime, taking advantage of a five minute scoring drought for the Tigers; A&M cut the Tigers lead to two, then took a two-point lead at the half thanks to a Jordan Jones layup. Two-point lead notwithstanding, the Aggies had trouble staying in the game. The Aggies had three turnovers in the second half and were out-rebounded 14 to nine.

That changed in the second half. As the third quarter began, the Aggies took over, extending their lead to 14. Chelsea Jennings scored nine of her 22 points. Mizzou Tigers F Jordan Frericks helped to keep the Tigers in it, scoring seven of her 23 points, and never letting the deficit grow larger than 15. That number turned out not to be insurmountable for the Tigers; F Cierra Porter carried the torch for Frericks in the fourth quarter, scoring eight points in the quarter, including a pair of free throws with 2:26 remaining in the quarter that tied the game at 58.

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The Tigers’ comeback would not be possible without fault on the Aggies’ part. The Aggies fouled five times in the fourth quarter, bringing Tigers to the line three times; Mizzou scored five points off of those fouls, taking the lead late. Foul trouble came back to bite the Tigers themselves, and A&M G Courtney Walker sent the game to overtime with three free throws.

In overtime, the game turned into a back-and-forth between the two teams. The teams traded the lead until late in overtime when the Aggies took the lead for good with a Courtney Walker free throw. Jordan Frericks and Cierra Porter showed up to play in overtime, scoring all 12 of Mizzou’s points, but it wasn’t enough.

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Thursday’s game displayed the Tigers that we’ve seen throughout the season. Mizzou was resilient, and relied on the three more than other teams, making seven of 22 from behind the arc. They were also sunk by turnover and foul trouble, leading to crucial free throws for Texas A&M. If the Tigers hope to maintain a winning form for the remainder of the season, they will have to vanquish their oldest foes and play cleaner on the floor.