REPORT: Mizzou WBB star guard Lauren Hansen enters transfer portal

Mar 28, 2023 - 9:26 PM

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The Columbia Tribune’s Chris Kwiecinski reports that Mizzou graduate guard Lauren Hansen, who earlier in the year pledged to return to the Tigers for her Covid season, entered the transfer portal on Tuesday. She is the first known women’s basketball player to announce their intentions to leave the program after a decidedly up-and-down season. Haley Troup exhausted her eligibility and also departs.

Hansen was a big part of this year’s campaign, and while at the surface it may seem that she had one of her best seasons, her shooting numbers were off. Averaging about a minute more playing time than the 2021-22 season, Hansen recorded career-highs in points (12.9), rebounds (2.9), steals (1.4) and FT% (90.6). However, she equaled a career-low in three-point percentage (33%) and her second-worst season shooting overall (38.6%) dating back to her freshman season at Auburn.

Described by Head Coach Robin Pingeton as a ‘volume shooter’, Hansen first came to Missouri as a transfer from Auburn after her freshman year. She spent the next three years with the Tigers, making 62 starts in 84 games. Hansen is perhaps best known for hitting the shot that clinched the Tigers' big upset win over No. 1 South Carolina in 2021, which is currently their only loss the past two seasons.

Hansen passed 1,000 career points on February 16 against Mississippi State, and she leaves Missouri still without a taste of NCAA Tournament basketball.

She finishes her Missouri career with 889 points, averaging 10.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game.

What kind of moves Robin Pingeton and her staff will make in the transfer portal is yet to be determined, but the Tigers will return (as of now, anyway) the rest of the roster, as well as welcome in four freshmen, including two ESPN 100 recruits.