Auburn holds on to 47-45 win over Mizzou
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Jazmine Jones led a balanced attack with 10 points and ninth-seeded Auburn held off eighth-seeded Missouri 47-45 in the second round of the SEC Tournament on Thursday.
Auburn was holding the 47-45 lead when Brandy Montgomery had her shot blocked by Missouri's Sophie Cunningham with 24 seconds left. Missouri worked the ball inside but it was deflected out of bounds with 2.3 seconds left. On the inbounds play under the basket, Cierra Porter cut down the lane for the inbounds pass but her contested layup was short off the rim and time ran out.
Missouri trailed 28-29 at halftime, and missed a last-second layup to tie the game. The win was the smallest margin of victory in a second round game and the lowest combined score game since 2012. Auburn will make its second SEC Tournament quarterfinals appearance in the last five seasons.
Morgan Stock hit five 3-pointers and scored 17 points for Missouri (21-9) and Lindsey Cunningham added 11. Missouri had 20 turnovers and shot just 35 percent, 25 in the second half.
Auburn shot 42 percent, 37 in the second half when it outscored Missouri 18-17.
Auburn (19-11) plays league-champion No. 1 seed South Carolina Friday in Game 7 at noon ET on SEC Network.