Slaughter Named to Cheryl Miller Award Wtchlist

In 2018, Sophie Cunningham was recognized as one of the top small forwards in college basketball, being named a finalist for the Cheryl Miller Award. For the first time since, Missouri boasts another nominee to the award's watchlist.

Junior forward Grace Slaughter began the 2025-2026 season among the 20 players listed on the watchlist. With the mid-season update to the list, reduced to 10 names, Slaughter remains in consideration for the distinction of the best player at her position.

Grace Slaughter is THAT girl. 🫡

A Mid-Season Nominee for the Cheryl Miller Small Forward of the Year Award🐯#MIZ x #OurZou pic.twitter.com/JM4nBAhxml
— Mizzou Women’s Basketball (@MizzouWBB) February 4, 2026

Joining the likes of reigning back-to-back award winner Madison Booker of Texas, Slaughter's recent high-level performances have led to national recognition. With seven regular-season games remaining, Slaughter has already captained her team to its best record in her time at Missouri, sitting at 15-9 and 3-6 in the SEC.

Slaughter is currently averaging 19.2 points per game, good for 24th in the country and 5th in the Southeastern Conference. This mark slots in as the Tigers' highest nightly scoring average since Julie Helm averaged 19.9 from Missouri through the 1997-1998 season.

After earning All-Freshman honors as a freshman, she stepped into Missouri's leading scorer role a year ago. Slaughter emerged as one of the better go-to options in the conference, averaging 15 points per game in year two. Continuing to break out in her first season under Kellie Harper, Slaughter has taken her game to a new level. Refined skills as a three-level scorer have been beneficial to her and her teammates.

Through 24 games this season, Slaughter has scored in double figures in each outing while also notching a new career-high of 33 points against Northwestern in the finale of the Fort Myers Tip-Off on Nov. 29. She matched her personal best of four made 3-pointers against the Wildcats; a feat she matched on Sunday with Missouri's upset victory over Mississippi State in Starkville.

Missouri ranks as the 8th most efficient three-point shooting team in the country, while Slaughter leads the team by shooting the deep ball at a 42 percent rate on over four attempts per game.

In addition to her scoring numbers, Slaughter has proven to be a workhorse on the glass. Leading her team in rebounding at 7.2 boards per game, she has doubled her average from a year ago, while her career-best mark stands as the 11th best in the SEC.

Missouri lacks depth in the frontcourt, leading Slaughter to take on a more significant role on the interior on both ends of the court. In the expanded role, she has posted six rebounding and scoring double-doubles so far this season, something she had only managed twice across her first two years in Columbia.

Slaughter is one of two active players from last year's Missouri roster, alongside Abbey Schreacke. Given a mass exodus in the transfer portal as the program underwent a coaching change, Slaughter had to step into a leadership role while helping her teammates adopt a new identity. In doing so, she has developed into one of the most reliable leaders in college basketball. She has been the perennial ironwoman of the team, logging the 2nd-most minutes of anyone in the country this season.

With the season's conclusion quickly approaching, she will have the opportunity to add to her resume with strong performances against Top-25 teams, including South Carolina, LSU, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Oklahoma across the coming weeks.