The 2007-08 Missouri State University women’s basketball schedule has been completed and was announced Monday by Director of Athletics Bill Rowe. The Lady Bears will play a total of 14 home games and 10 regular-season contests against clubs that earned postseason bids last year, including games with NCAA participants Wisconsin-Green Bay, DePaul, Oral Roberts and reigning MVC champion Drake. Starting times for all games and the Lady Bears’ television schedule will be announced at a later date.
Highlighting the non-conference portion of the schedule will be the Lady Bears’ Nov. 11 season opener at Texas. The matchup will feature a pair of coaches making their debuts at new schools, as MSU head coach Nyla Milleson and new Texas boss Gail Goestenkors will lead their squads into game action for the first time at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas. With the anticipated dedication of JQH Arena just one year away, the Lady Bears will kick off their final home season in Hammons Student Center with a Nov. 17 matchup against the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, a club that went 29-4 and posted a first-round NCAA Tournament win over New Mexico last year.
Missouri State will travel to Arkansas State (Nov. 20) and UALR (Nov. 25) before returning home to take on the University of Texas at San Antonio (Nov. 29) to conclude the month of November. The Lady Bears will face a trio of potential postseason participants on the road in the month of December, beginning with a Dec. 2 trip to Chicago to take on DePaul. Following home games against Tulsa (Dec. 4) and Saint Louis (Dec. 7), another road tilt awaits MSU on Dec. 15, as the Lady Bears travel to Tulsa to meet Oral Roberts, a team that won 22 games and a Summit League championship a year ago. Missouri State will cap its non-conference schedule with by hosting Canisius (Dec. 21), before taking on Western Kentucky (Dec. 29) in Bowling Green, Ky. The Lady Toppers went 23-9 in 2006-07, advancing to the semifinal round of the WNIT.
The Lady Bears will kick off their 16th season in the Valley with road games against Drake (Jan. 4) and Creighton (Jan. 6), before returning to Hammons to entertain Evansville (Jan. 10) and defending regular-season league champion Southern Illinois (Jan. 12). The remainder of the month of January sees the Lady Bears traveling to UNI (Jan. 17) and Bradley (Jan. 19), before returning home to host Illinois State (Jan. 25) and Indiana State (Jan. 27).
February gets under way with a three-game road swing to Wichita State (Feb. 2), Southern Illinois (Feb. 8) and Evansville (Feb. 10). The Lady Bears follow that stretch with a pair of home games against Bradley (Feb. 14) and UNI (Feb. 16) before hitting the road again. MSU heads to Terre Haute, Ind., on Feb. 21, to take on Indiana State, then heads west to Normal, Ill., for its final road contest of the season against Illinois State (Feb. 24).
The Lady Bears have the luxury of closing out the conference season with three consecutive home games, beginning with a March 1 matchup against Wichita State. Drake (March 6) and Creighton (March 8) will then come calling to close out the regular season and bring down the curtain at Hammons.
In 2008, the State Farm MVC Tournament will move to a neutral site for the first time in its 16-year history. The 10-team tournament will be held at Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo., beginning with two opening-round games on Thursday, March 13, and concluding with the championship game on Sunday, March 16.
The 2008 NCAA Women’s Final Four will be played at St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla., April 6 and 8.
 
