Mizzou Central

Mizzou's Dowell Sinks California at the Buzzer in the ACC/SEC Challenge

The Tigers claimed their fourth straight victory with a fourth-quarter comeback and a last-second shot to seal the victory
Brady Shanahan|
MU Athletics
MU Athletics | MU Athletics

Missouri (8-2) got out to a blistering start in its ACC/SEC Challenge matchup with California (6-3). Still, the Tigers required that last-second heroics from Shannon Dowell to advance its winstreak to four games.

On the final play, Dowell inbounded the ball to Jayla Smith, who immediately responded with a handoff back to Dowell. She got downhill, cutting around a ghost screen from Grace Slaughter, who drew the attention of the defense. Dowell barreled down the lane, into the paint, and released a layup, banking off the backboard with the clock ticking down. She watched above as the ball fell through the bucket for the go-ahead score, giving Missouri the 68-67 win.

"When we inbounded, there was so much attention on Grace that when she ghosted it, I was left wide open," Dowell said.

"Shannon is looking to go downhill on every possession," Head Coach Kellie Harper said. "She's got a great burst, and she's got a really good change of speed, which allows her to get by defenders, and she's going to score."

Harper and her squad seemed up for the challenge from the jump. The Tigers were perfect across the opening stretch of the contest, sinking their first six shots and taking a 12-7 lead. The Golden Bears' Gisella Maul asserted that her team was ready to do battle as well. She attacked the basket and found the bottom of the net as the first quarter clock expired, cutting it to a one-point game.

The two sides traded blows in the name of conference supremacy. Missouri maintained the edge at the midway point, 33-31. The duo of Slaughter and Dowell spearheaded the offense, posting 11 points each at the break.

The Golden Bears flipped the game around in the second half, handling the Tigers through the third frame, outscoring them 24-17 to gain the five-point advantage entering the final frame.

"We did not have a good third quarter," Harper said. "This is the moment as a coach, you look everybody in the eye, every single one of them, "we're going to win this game. We can win this game, and you've got to believe we can win this game." "

Harper rallied her team to the victory with a fiery fourth-quarter huddle. The Tigers cut the deficit in the final minutes, and with 56 seconds remaining, they took a one-point lead thanks to a 3-pointer from the corner. Her teammates counted down the expiring shot clock behind her on the bench and watched as the shot bounced off the rim, the backboard and then went in.

"I could hear the bench behind me counting down, knowing I had to get it [the shot] off, but I had time," Slaughter said. "I practiced that shot with my coaches a lot. So I felt confident being able to get it up."

Missouri surrendered the lead one final time. The Golden Bears' Mjracle Sheppard put her team up by one with 39 seconds left in regulation. California's aggressive defense locked down every possible look on the Tigers' ensuing attack.

In the waning moments of the game, the Golden Bears held possession. After disrupting California's inbound pass, Missouri's Jayla Smith came away with a game-saving steal, giving her team one final shot.

Dowell mentioned the buzzer-beater as her first-ever game-winning shot at any level. When asked about her reaction after making the shot, she said 'I was so relieved. It's one of those shots that's so wide open that you really got to focus even more to make it."

She also credited Slaughter with the ghost screen and demanding attention from the defense, which opened up her lane to the basket. The duo has become a dynamic scoring pair with Dowell primarily attacking the basket and frequently earning trips to the free-throw line. Slaughter, however, tends to stretch the floor a bit more and is capable of putting on a sharpshooting clinic.

Dowell led the Tigers with 25 points followed by Slaughter with 21. The two stars have formed one of the most effective scoring duos in the country with Slaughter now averaging 19.7 points while Dowell is putting up 18.2 per night.

"It's a lot of fun to play with Shannon," Slaughter said. "I think we're still getting used to each other as we continue to play and grow together."

Slaughter emphasized the growth of the team over the first 10 games of the season. She mentioned the strides the team has been making to limit the mistakes they were prone to in the early stages of the season. Dowell echoed her claims about the team's growth and mentioned the blossoming team chemistry.

"Getting comfortable with each other, building trust, knowing that somebody is going to be there to pick you up, communicate, tell you when you're wrong, taking accountability, those are all things that we've grown with over the past five weeks," Dowell said.

Missouri will look to continue to ride its momentum in a home game against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville at 2 p.m. on Sunday at Mizzou Arena.

Read More Missouri Tigers News...

Published
Brady Shanahan
BRADY SHANAHAN

Brady Shanahan is a journalism student at the University of Missouri, and covers baseball and softball for Missouri Tigers On SI. He's from the St. Louis area and has contributed to The Maneater student newspaper, Columbia Missourian, KOMU 8, and KCOU as a beat reporter.

Home/Basketball