Mizzou women’s basketball outlasts Arkansas for road win

The Mizzou women’s basketball team defeated Arkansas for the second time this year on Thursday in Fayetteville. While the Tigers ran the Razorbacks off the court in Columbia, it took all 40 minutes to put them away in an 87-82 thriller in Bud Walton Arena.

This game was highly competitive from the jump with 11 total lead changes and nine ties. But it felt like Mizzou was usually in control or driving the action, leading for 22 minutes and 37 seconds compared to just 12 minutes for Arkansas. This was clear in the fourth as the Tigers led wire-to-wire, but could never muster a lead more than five points.

It was another offensive showcase for Mizzou, finishing the game shooting over 50% from the field while draining 12 threes. The Tigers now improve to a perfect 4-0 in SEC play and 9-1 this season when they score 80-plus points.

That offensive attack was spearheaded by Shannon Dowell and Grace Slaughter as the only two Tigers with 20-plus points, combining for 49 total. Dowell was the leading scorer with 25 points, finishing with impressive shooting splits of 9-15 from the field, 4-7 from three and 3-4 from the line. In addition she added five rebounds and three assists to go along with her scoring. Slaughter scored 24 points and did her damage on the inside, shooting 10-17 from the field despite shooting 0-6 from three plus 4-7 on FTs.

Abbey Schreacke was a key tertiary scorer with 17 points on a smooth 6-11 on field goals, 3-5 on three-pointers and 2-3 on free throws while adding six rebounds.

Mizzou’s injury issues persist, as Jordana Reisma missed her first game of the season with an apparent leg injury. This now brings the Tigers down to nine healthy players and up to four on the injury report. However the team managed to find ways to rebound without her size, winning the board battle 41-33.

One flaw you could find in the game was turnovers, as the Tigers lost that battle 13-8. The Razorbacks turned that into an 11-4 advantage in points off turnovers.

Here’s how the game played out from start to finish:

It was a different start to the second meeting between these teams as Arkansas led 22-19 after the first quarter. The Razorbacks found separation thanks to a 4-10 start from three in the first 10 minutes. Mizzou did their best to keep up with three triples of their own from separate players. Slaughter led the team in scoring with eight points in the quarter thanks to four-made shots inside the arc.

The Tigers took the lead heading into the break 41-38 after closing the first half on an 8-2 run. Mizzou did a good job in the limiting fouls, finishing the first 20 minutes with only two personal fouls and no Arkansas FTs. By contrast, the Razorbacks committed five personal fouls, turning into six Tiger free throws. The offensive was led by Dowell, scoring seven in the quarter while shooting 2-3 from the field, 1-2 from deep and a perfect 2-2 from the line.

It was another back-and-forth quarter as Mizzou led 66-64 heading into the final frame. It appeared the Tigers were going to separate early, starting the frame on an 11-5 run.

But Arkansas cut the deficit thanks to an 11-5 run of their own to close the quarter. The Tigers continued their three-point barrage with five more in the quarter. Dowell led the offensive attack again with eight points thanks to a pair of threes.

The Tigers fought off Arkansas, never trailing the final frame to win on the road. The Razorbacks cut the lead to two points with less than three minutes remaining, but Mizzou kept them at bay thanks to layups from Dowell and Slaughter plus just enough made FTs down the stretch to secure the win. Mizzou shot 6-10 from the line in the final quarter, making up for the lower efficiency simply by the volume. Slaughter came up clutch for the second consecutive game, scoring eight points in the quarter while shooting 3-4 from the field.

This fourth conference wins marks the most the Tigers have collected in a season since they finished 6-10 back in 2022-2023. In addition, this is the first time they have won three games against SEC opponents since that same year.

Mizzou is now red hot, improving to 4-6 and holding steady in 11th place in the SEC. They now have the chance to jump Georgia and win their fourth straight in conference play since 2018-19. The Tigers host the Bulldogs at 3 p.m. on Sunday from Mizzou Arena. The game will be available to watch on the main SEC Network channel.