Missouri women’s basketball had several pitfalls during the 2025-26 season, ultimately resulting in a 4-12 conference record and a 14th-place finish in the Southeastern Conference. Whether it stemmed from a season riddled by turnovers — including two games logging 30 turnovers — or rebounding inefficiency — which included allowing 72 rebounds against LSU — the Tigers fell short with their new-look lineup in head coach Kellie Harper’s first season.
Transfers like junior guard Shannon Dowell, senior forward Jordana Reisma and sophomore guard Chloe Sotell all added valuable minutes for the Tigers, but it proved insufficient. Dowell was the second-leading scorer on the team, adding 14.9 points per contest, while Reisma contributed 10.4 points and 5.7 rebounds per game and Sotell averaged eight points and five rebounds per game.
Although all of the players succeeded on the stat sheet, they possessed less experience, coming from mid-majors: Dowell from Illinois State, Reisma from Cleveland State and Sotell from Pepperdine. The rest of Missouri’s transfer class came from high-major schools — see Jayla Smith, Lisa Thompson and Saniah Tyler, who were all incoming juniors and seniors who underperformed at their prior colleges.
Now, in Harper’s second offseason at Missouri, the Tigers are making splashes in the portal that could be much more significant than the first go-around. After just two transfer portal additions, Missouri did what they failed to achieve last year — acquire young players that contributed to established programs.
This moment was marked when former Michigan guard McKenzie Mathurin signed with Missouri on April 11 and former Indiana guard Nevaeh Caffey signed April 14. Both players were ranked in the ESPN SC NEXT top 50 list in the class of 2025 and were contributors on Big Ten teams last year.
Caffey, the No. 42 recruit, started all 32 games for Indiana and averaged 8.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game while shooting 42.1% and 41.7% from range. The slashing 5-foot-10 guard excelled in a stacked Big Ten conference that led the nation with 12 bids in the NCAA tournament.
She’ll bring efficient scoring and playmaking to the Tigers, while adding experience in games against high-ranked teams that few freshmen have played in.
Caffey ended the season on a hot streak, recording double-digit performances in eight of her last nine games, which included contests against national champion UCLA and No. 11 Ohio State.
Although Indiana failed to make the tournament, Caffey has plenty of experience on winning teams. Caffey led Incarnate Word Academy to four-straight Missouri Class 6 State Championships before her college career. While averaging 16.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.2 steals per game in 2025, Caffey won Miss Show-Me Basketball in the record-breaking program that capped off 139 straight wins that season.
Mathurin saw less time than Caffey, but still had an impact on Michigan, an Elite Eight finalist. Mathurin averaged 3.5 points per game while shooting 46% and 38.9% from 3-point range in just 8.9 minutes per game.
Although her minutes were low, she played the most among freshmen on the team and recorded double-figures in the scoring column three times.
Mathurin was ranked as the No. 39 recruit, per ESPN, after an impressive high school and AAU career. Mathurin led Broken Arrow High School to the 2025 6A championship game and broke their scoring record, surpassing 2,000 points. Her list of accolades in high school led to strong recruitment and her arrival in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
When Mathurin wasn’t busy averaging 20 or more points per game every season of her high school career, she played AAU basketball for team Trae Young.
The additions of Caffey and Mathurin bring different advantages to Missouri’s 2026-27 squad, as Caffey brings starting experience in a top-tier conference and Mathurin adds postseason experience. But what sets these two apart from last year’s roster is their similarities: each bring top-level experience and highly recruited talent that the 2025-26 roster lacked.
With five players departing via the transfer portal, most notably Dowell and Sotell, the additions are pivotal for the Tigers’ guard depth, but the team is likely unfinished. And with 6-foot-3 Reisma’s tenure ending with the Tigers, the next step for Missouri is to find a strong presence in the post.
