Mizzou’s second half rally falls short in Border Showdown renewal

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Mizzou Women's Basketball has suffered its first loss under head coach Kellie Harper.

The Tigers (3-1) flirted with a comeback against Kansas (4-0) but couldn't complete it, leading to a 82-77 defeat in the first regular season meeting between the two rivals since 2012.

You can watch the full postgame press conference with Coach Harper in the slideshow above.

Coach Harper's team trailed by 10 points at halftime but erased that deficit with an 18-5 scoring run in the third quarter, ending with a three-pointer from Saniah Tyler in her first game since transferring from Kentucky to Mizzou. The Incarnate Word Academy alum posted six points in her team debut.

However, the Jayhawks regained their composure to retrieve the lead with a 10-3 rally ahead of the final 10 minutes. Kansas benefitted from a pair of 20-point performances from Elle Evans and S'mya Nichols.

MU retied the score at the 8:56-mark of the fourth quarter, but soon after, the Jayhawks tallied eight straight points to stretch their advantage to three-scores to maintain control of the lead.

Shannon Dowell was Mizzou's leading scorer with 18 points, followed by Grace Slaughter (16) and Jordana Reisma (14). The Illinois State and Cleveland State transfers each shot 66% or better from the field, highlighted by a flawless 6-of-6 effort from Reisma.

Collectively, The Tigers finished 52.7% from the floor and 38.1% from three-point range but converted only 11-of-20 free throw attempts. The Jayhawks outperformed their rival in each of those three categories.

Up next - MU will strive to bounce back from Saturday's loss on Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 6:30 p.m. against Southern Illinois inside Mizzou Arena.