@MizzouWBB’s Cunningham Named to Wooden Award Midseason Top-25 List
1/11/2018 12:05:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Cunningham is averaging a team-high 18.8 points per game
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Women's Basketball junior guard Sophie Cunningham (Columbia, Mo.) was named to the John R. Wooden Award presented by Wendy's Midseason Top 25 list, as announced on espnW on Thursday. Chosen by a poll of national college basketball experts based on their performances during the first half of the 2017-18 season, the list comprises of 25 student-athletes who are front-runners for the sport's most prestigious honor.
Cunningham is putting together her best season yet, captaining Mizzou to a No. 12 ranking, its highest as a program since Nov. 15, 1984. The junior is averaging a team-high 18.8 points per game, reaching double figures 14 times in 15 games and scoring at least 20 points on six different occasions, including three times in the last four games.
Cunningham is arguably the most efficient player in the nation. She is the only player in Division I shooting at least 59 percent from the field (91-of-152), 50 percent from 3-point range (32-of-64) and 86 percent from the free throw line (68-of-79). She leads the SEC and ranks second in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage and ranks second in the league in free throw percentage.
In the last six games, Cunningham has scored 141 points on just 67 shots. In her most recent outing, the 2017 AP All-American Honorable Mention led Mizzou to a thrilling victory over No. 4 South Carolina with 27 points on 9-of-10 shooting.
Cunningham already ranks 18th on Mizzou's all-time scoring list with 1,271 points and counting. That's the fifth-most among active SEC players and she is the only player in the top five on that list that is not a senior. Cunningham is shooting 84.5 percent from the free throw line in her career, which is on pace to set a new program record.
The leading candidates for the John R. Wooden Award will be further pared to 20 top players in early February. Fifteen top players who have proven to their universities that they are also making progress toward graduation and maintaining at least a cumulative 2.0 GPA will be submitted to voters on the Final Ballot prior to the NCAA Tournament.
Mizzou continues its season Thursday as the Tigers take on Vanderbilt in Nashville at 7 p.m. The game will stream on SEC Network +.
