Game Overview

The Missouri State Lady Bears will be shooting for their fourth consecutive victory when they open the 2008-09 Missouri Valley Conference season with a 7:05 p.m. match-up against the University of Northern Iowa Panthers Friday (Jan. 2) evening at JQH Arena. MSU will also be looking to continue its home-court dominance of UNI, having taken 26 out of the 28 meetings between the two clubs in Springfield.

    After knocking off UALR in their last home game on December 14, the Lady Bears played their best basketball of the season in defeating Stephen F. Austin and Chattanooga on consecutive days in the Caribbean Classic in Cancun, Mexico. MSU enjoyed its best shooting performance of the year in the 77-68 win over Chattanooga (Dec. 20) to give head coach Nyla Milleson her 200th career victory.

    UNI will be looking to stop a streak of its own Friday. The Panthers have dropped seven straight games following a 13-point home loss to No. 24 South Dakota State on Monday.

 

Quick Hits

Missouri State is 18-7 overall in conference openers since formal competition began in the Gateway in 1983, but has dropped three straight MVC openers; MSU is 2-0 versus UNI in such games

The Lady Bears will be trying for their first four-game win streak since January 2008

MSU’s four non-conference wins represented their best out-of-conference showing since the 2005-06 season when they went 5-4 during the non-conference season

 

Last Time Out

The Lady Bears picked up their third consecutive victory Dec. 20 with a 77-68 win over the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to wrap up a perfect two-game stay in Cancun, Mexico, and close out the non-conference portion of their schedule. Freshman guard Casey Garrison’s 24-point effort led all scorers, as the Lady Bears posted a season-best shooting performance for the second consecutive day at the Moon Palace Resort.

    Garrison, who also registered five rebounds, four assists and three steals, finished the afternoon 10-of-17 from the floor, while three other Lady Bears also notched double-digit scoring days. Maggie Dwyer and Jacque Griggs each contributed 12 points to the MSU attack, and Jaleshia Roberson chipped in 10 to go along with four assists.

    Missouri State’s .500 shooting afternoon narrowly eclipsed its 49.1 percent effort from the field posted in its 82-63 victory over Stephen F. Austin the previous afternoon. The Lady Bears, who improved to 4-7, buried season-highs of 28 field goals and seven three-pointers in all. 

    The strong offensive showing came on the heels of a rough start to the contest, as the Lady Bears struggled to find an offensive rhythm early, missing their first three shots from the field and failing to put any points on the board until the 15:31 mark when Garrison knocked down a 15-foot pull-up jumper.

    Chattanooga meanwhile came out firing, as the Lady Mocs’ Erin Ogan converted her first three tries from the floor to help stake UTC to an early 9-0 advantage. But Garrison’s basket sparked a 15-5 spurt over a four and-a-half minute stretch that gave MSU its first lead of the afternoon. Chattanooga would respond by scoring 10 of the next 14 points, including six straight from junior forward Shanara Hollinquest, to reclaim a five-point lead.

    Missouri State then went to work from long range, using a trio of three-point baskets to spark a 21-6 outburst to close out the half. Garrison’s triple at the 7:02 mark started the run and her second three with 4:47 to play gave MSU a lead it would never relinquish. Garrison would add two more baskets before the end of the half to help the Lady Bears push their lead to as many as 11 before settling for a 40-30 cushion heading into the locker room.

    Griggs opened the second half on a strong note, scoring the Lady Bears first six points to extend the lead to 12 points. After the Lady Mocs managed to trim the deficit to 50-40 with 14:34 to play, Missouri State again went to its long-distance shooters to provide some breathing room. Melissa Busby was successful on the second of her three treys on the day at the 14:13 mark, and Roberson canned her second three with just over 12 minutes left as part of a 14-5 spurt that would culminate in a 64-45 advantage when Dwyer completed an old-fashioned three-pointer with 10:30 to go.

    Chattanooga would never get any closer than the nine-point final margin, as the Lady Bears were once again solid from the foul line, converting 8-of-11 second-half charity tosses and 14-of-19 (.737) from the stripe for the game.

