As the first season under head coach Kellie Harper has come to a close, a monumental off-season lays ahead. While there will not be the staff overhaul that the team saw in 2025, the reality of the transfer portal is there will always be roster turnover.
Here is the up-to-date guide with all the moves this off-season, and the roster construction for next year’s team.
Return of the Slaughterhouse
The most important news of the off-season is that Grace Slaughter will be returning to the team for her senior season. Slaughter has led the team in scoring the past two seasons, already cementing herself as a Mizzou legend. As a junior she averaged 18.7 points per game, totaling 635 points for the fifth most in a single season in Mizzou history and eclipsing Sophie Cunningham’s best year.
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Over her career Slaughter has scored 1,459 and is on track to become the fifth 2,000-point scorer in program history. In fact, Cunningham’s all-time point record of 2,187 is well within reach if she can average roughly 20 points per game.
For a Mizzou team that is looking to break a 7-year NCAA Tournament drought, Slaughter will need to be the backbone of the roster.
Transfers Out
Shannon Dowell
The first and likely the largest departure from the program is Shannon Dowell. In her one year as a Tiger she was the second leading scorer, averaging 14.9 points while grabbing 6.1 rebounds.
She transferred to Mizzou after two years on the roster at Illinois State. She will have one year of eligibility remaining. You can read the full details of the departure and what it means for the team in the full-length piece I wrote here.
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Hannah Linthacum
Later that same day after Dowell left, Hannah Linthacum entered the transfer portal. Linthacum has been on the roster for the past three seasons, playing in 62 games. She missed the entirety of this past season with an arm injury. As a freshmen she started 19 games while averaging 3.2 points per game and 2.4 rebounds. She was the one center projected to return to the team, meaning the Tigers will have to make an addition in the portal. She will have two seasons of eligibility remaining.
Linthacum is a Jefferson City High School gruaduate, with her dad playing football for Mizzou during the late 80s. Her older sisters, Micah and Sarah, each played WBB for Mizzou as well. In fact, this will be the first time since the 2018-19 season that Mizzou will not have a Linthacum on the roster.
