Mizzou women’s basketball makes fifth portal addition of offseason
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Mizzou women's basketball coach Kellie Harper is not slowing down, when it comes to building her first roster in Columbia. On Tuesday night, she officially made her fifth addition from the transfer portal since being hired in mid-March.
Former Purdue guard Jayla Smith announced that she will be the newest member of the 2025-26 Tiger team, via a post on Instagram on Tuesday. The 6-foot senior will come to Columbia, after spending the last four seasons in West Lafayette.
Her senior campaign was cut down to just two outings, due to an injury, but she played 94 total games in her time as a Boilermaker. Through four years, she averaged 5.4 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.9 assits per game in 15.6 minutes per game.
The Indiana-native made an impact at Purdue from the first day she stepped on campus, though. In her freshman season, she got into 30 games, which included one start. In that year, she averaged 4.7 points, 1.7 rebounds and 15.8 minutes per game. She even hit double-figures in five games and knocked down at least one triple in 10 outings.
Her numbers only got better from there, during her sophomore campaign. Through 30 games, she averaged 7.8 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 19 minutes per game. She set season-long career highs in just about every statistical category you can think of and even kept Purdue's season alive, with a game-winning 3-pointer in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament.
Smith came out of high school in Indianapolis as one of the top recruits in the country, ranked the No. 42 player in the nation and the No. 13 guard by Prospect Nation. The former four-star recruit was named 2021 Indiana Miss Basketball and won the 2020 IHSAA State Championship, after playing all 32 minutes and dropping 22 point on 8-of-12 shooting with five 3-pointers. She ended up leading her Wildcats to back-to-back state championship games, as well as sectional and regional titles.
You can find a full look at Coach Harper's roster, which sits at 10 players, below.
- Guard Shannon Dowell
- Guard Averi kroenke
- Forward Hannah Linthacum
- Guard Sydney Mains
- Forward Jordana Reisma
- Guard Abbey Schreacke
- Guard Grace Slaughter
- Guard Saniah Tyler
- Forward Ma'Riya Vincent
