COLUMBIA, Mo. – Despite a season-high 21 points from Gwen Adams, SIUE women's basketball fell to Missouri 72-60 at Mizzou Arena Wednesday night.
"I though Gwen played well," said SIUE Head Coach Paula Buscher. Adams hit eight field goals, including two three-pointers, as well as all three of her free throw attempts. She continues to be among the top 20 players in the nation in free throw percentage.
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SIUE, 2-6, couldn't overcome an early deficit when Missouri's Sierra Michaelis hit three three-pointers to open the game and finished with a game high 24 points. The Cougars found themselves down 9-0 in the first two minutes of the contest.
"I was a little frustrated because we knew Sierra could shoot the ball and yet we gave her open looks so they get on a 9-0 run to start the game," said Buscher. "We're trying to play in a hole, starting off playing an SEC team, and you can't do that. We fought back, but we have lapses in there that we have got to shore up."
SIUE pulled within one point at 19-18 on a three-pointer by Nakiah Bell with 9:36 left in the second period but couldn't push past the Tigers.
"I think we need to be more efficient on the offensive end," said Buscher. "There's times where we were not efficient. I think we need to set better screens and also it comes down to that rebounding battle."
Missouri, 7-3, outrebounded the Cougars 47-32. Cierra Porter and Lindsey Cunningham each had a double-double for the Tigers. Porter collected 18 points and a team-best 13 rebounds. Cunningham added 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Lauren White and Donshel Beck joined Adams in double figures with 15 and 11 points, respectively. SIUE shot 37.5 percent from the field (24-64).
SIUE's defense held Missouri to 37 percent shooting for the game (20-54). The difference became free throws with Missouri hitting 24 of 32 shots from the line.
"We have to bounce back and continue to get better," said Buscher. "We have to sharpen up some things on the offensive end."
The Cougars will look to rebound Sunday with a 2 p.m. contest against UM-St. Louis at the Vadalabene Center.
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