Feb. 27, 2014
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COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Mizzou women's basketball squad sent its seniors off on a high note, using a second-half surge to oust Ole Miss, 75-72, Thursday night. Seniors Bri Kulas and Tania Jackson were honored before their final regular season home game as Tigers. Kulas led all scorers with 26 points and junior Morgan Eye added 21, surpassing the 1000-career point mark to help Mizzou (17-11, 6-9) complete a season sweep over the Rebels. Kulas also went over the 1,000-mark for her career.
With Ole Miss holding onto a 41-33 advantage less than two minutes in to the second half, the Tigers made their move. After two Kulas free throws, sophomore point guard Lianna Doty forced a turnover and converted a three-point play in transition to seize momentum and cut Mizzou's deficit to three.
That's when Eye took over. The junior guard buried back-to-back three-pointers to complete a 13-2 Missouri run and hand her team a 44-41 lead with 15:35 remaining. Eye wasn't done yet as she knocked down three more long balls in a three-minute span. Behind a 7-for-13 effort from beyond the arc, she now leads the nation in three-point field goals made with 102. It marks the second consecutive season that Eye has surpassed 100 treys.
After the onslaught from long range, Mizzou owned a 56-48 lead at the 11:52 mark. With Eye drawing so much attention on the perimeter, Kulas made the Rebels pay down the stretch. The senior captain sunk a contested jumper and a deep three-pointer to maintain the Tigers' eight-point advantage. It's the 12th time that Kulas has scored 20 points or more in the 2013-14 campaign.
Ole Miss slowly clawed its way back, putting together a 9-2 run to close the gap to 64-63, but Mizzou freshman Lindsey Cunningham stopped the bleeding. Cunningham drove hard to the basket for a layup in traffic and rattled in a wide-open trey from the corner. The 6-0 point guard notched a career-high nine points, providing a crucial spark off the bench.
With the score knotted at 71-71 with 55 seconds left in the game, Cunningham hit two clutch free throws. The Tigers drew a charge on the ensuing defensive possession and Jordan Frericks made two more from the charity stripe to clinch the win.
Missouri has one game remaining on the regular season slate. The Tigers head to Arkansas next before heading to Duluth, Ga., for the SEC tournament next week. Sunday's matchup with the Razorbacks tips of at 2 p.m.