After four games away from home, the Missouri State Lady Bears return to JQH Arena Thursday at 7 p.m. for the second game of a home-and-home series against former Missouri Valley Conference rival Wichita State.
   The Shockers took the first round on Nov. 29 in Wichita by a 72-58 final.
   Missouri State (1-6) continues its three-game home stand on Dec. 10 against Oral Roberts, and hosts Northwestern at 2 p.m. on Dec. 16 before concluding the non-conference schedule three days later at Alabama.
   Despite a slow start, history says the future is bright based on head coach
Kellie Harper's previous four seasons. MSU has improved its record each month throughout the year under Harper, with a sub-.500 mark in November turning to winning percentages of .565 in December, .667 in January and .690 in February.
**Parking Note**
Due to multiple events on campus Thursday, fans are encouraged to arrive early for the Wichita State game. For those planning to park in Bear Park North or Lot 37 immediately to the west, please show parking attendants your game ticket to avoid the parking charge.
Series Histories
Missouri State leads the all-time series 49-36, including an 31-12 mark in Springfield. The Lady Bears won four straight in the series before last week's loss in Wichita, and the Shockers won 20 of 24 from 2006-15. MSU has taken each of the last two games in Springfield by double digits.
    Missouri State is 8-10 all-time against Oral Roberts, and teams have evenly split the last 10 meetings. Sunday's game will be the 11th meeting in less than 10 years, dating to Dec. 15, 2007. The Lady Bears are the last road team to win in the series, claiming an 85-79 victory in Tulsa in 2012.
Scouting Wichita State
Wichita State is 2-7 overall with wins against UC Irvine and Missouri State. Rangie Bessard, a first-team all-MVC selection last season, averages 17.6 points and 7.3 rebounds, and Sabrina Lozada-Cabbage follows with 8.7 points and 4.6 boards for a solid WSU front line. As a team, the Shockers score 63.8 points and allow 68.9 while shooting 41.1 percent overall, 29.2 percent from long range and 78.2 percent at the charity stripe.
Scouting Oral Roberts
ORU is 5-3 overall and has won its last four games entering Thursday's visit to UMKC. The Golden Eagles are picked to finish fourth in The Summit League with a pair of preseason all-conference choices in Faith Ihim and Maria Martianez, both of whom average at least 10.1 points per game. As a team, ORU scores 62.4 points and allows 57.4, shooting 40.8 percent overall, 31.9 percent from 3-point range and 66 percent from the foul line.
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