BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Mizzou women's basketball head coach Kellie Harper along with student-athletes Grace Slaughter, McKenzie Mathurin and Nevaeh Caffey previewed the 2026-27 season at SEC Tipoff '27 on Wednesday.

Harper on the start of the season...

"We're excited about the upcoming season. I have thoroughly loved coaching our team in this fall period. I think we have a really good blend of returners and newcomers, both freshmen and transfers, that have made a huge difference in our competitiveness on the court and in our practices. Our staff's doing a great job. I think there's a lot of optimism in our program. We're just continuing to try to elevate the program and the team and hopefully get ourselves back in the NCAA Tournament."

Caffey on playing for Kellie Harper...

“Coach Harper’s a beast, she’s a dog too and I’m so excited to play for someone who has that same winning mentality as me and to help me grow as a player.”

Mathurin on the Mizzou roster and coach Harper...

“I’m seeing such a competitive spirit. We all want to win so badly, and so much, so she brings that every day to practice. It doesn't matter if our scout team is the best scout team we've ever played, or it's maybe just, like, a bunch of little guards. We're going come out, we're going compete every day. That's how she works.”

Slaughter on how the mentality of the team...

“Yeah, you know, I think that we’re very young. We have a lot of newcomers – 3 transfers and 5 freshman. I think everyone is just very eager to learn and be very competitive during practices, which has been super fun to be around. And with being a senior, I’ve been trying to be more vocal and help get people up to pace with the system.”