Mizzou Women's Basketball Gets Outpaced by Troy at Home

The wheels fell off for the Tigers despite fast paced and efficient first-half shootout

MU Athletics | MU Athletics

COLUMBIA, Mo. — An emphasis for Missouri's new-look offense was to play fast. Often practicing with a 12-second shot clock leading up to the season, the Tigers seemed ready to up the tempo.

A frenetic first half back-and-forth brawl with Troy suggested an explosive scoring night for both sides. The rapid play style caught up to the Tigers in the second half, struggling with consistent shooting and turnovers. The Trojans maintained their rate of play, outpacing the Tigers 100-82.

Troy's Emani Jenkins set the tone, drilling a three on each of the Trojans' opening three possessions. After each basket, they proceeded to pick up the Tigers on the inbound for full-court press defense. Missouri's Grace Slaughter and Shannon Dowell were each effective in finding cracks in the press. The duo led the Tigers in the opening frame, scoring a combined 17 points while totaling 30 as a team. However, Jenkins sank another triple as the first quarter buzzer sounded, giving Trop a one-point advantage.

Defense creates offense ‼️#MIZ x #OurZou pic.twitter.com/7z2o0M8X8T

— Mizzou Women’s Basketball (@MizzouWBB) November 20, 2025

Dowell took full control of Missouri in the second quarter, upping her scoring total to 20 points by halftime. At the same time, the Trojans matched her pace.

A familiar matchup for Dowell, she faced Troy this past March while a member of Illinois State. She faced the Tronjans in another fast-paced shootout, where she totaled her career-high 37 points in a loss to the Tronjans in the WNIT.

History seemed to mirror itself for Dowell. With the Trojans leading 61-54 out of the break, the wheels began to fall off for the Tigers. In a lopsided second half, Troy ran away with the win, outscoring Missouri 39-28.

With a slow start to the second half, Missouri fell behind, prompting a full player swap on the floor. Harper commented on the decision to sub out several of her top contributors, claiming she needed more urgency from the players on the court.

"I need to find some players that will play with some competitiveness," Harper said. "Obviously, the first four minutes of the third quarter were not played with competitiveness. So you know what? Somebody else gets shot."

The Tigers struggled to hold onto the ball, surrendering a total of 18 turnovers across the outing while only forcing nine by the Trojans. Despite shooting over 50% from the field and beyond the arc in the first half, the Tigers lost their shooting touch once the first half adrenaline wore off.

"We have to be cleaner. We have to have less turnovers. We have to be a little bit better defensively, where we can disrupt a little bit more," Harper said.

Among the positive takeaways from the performance, Missouri went perfect from the free-throw line. Dowell and Slaughter finished off the matchup, scoring 25 and 21, respectively. Dowell's mark led all players. She also matched her season high with five assists, leading all Tigers.

Chloe Sotell provided a spark off the bench for Missouri, making 3-of-4 from three, while scoring 11 points and seven rebounds for a team-high. Troy overwhelmed Missouri on the boards, winning the battle 45 to 35 on the glass. The Trojans exploited Missouri's lack of size. The Tigers' de facto paint protector, Jordana Reisma, missed much of the second half while finding herself in foul trouble. Reisma only played 23 minutes in the loss.

Up next, Missouri will take part in the WBCA Showcase, facing off against Washington State at 2 p.m. on Sunday at the World Wide Sports Complex in Kissimmee, Fla.