Mizzou Drops Regular Season Finale to No. 7 Oklahoma

In Missouri's regular-season finale, the Tigers hosted an old Big 8 foe in No. 7 Oklahoma. The red-hot Sooners have been trending in a completely opposite direction from Missouri as of late. The Tigers entered Sunday's contest riding a five-game losing streak — Oklahoma is the winner of its past five.

The trend continued, with Oklahoma managing to withstand several Missouri surges and hold on for the 84-78 win.

Despite the two teams' differing results as of late, the Tigers fought hard to salvage an underwhelming final stretch of the season. Missouri honored three of its seniors prior to the game, with Jordana Reisma, Jayla Smith and Saniah Tyler each being celebrated by the team.

The final 40 minutes of Kellie Harper's debut season at Mizzou Arena flirted with the improbable upset over the Sooners, but an early hot stretch teased the type of blowout that had become far too common for the Tigers this season. Oklahoma led Missouri 25-16at the end of the first period. A scoring surge from Shannon Dowell kept the Tigers within striking distance and whittled away at the deficit.

A second-quarter buzzer-beater from Zya Vann put the Sooners ahead by six points entering the break, with Oklahoma ahead 40-34.

Missouri continued to battle for the lead, and ultimately brought the game within one possession after Chloe Sotell drained a triple to cut the deficit to three points — the narrowest margin since the first quarter. However, Oklahoma's Payton Vehulst sank a 3-pointer on the other end, sparking a 14-0 run to steal the Tigers' momentum. By the end of the third quarter, Oklahoma led 68-50

A ferocious individual effort from Shannon Dowell clawed the Tigers back into contention, trailing by six points. Missouri outscored Oklahoma 28-18; however, the deficit was too significant to overcome. Dowell totaled 15 points in the final frame, flashing her craftiness at getting to the bucket along with her midrange marksmanship.

Dowell finished the regular season with her strongest scoring night as a Tiger, recording a season-high 33 points. She shot the ball at a 14-22 clip while also grabbing a team-best 10 rebounds.

Grace Slaughter, who recently climbed into the top-15 all-time scoring list for Missouri, scored 15 points. She will have the opportunity to return next season and continue to climb the scoring ranks. Meanwhile, Resima played her final game at Mizzou Arena, returning to the court after missing five of six games. She scored 13 points along with 6 boards and 5 assists.

The SEC Tournament begins on March 4 and will continue through championship Sunday on March 8. The Tigers will have to win five games in five days to advance to the NCAA Tournament, offering a tall task following a brutal gauntlet to end the regular season.

Missouri earned the 14th seed in the conference tournament and will match up against No. 10 Alabama at 8:30 p.m. ET on March 4 in Greenville, South Carolina.

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