COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Coach Robin Pingeton got choked up coming out of the tunnel Sunday before facing Tennessee and seeing so many fans at Mizzou Arena. Tigers star Sophie Cunningham acknowledged it gave her butterflies: "That's what I dreamed of my whole life."
No. 13 Missouri got a program-record 11,092 fans Sunday and sent them home happy with a 77-73 victory over 11th-ranked Tennessee, just the second time the Tigers have beaten the Lady Vols. Cunningham, born and raised in Columbia, had 32 points, five assists and five rebounds for Missouri. Jordan Frericks had 16 points and seven rebounds, and Cierra Porter 13 and five, as both helped hold Tennessee center Mercedes Russell to 10 points.
Cunningham and Porter were also teammates at Rock Bridge High School in Columbia, and both hoped to bring the excitement around that team to a larger scale at Mizzou.
"This is kind of why me and CP came here, so we could get this environment," Cunningham said. "This was huge today. It's so awesome that people are coming out to support us."
The fan enthusiasm for the program has been growing steadily under Pingeton, who is in her eighth season with the Tigers. But this was the biggest crowd Missouri has had for a women's game since 10,321 in 2002 against former conference rival Kansas, back when the Tigers were still playing at the Hearnes Center.
And while Cunningham said she felt some nerves at first with such a big audience, it did not show. She is never afraid of big moments in big games and was, as usual, the player around whom the Tigers revolve.
Cunningham finished 9-of-14 shooting from the field; the Tigers shot 55.6 percent. And she was 11 of 12 from the free throw line, where Mizzou was 19 of 22.
"She's a competitor, and she plays every possession all out," Tennessee coach Holly Warlick said. "She loves the game, and you can tell. She was a handful for us. We've got to do a better job on that. She doesn't stop [moving].
"She also has a great presence on the defensive end, so you've got to give her credit on that end as well. Their team looks for her, and she responds."
Tennessee's biggest struggle was the first quarter, after which the Lady Vols trailed 25-13. They were behind 42-36 at halftime, but then used their full-court press to disrupt Missouri's offense in the third quarter. Mizzou led 58-56 going into the final 10 minutes.
Cunningham had 12 of her points in the last quarter, and the Tigers were able to get to the line then, too, going 12 of 14.
Tennessee had a chance to tie the score when freshman Rennia Davis went to the line with 1.4 seconds left after being fouled on a 3-pointer and the Lady Vols down 75-72.
She missed the first, made the second, and intentionally missed the last one to give Tennessee a chance for a rebound. But Mizzou got the ball, and Cunningham finished out the scoring with two free throws.
Warlick said that Davis was in tears in the locker room afterward, but those free throws didn't cost Tennessee the game.
"I can go back and pick it apart," Warlick said. "We apparently foul too much and turned it over at crucial times, and missed the easy buckets. ... It all just piles up."
It was the second loss in a row for Tennessee. But unlike in a dispiriting 72-63 defeat at home Thursday to Alabama -- the Crimson Tide's first win in Knoxville, Tennessee -- Warlick felt there was nothing to question about the Lady Vols' effort on Sunday.
Not much is settled yet in terms of SEC tournament seeding, save for Mississippi State, which clinched its first regular-season title and No. 1 seed with a victory Sunday over Texas A&M. There are still several scenarios for teams like Tennessee and Missouri. But the Lady Vols -- who started the season 15-0 -- might end up a No. 7 seed in the league tournament. Tennessee (21-6 overall, 9-5 SEC) finishes the regular season at Florida on Thursday and at home against South Carolina on Feb. 25.
"We haven't played our best defensively the past couple of games," said senior Jaime Nared, who led Tennessee with 25 points. "We know we're a good team; we've shown glimpses of it this season. As a whole, we have to clean some things up."
The Tigers are now 22-5 overall and 10-4 in the SEC, and they finish with Vanderbilt at home Thursday and at Texas A&M on Feb. 25. The Tigers have crossed the 20-win mark for a third season in a row, the first time that has happened since coach Joann Rutherford's squads did it seven years in a row from 1980 to '87.
Rutherford was honored on court at halftime Sunday, as were several Mizzou alums on a day that was both festive and carried a message as part of the Play4Kay initiative. Overall, it was an environment that the Tigers relished.
They are hoping for a top-16 seed and the chance to host the early rounds of the NCAA tournament. If that happens, it will be for just the second time in school history; they hosted a first-round game in 1986.
"We don't really talk a lot about it, but they're aware," Pingeton said of her players. "I feel like we've positioned ourselves to be in a good spot, and now it's battling for seeding. We can't exhale."