Catching up with the Face of Mizzou Women's Basketball

In an offseason full of roster and staff turnover for the Missouri Tigers, one thing has remained consistent – Grace Slaughter. After leading the team in scoring last season with 15.0 points per game, the sophomore guard is one of two returning Tigers within the top seven scorers. With Ashton Judd entering the transfer portal, Slaughter has now undeniably claimed the role as the sole face of the program to close her sophomore year.

Head coach Kellie Harper will be entering her first season with Missouri, and possesses a roster full of unfamiliar faces. Despite not being the coach to initially recruit Slaughter to Missouri, she's had a long-instilled faith in Slaughter's ability.

"I've followed her career, I've enjoyed watching her play." Harper said during a press conference on Monday. "I think she means a lot to this program, to this community, to this university, and obviously to our team and to our team, moving forward."

Given the organizational turnover of staff and upperclassmen, Missouri's locker room will have an absence of leading voices – Slaughter has pans to step up.

"As a leader, you know, I'll definitely focus on trying to be more vocal this season and making sure my teammates can hear me in different ways." Slaughter said. "Bringing the team together and working on leadership"

While she plans to lead the team throughout the offseason process and into the next season, her skills have already affected the team built around her. With four transfers committed – and counting – a main pitch from Harper has been simple.

"Playing with players like Grace," Harper said.

Slaughter's gravity as one of the premiere scorers in the Southeastern Conference was attractive enough for incoming transfers. But once they get to know the talent as the person, I'd guess they'd feel even more confident in their choice to play alongside her.

"She has pro habits. This kid is in the gym every day," Harper said.

Slaughter has showed tremendous year-to-year growth in her first two seasons, increasing in almost every major counting stat from 2023-2024 to 2024-2025. While her role gets larger each season, she's been able to handle new on-court responsibilities effectively. If her mindset as a leader ties strongly to her skillset, there's no reason to believe she can't lead this Missouri team to success.

After a plethora of teammates and her former head coach departed from the program, many were left wondering why Slaughter stuck around instead of taking what could be considered an easy way out. Seeing Harper's passion for the game was a factor, but the Missouri native's love for the city runs deeper than basketball.

"The community that Columbia has, and, you know, the relationships you build over time," Slaughter said, "Mizzou is so much more than just a place I get to play basketball at."

As the new era of Missouri women's basketball is ushered in, Slaughter seems like the perfect candidate to lead the way.