Lady Vols basketball point guard Mia Pauldo was listed as out on the initial SEC injury report on Feb. 11 ahead of Tennessee's matchup with Missouri.
The freshman will miss her first game of the season when the No. 22 Lady Vols (15-6, 7-2 SEC) face the Tigers (16-10, 4-7) at Food City Center on Feb. 12 (6:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network+).
Pauldo was Tennessee's leading scorer in conference play before going scoreless at South Carolina. Pauldo took a big hit early in the game against the Gamecocks and had to be subbed out. She shot 0-for-10 and didn't score for the first time this season.
The young guard has been crucial to the Lady Vols' success this season. She's averaging 11.6 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.3 steals. Pauldo shoots 37.5% from the field and 30.1% on 6.3 attempts from 3-point range per game.
Pauldo's scoring went up in SEC play to 14.4 points per game, and she became one of Tennessee's most reliable scorers. She is the Lady Vols' best ball handler and one of their lowest-turnover impact players.
Missouri will also be without players in the matchup. Averi Kroenke, Sydney Mains and Hannah Linthacum are all out, Jordana Reisma is questionable and Jayla Smith is probable.
The Tigers have been without Kroenke, Mains, Linthacum for the entirety of SEC play with injuries. Reisma has been questionable for the last two games and then downgraded to out for both.
Cora Hall is the University of Tennessee women's athletics reporter for Knox News. Email: [email protected]; X: @corahalll; Bluesky: @corahall.bsky.social. Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks: subscribe.knoxnews.com/offers
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Mia Pauldo injury: Lady Vols basketball point guard out vs Missouri