Mizzou women's basketball receives good, bad portal news
The women’s basketball transfer portal doesn’t open until April 6, but Mizzou received its first two bits of portal news on March 31. One good, one bad.
The news began with the team’s announcement that Grace Slaughter would return for her senior season.
Slaughter led the Tigers at 18.7 points and 6.8 rebounds as a junior. She became just the fifth Tiger player to score 600 points in a season.
The 6-foot-2 guard enters her senior season ninth on Mizzou’s career points leaderboard. She is just 29 points short of Sandie Prophete in eighth, 76 points behind Erika Martin in seventh and 138 points behind Evan Unrau in sixth.
If Slaughter were to score 600 points again, becoming the third Tiger to reach the mark twice, she would move into third all time. If Slaughter were to score 729 points, which only Jonie Davis and Renee Kelly have for Mizzou in a season, she would surpass Sophie Cunningham as the Tigers’ all-time leading scorer.
The bad
But quickly after the team’s announcement of Slaughter’s return, second-leading scorer Shannon Dowell announced her intention to enter the portal.
Dowell joined the Tigers for one season after starting her career with two seasons at Illinois State.
She instantly became one of the team’s primary offensive options. Dowell scored 14.9 points per game to go with 6.1 rebounds per contest. She was second on the team with 70 assists as well.
Dowell will have one year of eligibility remaining.
Her departure leaves the Tigers with one available roster spot for next season. The Tigers carried 13 of a possible 15 players this season, lost three seniors to exhausted eligibility and have five incoming freshmen.
Additionally, On3 national women’s college basketball reporter Talia Goodman reported Hannah Linthacum intends to enter the portal. Linthacum missed the entire 2025-26 season with an injury. With her departure, the Tigers will not have a Linthacum on roster for the first time since 2018-19. The Jefferson City native was a regular in the starting lineup as a freshman, playing in 30 games and starting 19. But she averaged just 3.2 points and 2.4 rebounds per contest. In her sophomore season, the 6-foot-4 forward became a full-time backup, appearing off the bench in 32 games. She scored 1.9 points per game and grabbed 2.2 rebounds per contest.
If she appeals for a medical redshirt, she will have two years of eligibility remaining.