    Ogan led UTC (8-5) with 16 points and was one of two Lady Mocs to post double-doubles, finishing with 10 rebounds as well. Hollinquest totaled 14 points, 13 boards, four assists and three steals.

 

The Coaches

Nyla Milleson (Kansas State, ’85) is in her second season as the head coach at Missouri State with a 15-26 mark as the Lady Bears’ mentor and an overall record of 200-62 in eight-plus years as a collegiate head coach. Milleson entered the 2008-09 season as the 24th-winningest active coach (.7809 win percentage) at all NCAA levels with at least five years head coaching experience. She led the Lady Bears to an 11-19 mark and a fifth-place Missouri Valley Conference finish in 2007-08. Prior to taking the reins of the MSU program, the Goodland, Kan., native guided Drury University to a 185-36 record in seven seasons, highlighted by a national runner-up finish in 2003-04. In all, the Lady Panthers made five NCAA Division II Tournament appearances, advancing to the Sweet 16 in four of those years. Milleson was honored as Heartland Conference Coach of the Year four times, as Drury won five conference titles in all. (See page 7 for a complete bio)

 

Tanya Warren (Creighton, 88) is 15-26 in her second season as both coach of the Panthers and overall as a collegiate head coach. A Des Moines, Iowa, native, Warren led UNI to a 13-18 mark and sixth-place finish in the Valley last year in her rookie campaign in Cedar Falls. Warren came back to UNI in the spring of 2007 after spending the previous three seasons as associate head coach at her alma mater. She served as an assistant on Tony DiCecco’s UNI staff from 1995-2001, then spent three seasons at Missouri before returning to Creighton in 2004.

Series Record

Friday’s game will be the 57th renewal of the rivalry between the Lady Bears and Panthers, with Missouri State holding a commanding 43-13 lead in the series.

    The Lady Bears have taken four of the last five games in the series, including a pair of lopsided victories last year. MSU bested UNI by a 78-55 score Jan. 17 in Cedar Falls, then ran away with a 73-56 win in the final meeting of the two schools in Hammons Student Center on Feb. 16.

 

Scouting UNI

UNI has dropped seven straight games after falling to No. 24 South Dakota State in Cedar Falls on Monday. The Panthers won two of their first three contests before a 71-63 setback at Nevada on Nov. 28 started their current skid. Second-year head coach Tanya Warren has seen her club beset by a rash of injuries in the season’s first month. The Panthers have been operating without the services of 2008 MVC Freshman of the Year Jacqui Kalin, who suffered an ankle injury and has not seen the court since Dec. 6.

    Junior guard Nicole Clausen has shouldered the brunt of the offensive load for the Panthers, entering Monday’s action with a 12.1 ppg. average and the fourth-best three-point shooting percentage in the Valley (.458). UNI’s top rebounder and third-leading scorer, junior forward Kim Wypiszynski has contributed 8.0 points and 6.1 boards per game to the Panthers’ cause in her debut campaign following her transfer from UW-Milwaukee. Freshman guard K.K. Armstrong has filled in admirable for Kalin at the point, chipping in 9.3 points and a team-high 3.3 assists per contest.

    As a team, UNI has struggled to put the ball in the basket, entering the week with the MVC’s worst scoring offense (56.8 ppg.), scoring margin (-11.2) and field goal percentage (.344).

 

Lady Bears vs. UNI

In MSU’s two victories over the Panthers in 2007-08, the Lady Bears torched the nets from long range, going 23-of-44 (.523) from three-point range. Maggie Dwyer averaged 12.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.0 steals while converting 9-of-12 field goal attempts, including a perfect 2-of-2 from three-point range in those two contests. Tiffany Coppage enjoyed a solid shooting performance against the Panthers last year as well, going 5-of-11 on threes.

    Melissa Busby has also fared well against UNI, shooting 50 percent (6-of-12) from beyond the arc while scoring 9.0 points, 4.7 boards and 3.0 steals per outing in three career games. Roxy Stiles is the most-experienced Lady Bear vs. UNI, making four career appearances and averaging 6.5 points on 4-fo-8 shooting from three-point range.

