Mizzou women’s basketball played neck-and-neck with kU all game, even leading for a solid 2 minutes and 39 seconds. But it was not enough, as the Tigers fell to the Jayhawks 82-77 in the first (official) loss under Kellie Harper.
The Tigers opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back layups, tying the game at 66. But that was the closest the Tigers would get the rest of the game, as kU outscored them 16-11 to secure the win. A big part of that was a Mizzou scoring drought that lasted four minutes in the quarter. The Tigers shot 6-14 in the final frame, which is not going to cut it in an offensive matchup like this. Both teams shot over 50% from the field during the game.
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One big separator came at the line, as Mizzou shot 55% from the line while the Jayhawks shot 80%. Grace Slaughter finished the game 3-6 from the line while Jordana Reisma finished 2-5.
“I don’t think we expected that. That’s one thing we have been very consistent about, whether that’s in practice or in games,” Harper said. “So you’ve got to be able to handle the moment…you’ve got to step up with confidence…hopefully there’s an urgency there.”
While Mizzou made more threes at 8-21, kU made a higher percentage at 6-12. Another key difference came in the turnover battle, where the Tigers turned it over 15 times compared to only 10 for the Jayhawks.
Shannon Dowell was Mizzou’s leading scorer with 18 points on 8-12 shooting while adding six rebounds on the glass. Reisma made a big impact when she was on the court, finishing with 14 points on a perfect 6-6 from the field. However her impact was limited, playing only 23 minutes due to foul trouble throughout the game.
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“The only thing that bugs me is [we] would like to have gotten Jordana a few more weeks,” Harper said.
Slaughter was the other Tiger in double digits, finishing with 16 points. But she struggled from a shooting perspective, seemingly forcing some shots at 6-16 from the field and 1-6 from three.
“Obviously didn’t shoot the ball as well from the three point line as she’s capable,” Harper said. “Their size, I thought, forced her to take some tough shots…she’s aggressive, and I love that about her, and I will never tell her not to be aggressive…she’s gonna make shots, so we’re excited about her getting looks.”
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Here’s how the first three quarters of the game played out:
Mizzou trailed 21-17 after the first quarter. After leading very briefly at 17-15, the Tigers failed to score in the final 2:25 of the quarter as kU went on a 6-0 run. Reisma had an early four points, but was subbed out halfway through after picking up two fouls.
Head coach Kellie Harper kept Reisma out of the game the entire second quarter, which put a major dent in the Mizzou defense as they were outscored 28-22 in the quarter and trailed 49-39 heading into halftime. The Jayhawks shot an absurd 11-14 from the field in the 2nd including a perfect 3-3 from beyond the arc. kU had four separate players with 8-plus points in the first half; Shannon Dowell was the Tigers’ leading scorer with exactly eight.
The Tigers did what they could to keep it close, including making six triples in the first half from five separate players. Abbey Schreacke was the only player with two, accounting for all six of her points. One of those makes was with one second remaining in the half, cutting the deficit to 10 as the teams entered the locker rooms. Another triple came from a returning Saniah Tyler, who was playing her first action of the season after returning from an arm injury. She finished the game with six points on two-made triples.
Other notable scorers were Grace Slaughter with seven and Mo Vincent finishing with a key five off the bench.
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Reisma’s return made a major impact, as the Tigers outscored kU 20-7 to lead 59-56 at the 3-minute mark of the third quarter. Reisma kept the Jayhawks away from easy paint points while scoring six points during the run. Dowell was the other major scorer with five, before heading to the bench with her third personal foul. Tyler hit a triple to finally give Mizzou its first lead in nearly 20 minutes of game action.
The Jayhawks responded late in the quarter with a 10-3 run to retake the lead 66-62 after three. A big part of that run on free throws, as foul trouble was an issue for the Tigers all game.
While Mizzou pushed it close down the stretch, a key scoring drought in the middle of the fourth was enough to sink the Tigers for their first loss under Harper, as they fall to 3-1.
“I think the response has to be stellar,” Harper said. “The really cool thing about a loss is there’s a game right behind it, so you get to get out and practice and work through this loss…I told them I want it to hurt today…But boy, you wake up in the morning. It’s a new day.”
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Mizzou returns home for a showdown with Southern Illinois at 6:30 on Tuesday from Mizzou Arena. The game will be available to watch through SEC Network+ on the ESPN app.
