Mizzou women dominate fourth quarter to build big win
Throughout Tuesday’s game, Mizzou’s energy and focus left a little to be desired for coach Kellie Harper.
“I felt like I was really pulling some teeth there in the first half to try to get the energy up and their intensity up,” Harper said. “And they still were able to do what they needed to do.”
But in the end, the scoreboard looked dominant in the Tigers’ win against the Southern Illinois Salukis. Mizzou beat the Salukies 81-50 at Mizzou Arena to bounce back from a loss on Saturday.
“Every time there’s a win, we’re going to be happy about that,” Harper said. “I don’t think this was our best effort. But I’m glad we found a way to win.”
The win largely came on the shoulders of guard Shannon Dowell. Dowell’s 30 points marked a season high for the transfer guard, but it wasn’t her first time scoring against Southern Illinois.
While at Illinois State, Dowell had games of 23 and 25 points against the Salukis in 2024-25, and a game of 25 points in 2023-24.
“I got a couple friends on the team,” Dowell said. “… I don’t know what it is about Southern. Maybe it’s just how familiar it is.”
Dowell got out to a quick start, hitting her first 3-pointer of the season before Jordana Reisma connected on a layup to create a 5-0 lead.
The Tigers then had a 6-0 run to create an 11-4 lead, helped by four Dowell free throws. She would go on to be 10-for-10 from the line.
Mizzou built to a 20-9 lead in the first quarter, but a 9-2 Southern Illinois run cut the lead to 22-18 going to the second quarter.
“We lacked a little bit of intensity throughout the game,” Harper said. “And I think moving forward, it’s something that, as a coach, I’m challenging them. I want to be great every night in that area.”
The Tigers quickly built a 31-18 lead to start the second, but a 7-0 Salukis run cut the lead to six.
Mizzou was able to build back out to a 38-28 lead going into halftime.
The Tigers lead slowly grew in the third quarter, getting to a 17-point advantage after a Grace Slaughter layup. It eventually ended as a 57-42 lead going to the fourth.
Then the Tigers dominated the final 10 minutes.
Chloe Sotell hit a couple of 3s, Dowell hit four more free throws, Slaughter and Jayla Smith added layups and Ma’Riya Vincent added a jumper. And the Tiger defense held Southern Illinois to just eight points on the way to winning the final 10 minutes 24-10.
“We have to really look at us and see if we are doing what we need to do,” Harper said. “There were times I thought, man, our defense wasn’t very good in that second quarter. They only scored 10 points. We may not have been good and they just missed the shot a few times. So that’s where we have to evaluate us more in our schemes and in concepts.”
Stats
- Dowell added four rebounds to her 30-point game. She shot 8-of-11 overall, 4-of-5 from 3 and 10-of-10 at the stripe.
- Reisma contributed 12 points and five rebounds. She was 5-of-7 overall and 2-of-4 at the line.
- Smith added 11 points and five rebounds on 5-of-8 shooting.
- Slaughter contributed 10 points, six rebounds and three assists.
- Mizzou shot 30-of-55 (54.5 percent) from the field, 7-of-15 (46.7 percent) from beyond the arc and 14-of-18 (77.8 percent) from the free-throw line.
- Southern Illinois shot 19-of-60 (31.7 percent) overall, 5-of-19 (26.3 percent) from deep and 7-of-12 (58.3 percent) from the stripe.
- Mizzou outscored Southern Illinois 24-15 in points off turnovers, 21-15 in bench points and 44-20 in points in the paint.
- Mizzou outer rounded Southern Illinois 39-31.
Post-game press conference
Kellie Harper, Shannon Dowell and Chloe Sotell
Up next
Mizzou (4-1) will have a quick turnaround before playing Troy at 11:30 a.m. Thursday.
The matchup will be the front end of a Mizzou doubleheader at Mizzou Arena. The Tiger men will host South Dakota at 7 p.m. Thursday.