Mizzou Survives a Thriller Against UMKC

Missouri (12-3) narrowly defeated University of Missouri-Kansas City, thwarting the Roos' upset bid in its non-conference finale. The Tigers showed signs of a holiday hangover with a lackluster first-half, but managed to rally to a thrilling overtime victory, 71-67.

The Tigers opted to live and die by the three, with sharpshooters Chloe Sotell and Abbey Schreacke connecting on 11 of 20 attempts from long range. The duo anchored the Missouri offensive attack which entered the day boasting the nation's 8th best 3-point shooting rate of 39%.

Aside from Sotell, who made a carreer-high of 7 threes and Schreacke who pitched in 4 of her own, the Tigers shot an abysmal 1-17 clip from beyond the arc.

Missouri's offense leaned heavily on its shooting prowess in the absence of Shannon Dowell, the Tigers' second leading scorer, who missed her second consecutive game with a lower body injury. She was previously mentioned as having a day-to-day timeline to return by head coach Kellie Harper..

The bulk of the offensive load was left to Grace Slaughter, who leads the Tigers in scoring. She entered Sunday's contest averaging 19.4 points per game, the 4th best mark in the Southeastern Conference.

Slaughter and co. struggled in the early going, limping out to a 14-13 defecit at the end of the first-half. Their woes persisted until the break with Missouri entering the half trailing 36-34. The Roos capitalized on second chance points, while notching 10 offensive boards in the half while taking advantage of turnovers. UMKC forced nine first half-tunrovers, which translated to 15 points by hafltime.

In the opening seconds of the second-half, Sotell drilled a three, offering signs for a stronger back half to the matchup. Sotell's triple sparked a 12-3 run which marched the Tigers out in front. However, their hot streak was countered with an 11-0 run from the Roos to end the quarter, taking a four point lead over Missouri on its on home floor into the final frame of regulation.

Back-to-back 3-pointers from Sotell and Slaughter regained the lead for Missouri, but UMKC once again responded. The teams continued to go blow for blow in the waning minutes of regulation. In total, their were five ties and eight lead changes across the battle that couldn't be contained by four quarters. Missouri nearly suffered a meltdown, surrenduring an 8-2 run that allowed the Roos to tie up the score in the final minute of the fourth period, sending the game to overtime.

Like clockwork, Sotell opened the extra frame with a triple to give Missouri a lead. Her 7th and final 3-pointer of the night was critcal in giving the Tigers the advantage in a matchup with razor thin margins.

The closing moments of the game evolved into a chess match as the final 10 seconds of the contest spanned over 14 minutes and 30 seconds of real time. The stretch included three trips to the free throw line and a lengthy possesion review spurred on by a challenge by Harper. A tipped rebound with Missouri ahead by one, the ball traveled out of bounds. The call initially went in favor of the Roos, but Harpers' efforts paid off, redirecting possesion to the Tigers who seeled the victory at the free throw line.

Sotell led the Tigers in scoring with a new season-high 23 points. Schreacke added in another 12 points, exclusively getting her buckets from long range. Slaughter and Jordana Reisma each posted double-doubles. Resima totaled 11 points and 13 rebounds while Slaughter added 12 points along with 11 boards and a team-best 6 assists.

Missouri opens up conference play against No. 2 Texas at 6:30 on Thursday at Mizzou Arena.