Missouri
COLUMBIA, Mo. (11/01/2026) — The Missouri Tigers erased an 18-point second-half deficit and outlasted the Howard Bison 91-88 in overtime Sunday at Mizzou Arena, turning what looked like a stunning upset into a season-opening statement about this team's resilience.
McKenzie Mathurin poured in a game-high 29 points, and Tanyuel Welch's free throw as time expired in overtime closed out a comeback that required Missouri's biggest run of the afternoon — a 15-0 burst — just to get back in the game.
How It Happened
Howard controlled this game far longer than the final score suggests. The Bison shot 45 percent from the floor to Missouri's 37 percent and piled up 15 assists to the Tigers' eight, with Ariella Henigan repeatedly finding shooters in rhythm. Zoe Stewart's 24-foot three with 2:57 left in the first quarter stretched the Howard lead to 20-9, and the Bison never let go for nearly three quarters.
Sa'lah Hemingway kept the pressure on in the second quarter, burying a 23-footer off a Stewart assist to make it 28-21, and April Edwards' free throw in the final seconds sent Howard to the break up 38-33.
The third quarter belonged entirely to the Bison. Destiny Bynum-Johnson and Hemingway hit back-to-back threes off Henigan assists, and when Edwards connected from 25 feet off a Bynum-Johnson feed with 3:18 left in the period, Howard led 60-43. Indiah Hutchinson's three moments later pushed the margin to 63-45 — the largest deficit Missouri faced all day. Mathurin answered with a deep three in the final minute, but Rayne Durant's free throw sent the game to the fourth with Howard ahead 69-52.
Turning Point
Still down 72-55 after Edwards' three with 8:57 to play, Missouri found another gear. Mathurin's 23-footer with 4:43 remaining cut the gap to 78-69, and Nevaeh Caffey followed 42 seconds later with a three off a Khloe Ford assist to make it 78-74. The Tigers kept coming, and Natalya Hodge's tip-in with 36 seconds left tied the game at 82 — the culmination of a frantic closing stretch that forced overtime.
In the extra period, Caffey put Missouri in front 83-82 at the free-throw line with 4:06 to go — the game's only lead change, and the only one the Tigers needed. Welch iced it from the stripe at the buzzer, 91-88.
Star of the Game
Mathurin was the engine of the comeback, finishing with 29 points, five rebounds and two assists. Three of her biggest baskets came from well beyond the arc — a 25-footer in the first quarter, a 24-footer in the second and the deep three late in the third that kept Missouri within shouting distance when the game threatened to slip away entirely. Her 23-footer with 4:43 left ignited the decisive fourth-quarter surge.
She had plenty of help. Caffey scored 17, Ford posted a 15-point, 15-rebound double-double, and Welch added 14 points, including the final points of the game. For Howard, Edwards led the way with 15 points, Stewart added 14, Hemingway scored 13, and Bynum-Johnson recorded a double-double of her own with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
What It Means
Missouri escaped with a win it had no business securing through three quarters, and that cuts both ways. The Tigers showed real toughness — clawing back from 18 down against a team that was making shots and sharing the ball, then executing in overtime. But the numbers underneath are a warning: 37 percent shooting, eight assists against 18 turnovers, and a dead-even rebounding battle at 51 apiece against a visiting mid-major. Mathurin's shot-making and Ford's work on the glass bailed out an offense that struggled to generate clean looks for most of the afternoon.
Howard leaves Columbia without the upset but with plenty of evidence it can compete with power-conference opponents. The Bison's ball movement — 15 assists, with Henigan orchestrating — and balanced scoring from Edwards, Stewart, Hemingway and Bynum-Johnson produced 45 percent shooting on the road against an SEC defense. Sustaining leads in the fourth quarter is the next step, but this performance travels.
