Mizzou women's basketball enters year two under coach Kellie Harper with real expectations. Senior superstar Grace Slaughter is in her fourth (and potentially final) year with the Tigers. Mizzou is still searching for its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2019. With the field expanded to 76 teams, Slaughter and a legion of shooters is ready to march to the heart of the Big Dance.
"To be able to make the NCAA tournament for my last year would be super special and something that I know the university and the coaches and our team would be super proud of," Slaughter said.
But the team has undergone plenty of change, with eight new players on the roster including five freshmen. In fact, eight of the 12 players on the roster are underclassmen. Tanyuel Welch may be a fifth year player, but she is new to the Mizzou culture.
That culture is carried by three players who have been a part of the program for 4-plus years: Averi Kroenke, Abbey Schreacke and Grace Slaughter.
"I think we're very blessed to have three people that have been here. They know the ropes. They love Mizzou. They are unbelievably good people, and they're people that we trust in the locker room."
"I think we're very blessed to have three people that have been here. They know the ropes. They love Mizzou," Harper said. "(They) are unbelievably good people, and they're people that we trust in the locker room. They're just really, really great leaders for this program, and they're awesome, and I love them dearly."
The trio has lived together for the past three years, building a strong bond away from the court.
"Abbey and Grace, there's not enough good things I can say about them. They're truly my best friends," Kroenke said. "They're the closest things I will ever have to sisters. And I'm super excited that I just get to be on this journey with them."
This year is particularly emotional for Kroenke, returning to the court after tearing her ACL during practice the week before the season started in 2025-26. This was not her first time having to sit out, missing the 2023-24 season with a foot injury. But this one felt different, specifically with how much agony an ACL tear can cause in the leg.
"It's been really challenging, you know, especially the first month when I was dealing with a lot of pain in my knee," Kroenke said. "I couldn't walk without crutches. I wasn't sleeping well. I just, I really missed the game, and that was really challenging for me."
But she continued rehabbing, ramping up her recovery process until last month she was fully cleared to return to normal game action. That doesn't mean the process is over, as Kroenke still sports both a compression sleeve on her leg along with a brace stretching all the way from her thigh to near her ankle.
While the process hasn't been easy, it's been aided by the help of Kroenke's teammates and coaches. Coach Harper has undergone the same issues, tearing her ACL twice.
"She knew what it felt like, she knew what was coming my way," Kroenke said. "She told me, you know, her door is always open for whether I needed to come in there and tell her great news, or I was upset about how my recovery was going. She was just there for me no matter what, and just always someone I could go to."
One of Kroenke's defining characteristics is her positive attitude and her infectious smile. While this sort of adversity could have wiped away that outlook, she has pushed through it like a ray of sunshine through the clouds.
"It's just always good to have Averi back on the court. She brings energy, she's always just super peppy, and I think pushes everybody else to be better in that way, too."
"It's just always good to have Averi back on the court," Abbey Schreacke said. "She brings energy, she's always just super peppy, and I think (she) pushes everybody else to be better in that way, too."
Schreacke enters her fourth season with the program. Surrounded by the five new freshmen, she remembers her first year with the Tigers.
"I remember our summer practices being super fast," Schreacke said. "I'm sure they all feel the same way with just how fast everything moves, and so just being able to slow things down for them, help them learn at a more of a pace that could help them out has been really fun to see, and they've been really great."
She's improved her skills as a vocal leader despite being more naturally quiet and introverted. This sort of vocalness adds as an additional source plus a buffer between the coaches, allowing the teachings of Harper and her staff to really sink in.
As one of the best shooters on the team, Schreacke provides an important skillset to a high-powered Tigers offense. She has shot at least 35% from three while averaging 7-plus points across each of her three collegiate seasons.
"I actually feel like she's done a great job of being vocal with things that she sees offensively, defensively," Grace Slaughter said. "She's definitely someone you can trust to just be blunt with the team and let them know, 'hey, this is how it is. This is what we got to do. So let's do it.' And I think that's a great piece to have for our seniors."
"She's definitely someone you can trust to just be blunt with the team and let them know, 'Hey, this is how it is. This is what we got to do. So let's do it.' And I think that's a great piece to have for our seniors."
Slaughter is heading into her fourth year with the Tigers, as well. She has been the superstar for the Tigers, leading the team in scoring the past two seasons. She is reminded of Hayley Frank's role on the team back when she was a freshman.
"There were five freshmen in her senior class, and so (I've been) trying to remind myself what did she do that helped me feel so comfortable and confident as a freshman," Slaughter said. "But they've also done a great job of just coming and being ready to learn, asking questions, and playing hard through mistakes."
Slaughter has made her goals of playing professional basketball very apparent, working with Harper and the rest of her staff to work towards that goal following the season. While the goals both for herself and the team are higher than they've been in recent memory, she believes they are certainly attainable in large part to the group of experienced returners.
"This is our second year with Coach Harper, so I feel like we're able to know what to expect for practice, game days, energy," Slaughter said. "And help tell the others what those expectations should look like, so we can maintain that buy-in level."
Mizzou women's basketball opens the regular season against Howard at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 2 at Mizzou Arena. The Tigers host Lincoln for an exhibition on Oct. 29.