 

Valley Openers

The Lady Bears are 11-5 overall in Missouri Valley Conference openers and 18-7 overall in conference openers since formal competition began in the Gateway in 1983.

    Friday’s matchup will be the third time Missouri State and UNI have opened a conference season against one another, with the Lady Bears taking the previous two such meetings. MSU claimed the very first Gateway opener with an 81-58 victory in Cedar Falls on Jan. 4, 1984, then bested the Panthers again on their home court by a 73-62 score to christen the 1988-89 conference season, exactly 20 years ago from the date of Friday’s contest.

 

Preseason Picks

Missouri State was picked to finish sixth in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll of coaches, media and sports information directors. The Lady Bears received 215 points to finish behind Illinois State, Creighton, Drake, Evansville and UNI.

    Illinois State became the fourth team in MVC history to be a unanimous selection as the preseason No. 1 team and the first since 2001-02 when Drake received all 37 votes from the panel. The other two unanimous choices were the 1986-87 and 1987-88 Southern Illinois squads.

    Senior forward Maggie Dwyer was named to the league’s preseason all-conference team after earning second-team honors last season. The Grand Haven, Mich., native was also named MVC Newcomer of the Year in 2007-08, her first with MSU after transferring from Michigan State.

 

Back In Business

In going 9-9 in the MVC last season, the Lady Bears posted their first .500 finish in conference play since the 2004-05 campaign. Missouri State won at least 11 conference games in each of its first 13 years in the league, capturing eight regular-season crowns before falling to 7-11 in 2005-06 and finishing 10th at 3-15 in 2006-07.

 

200 For Milleson

MSU second-year head coach Nyla Milleson recorded her 200th career victory at the collegiate level with the Lady Bears’ 77-68 win over Chattanooga (Dec. 20) at the Caribbean Classic in Cancun, Mexico.

    Now 200-62 in her ninth year at the college level, Milleson came into the 2008-09 season as the 24th-winningest active collegiate coach at all levels with at least five years head coaching experience. Milleson also amassed a 187-77 overall record in 10 seasons as a high school coach, bringing her combined coaching record to 387-139 (.736) in 19 seasons.

 

Inside the Streak

During its current three-game win streak, Missouri State has gotten the job done on the offensive end, shooting 45.5 percent from the floor, including 39.5 percent from three-point range, and scoring 70.7 points per contest. The Lady Bears are also outrebounding the opposition by six boards per outing. Contrasting those numbers to figures from MSU’s first eight games of the season shows marked improvement in a number of statistical categories. The Lady Bears shot .356 overall and .213 from beyond the arc as a team and averaged just 58.5 points during that period while posting a -5.0 rebound per game margin.

    Fast starts have played key roles in MSU’s recent success, particularly in wins over SFA and Chattanooga, where the Lady Bears owned a collective 21-point advantage in the first half.

    On an individual level, MSU has received balanced offensive production, as five players are averaging eight points or more during the three-game stretch. Casey Garrison is scoring at a 16.3 ppg. clip, while fellow freshmen Lacey Boshe (8.0 ppg.) and Jaleshia Roberson (10.3 ppg./3.0 apg.) are both shooting over 50 percent from the floor. Perhaps the biggest difference for MSU has been the return to form of 2008
All-MVC performer Maggie Dwyer, who has averaged 11.0 points and a team-high 8.0 rebounds per game during the streak. The Lady Bears senior forward contributed 5.9 points and 3.5 rebounds per outing while shooting just 24.5 percent from the floor in MSU’s first eight games of the season.

 

Free and Easy

After converting just 64.9 percent of their free throw attempts in the season’s first six contests, the Lady Bears have heated up from the charity stripe over their last five outings. MSU has knocked down 99-of-133 (.744) free throws, outscoring the opposition by 46 points at the foul line over the five-game stretch.

