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After a fantastic season with a record of 26-6, the Lady Cougars learned their tournament fate by drawing Missouri in the 2016 NCAA Women's Tournament. They are playing Saturday, March 19, at 4:45 p.m. on ESPN2. If you haven't watched the BYU women play this season, you are missing out. They are skilled and execute very well. They shoot the ball well and play at a pretty quick pace.
So, how well do the Cougars stack up against the Tigers? Missouri is 21-9 and went 8-8 in the SEC, finishing 7th in the conference. The Tigers are lead by a starting lineup of 6-1 freshman guard Sophie Cunningham who scores 13.5 ppg and pulls down 5.9 rpg, 6-1 junior forward Jordan Fredericks at 12.1 ppg and 7.8 rpg, 6-4 freshman forward Cierra Porter 9 ppg and 5.5 rpg, 5-10 junior guard Sierra Michaelis 8.6 ppg and 2.7 rpg, and 6-0 junior guard Lindsey Cunningham 4.6 ppg and 2.6 rpg. They are big, even their bench players are mostly over 6 feet tall, and out rebound their opponents by almost 8 rebounds per game.
The Cougars will counter with WCC Player of the Year Lexi Rydalch, a 5-10 guard who averaged 24.3 ppg and pulled down 6 rpg, she is joined in the backcourt by 5-8 Makenzi Pulsipher who scores 12.7 ppg, the bulk of the scoring is rounded out by WCC Newcomer of the Year 6-2 Kalani Purcell at 11.8 ppg and 12.7 rpg. The starting lineup is filled out by 5-5 point guard Kylie Maeda and 6-2 forward Jasmine Moody. The Cougars are lead by WCC Coach of the Year Jeff Judkins.
The Cougars average almost the same amount of rebounds per game as a team as the Tigers do. Missouri averages more points per game slightly, but where the game could tip in the Cougars favor is three point shooting. Missouri only shoots 32 percent from the three point line, while the Cougars shoot over 38 percent as a team.
The winner of this game will play the winner of the Texas-Alabama State game on Monday, March 21st. Good luck to the Lady Cougs as they hope to repeat their successful Sweet Sixteen run of a couple years ago.