Missouri women race past Florida 87-56 in SEC

Mar 7, 2019, 10:06 pm

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Amber Smith scored 18 points, Hannah Schuchts added 16 and fifth-seeded Missouri cruised past 13th-seeded Florida on Thursday in the second round of the Southeastern Conference tournament.

Sophie Cunningham added 13 points and Haley Troup 10 for the Tigers (22-9), who play four-seed and 13th-ranked Kentucky in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Funda Nakkasoglu led the Gators (8-23) with 14 points.

Schuchts and Cunningham had 3-pointers as Missouri closed the first half with a 12-2 run to take a 42-32 lead. The Tigers, who had 13 3-pointers, picked up four more in the third quarter and pushed the lead to 64-46. Troup had back-to-back 3-pointers in a 16-0 run to start the fourth quarter.

The Tigers shot 52.5 percent (31 of 59) and outrebounded the Gators 38-27 with Smith grabbing nine.

Florida shot 37 percent and was just 1 of 8 from distance in the second half.