 

Bombs Away

The Lady Bears have connected from three-point range a minimum of three times in nine of their 11 games this season and have hit at least one triple in 29 consecutive contests dating back to a 72-42 loss at Drake on Jan. 4, 2008. Prior to their 0-of-10 showing in that game, the Lady Bears had a 36-game streak of at least one three going. Dating back to the 2001-02 season, MSU has hit at least one trifecta in 187 of 189 games, highlighted by a 129-game stretch where they connected at least once from long distance in each outing.

 

Home Sweet Home

Missouri State has won just two of its five games in JQH Arena thus far in 2008-09 but, over their recently-completed three-game home stand, the Lady Bears have shown signs that they are growing more comfortable in their new home. After averaging just 56 points per outing in their first two home dates, the Lady Bears put up 60.0 ppg. in losses to Western Kentucky and DePaul and a 53-49 win over UALR, while cutting their turnovers from 23 per game to 16.3 per contest. MSU has found its stroke from the foul line, knocking down 65-of-86 free throw attempts (.756) after hitting just 20-of-36 (.556) in its first two games at JQH. In the 77-70 loss to WKU (Dec. 7), MSU heated up to knock down a season-high 24 field goals en route to its best offensive output of the year. 

 

Fab Frosh

For the 10th time in 11 games this season, a freshman led the Lady Bears in scoring in MSU’s 77-68 win over Chattanooga (Dec. 20). Casey Garrison totaled a game-high 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting in the victory over the Lady Mocs, and averaged 17.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists at the Caribbean Classic en route to earning her third MVC Newcomer of the Week honor.

    Four of the Lady Bears’ top five scorers are freshmen and, so far this season, six Missouri State rookies have accounted for nearly two-thirds of MSU’s offense overall and 77.7 percent of the Lady Bears’ offense in the five home dates. Garrison continues to pace the Missouri State offense, scoring at an 18.0 ppg. clip in JQH Arena, while Lacey Boshe is also scoring in double figures at home with a 10.0 ppg. average. Garrison and Jasmine Malone have combined to knock down 39-of-46 (.848) free throw attempts at home.                                          

    Two Missouri State freshman found their way into the Lady Bears’ starting lineup to open the season Nov. 14 at SEMO, marking the third straight year MSU has started a pair of freshmen in its season opener. Garrison and Malone each drew starting assignments versus SEMO, as six Lady Bear freshmen in all made their Missouri State debuts against the Redhawks. Morgan Harrington became the seventh MSU freshman to see court time when she made her first collegiate appearance at Tulsa (Nov. 19). Harrington has seen her playing time steadily increase after missing the season opener at SEMO while recovering from a high ankle sprain.

    Roberson and Boshe cracked the MSU starting lineup Nov. 23 versus Arkansas State, and combined with Garrison, Malone and fellow freshman Regan Soldner to total 53 of the Lady Bears’ 61 points.

 

Stealing the Show

Two Missouri State freshmen are among the Missouri Valley Conference’s leaders in steals per game and key factors in Missouri State’s rise to the top of the Valley’s team steals leaderboard. Casey Garrison enters conference play sixth in individual steals with a 2.1 spg. average, while fellow freshman guard Jasmine Malone (1.7) is tied for 10th.

    As a team Missouri State leads the Valley with a 9.7 spg. average in that same category.

 

“Q” Rating

After compiling a 325-108 record in Hammons Student Center over the last 32 seasons, the Lady Bears dedicated their new $67 million home facility, JQH Arena, Nov. 23, with a 61-52 win over Arkansas State.                                               

    The “Q” is the fourth regular home of Missouri State women’s basketball in the 40-year history of the program. The Lady Bears utilized both McDonald Arena and the Greenwood Laboratory School gym from 1969 until Hammons Student Center opened in 1976. MSU continued to play some of its home games at McDonald through the 1979-80 season.

    The Lady Bears dropped their first game at Hammons to Iowa State by an 81-62 score on Dec. 11, 1976.

