Mizzou Women's Basketball Takes Down Northwestern in Fort Myers Tip-Off Finale

Grace Slaughter scored her 1,000th career point to help the Tigers cap off Feast Week with a win over the previously undefeated Northwestern Wildcats

Feb 6, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers guard Grace Slaughter (0) shoots a layup against the LSU Lady Tigers during the second half at Mizzou Arena. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Missouri (6-2) went toe to toe with Northwestern, which entered the Fort Myers Tip-Off finale with an undefeated record. The Tigers have experienced ups and downs across the first month under Kellie Harper. However, they strung together their strongest outing to date, overcoming the Wildcats for the 85-70 win to close out Feast Week.

Since the start of the season, the Tigers have shown vast improvement as newcomers have settled into their roles and stars have begun to reach new heights. After recording a new career high of 14 rebounds in a win over Bradley on day one of the tournament, Missouri's Grace Slaughter continued to shine. An eruption for a career best 33 points propelled the Tigers to their third consecutive win. She totaled 52 points, 23 rebounds and seven assists across the two-day event.

Opposite Slaughter and the Tigers was Grace Sullivan for the Wildcats. Sullivan helped her team win six consecutive games to kick-start the season, serving as the driving force behind several of those victories. Against the Tigers, she seemed poised to have another standout performance. She was electric even in defeat. Sullivan went blow for blow with Slaughter, scoring 31 points of her own — a new career-high of her own.

Slaughter sealed the win for her team and eclipsed her single-game mark with a putback at the basket, finishing through contact, drawing a foul for an and-one. She approached the line with 999 points as a member of the Tigers. Sinking the shot, Slaughter became the 41st member of Missouri's 1,000-point club, taking just 71 games to reach the mark.

Nine games into the 2025-2026 season, Slaughter is averaging 19.5 points — the fourth-best mark in the Southeastern Conference.

Before the start of the season, Slaughter mentioned Chloe Sotell, a Pepperdine transfer, as the newcomer who reminded her most of herself. She referenced the elite shooting capabilities as a shared trait. That was on full display in Saturday's win. Slaughter drilled 4-of-6 from beyond the arc while Sotell made 3-of-6, scoring 11 points.

Purdue transfer Jayla Smith has become the Tigers' top scorer off the bench and provided a spark with her long-range shooting, going perfect from three on three attempts en route to a 15-point outing.

Missouri has formed a big three of sorts with Slaughter and fellow starters Shannon Dowell and Jordana Reisma. Dowell, a high-volume shooter, often appears atop the scoring column alongside Slaughter, but had an off-shooting night against the Wildcats, scoring 12 points on a 3-13 clip. She went 6-7 from the free-throw line. She managed to make up for the off night with her dominance on the glass, grabbing 13 rebounds.

Reisma, who led the country in field goal percentage while at Cleveland State last year, continued to showcase remarkable efficiency with 10 points at a 5-6 rate from the floor.

Missouri will return home for a matchup against California in the ACC/SEC Challenge. The Tigers will host the Golden Bears at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 4 at Mizzou Arena.