Bri Kulas drives around a Vandy defender. (Photo/Mizzou Athletics)
The Missouri women got great production from the bench and slowed down 16th ranked Vanderbilt’s offense with a 59-54 home win on Thursday night. The Tiger defense held Vandy to 22% shooting and improve to 14-7 overall and 3-5 in the SEC and now has two wins over ranked opponents this season.
Vanderbilt was held without a field goal in the last 6:48 of the half, shooting just 23.3% from the floor in the first 20 minutes of the game. Missouri owned a 33-20 lead at the halftime break and got 20 points from its reserves.
Bri Kulas led Mizzou with 15 points, but fouled out. Freshman Kayla McDowell finished with 13 off the bench.
Strong bench play was vital as the Tigers fought through foul trouble, but Tiger defense kept the lead at double-digits until Vanderbilt put together an 11-1 run that closed the gap to 47-41 lead with 4:58 to play and eventually made it a 55-54 game, but Mizzou got two crucial stops in the final minute to hold on. Missouri will now head on the road to face No. 7 South Carolina on Sunday. The game tips off at 2 p.m.