Sophie Cunningham scored 16 of her team-high 20 points in the third quarter as Missouri pulled away from Brigham Young in a 78-69 victory in Saturday’s first round of the NCAA Tournament.
In Austin, Texas, the Tigers made their first eight shots of the third quarter and shot 9 of 12 from the floor overall on the way to their first NCAA Tournament win since 2001.
The Tigers (22-9) advance to face the winner of 2-seed Texas vs. 15-seed Alabama State. The game will be played Monday at the Frank Erwin Center, the Longhorns’ home court.
In a showdown with BYU prolific scorer Lexi Eaton Rydalch, Cunningham shook off a slow start but made all six of her field goal attempts in the second half and shot 5 of 6 from the free throw line.