College basketball: Missouri's Sophie Cunningham goes off, but not enough to beat FGCU

Do-Hyoung Park

Special to the Naples Daily News

Missouri’s Sophie Cunningham (3) trips as she is guarded by FGCU’s Erica Nelson (11) and China Dow (22) during the second quarter of a first round NCAA tournament game at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif., Saturday, March 17, 2018.

STANFORD, Calif. — Sometimes, it takes a village.

In Saturday’s first-round 80-70 upset victory by the No. 12 seed Florida Gulf Coast University women's basketball team over No. 5 seed Missouri, the Eagles knew that to have a chance, they would need to stop two-time all-SEC first-team guard Sophie Cunningham, who entered the game averaging 18 points and shooting 46.6 percent on the season from 3-point range.

It’s usually Rosemarie Julien who guards the opponent’s star player. And for a while, it was working. Through one quarter, Cunningham had not taken a shot from the field and was limited to four free throws.

Then, Julien got into foul trouble, and Cunningham took advantage. Despite entering the game fourth in the nation with a 46.6 percent percentage on 3s and serving as an effective facilitator on the perimeter, Cunningham had to rotate inside due to foul issues for both of Missouri’s starting forwards.

FGCU’s Rosemarie Julien (32) and Jessica Cattani (1) watch as Missouri’s Sophie Cunningham (3) reaches for a loose ball during the third quarter of a first round NCAA tournament game at Maples Pavilion in Stanford, Calif., Saturday, March 17, 2018. FGCU won 80-70. (Photo by Joel Angel Juarez/Special to the Naples Daily News)

Erica Nelson, Nasrin Ulel and Tytionia Adderly all tried their hand at defending Cunningham in the second and third quarters, but Nelson quickly found herself in foul trouble, and Adderly lost Cunningham on a screen. In the meantime, Cunningham was dominating in the post, converting eight of nine layup opportunities in that stretch.

At that point, assistant coach Chelsea Lyles had an unorthodox idea. How about trying China Dow on Cunningham?

“I was a little concerned because China fouls a lot, and I didn't want to have to put China on the bench,” said head coach Karl Smesko. “It's a lot of effort to be chasing Cunningham around and then guarding her in the post.”

Dow rotated onto Cunningham in the fourth quarter and stayed on her for the remainder of the game.

Marked by Dow, Cunningham only managed one layup and two missed desperation 3s in the final minute of the fourth quarter.

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Even though Cunningham tied a season-high with 35 points and shot 10-of-16 from the field and 14-of-16 from the free-throw line, the Eagles were able to find a way to stop her when it mattered most.

“All the credit for that goes to Coach Lyles,” Smesko said. “I definitely wasn't leaning in that direction, but China did a great job on (Cunningham). Really helped limit her scoring down the stretch.”

Of course, stopping Missouri wasn’t just about putting a lid on Cunningham, and the brilliance of FGCU’s defensive effort came in how the Eagles were able to find a way to stop Cunningham without opening up opportunities for the rest of the Tigers.

In fact, outside of Cunningham’s 35 points, Missouri’s next-best scorer was guard Lauren Aldridge with 9, on only 1-of-6 shooting from the field. Missouri players not named Cunningham combined to shoot just 11-of-36 (30.6 percent) overall and 3-of-19 (15.8 percent) from 3-point range.

“We knew what player that they were going to emphasize, and we tried to just focus on that, and then (Cunningham) did an amazing job tonight,” Nelson said. “But we took everything else away from them.”