    Missouri State will be looking to add to its streak of 18 consecutive seasons ranked in the top 20 nationally in average attendance, which includes the 1992-93 campaign when the Lady Bears led all of Division I in that category. Last year, MSU averaged 5,158 fans per home game, good for 20th in the nation.

    The Lady Bears’ new home was made possible by a $30 million gift from MSU alumnus John Q. Hammons and will feature seating for more than 11,000 fans, 24 suites, the PRIME Overtime Club and the Missouri State University Hall of Fame and Legacy of Competition.

 

Garrison Honored

Freshman Casey Garrison was named the Missouri Valley Conference’s Newcomer of the Week for the third time in 2008-09 on Dec. 22. The 5-11 guard led Missouri State to a pair of wins and its top two offensive performances of the 2008-09 season in the Caribbean Classic in Cancun, Mexico, Dec. 19-20.

    Garrison posted averages of 17.0 ppg., 4.5 rpg., 4.5 apg. and 1.5 spg. to help the Lady Bears close out the non-conference portion of the schedule on a three-game win streak. She led all scorers with 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field in a 77-68 win over Chattanooga (Dec. 20). Her three-pointer with 7:02 to play in the opening half started a 21-6 run and her second trey with 4:47 to go gave MSU a lead it would never relinquish. Garrison, who scored 18 points in the first half, would add two more baskets before the end of the period to help the Lady Bears take control of the game for good. The Bolivar, Mo., product would also finish with five rebounds, four assists and three steals.

    On Dec. 19, Garrison was one of five Lady Bears to finish in double figures with a 10-point, 5-assist, 4-rebound performance in an 82-63 victory over Stephen F. Austin.

Garrison was previously honored by the league office on Nov. 24 and again on Dec. 8 following her 33-point performance in MSU’s near-upset of Western Kentucky (Dec. 7) that represented the second-highest point total in school history for a Lady Bear freshman.

   

On this Date...

January 2, 1996   Missouri State 107, Evansville 48 Missouri State opened the conference season by turning in the fifth-highest point total in school history in routing the visiting Purple Aces. Six Lady Bears scored in double figures, led by Roshonda Reed’s career-high 27 points. Richelle Winn recorded her 300th career point and posted a double-double, while LaTanya Davis scored 14 first-half points and topped the 500 career point plateau. The Lady Bears’ 59-point margin of victory represented MSU’s most-lopsided home win in the 32-year history of Hammons Student Center.

 

Buzz Bounces Back

One positive that came from MSU’s loss at Tulsa (Nov. 19) was the successful return of junior guard Melissa Busby from a torn ACL that had sidelined her since Feb. 14. Busby went 4-of-15 from the floor to lead the Lady Bears with 13 points and recorded a game-high four steals in 21 minutes of court time.

    In that game, the Edmond, Okla., native moved into sole possession of the No. 10 spot on MSU’s all-time three-point field goals made list. She has dialed it up successfully from long distance 82 times in 54 career games entering this weekend’s action. Busby is also on the verge of moving onto the Lady Bears’ career Top 10 chart for three-point attempts. She enters Friday’s game with 237 tries from beyond the arc, which is just one attempt shy of Morgan Hohenberger in the No. 10 spot on the list.

 

Fall Harvest

The Lady Bears locked up four commitments for the 2009-10 season during the NCAA’s early signing period, which ended November 19. Whitney Edie (Exeter, Mo.), Kelsey Smith (Coppell, Texas), Christiana Shorter (Tulsa, Okla.) and Alyson Stock (Nixa, Mo.) have signed National Letters of Intent to join the Missouri State women’s basketball program for the Fall 2009 semester.

    Edie became the fourth and final member of the Lady Bears’ fall signing class Nov. 17. The 6-1 forward has already totaled more than 1,900 points and 1,000 rebounds for her high school career at Exeter High. Last year she averaged over 26 points and 12 boards per outing in helping Exeter to its first-ever district title in girl’s basketball. Edie has failed to reach double digits in scoring in just one of 81 games as a prep.

    Shorter helped lead Booker T. Washington High School to a 23-4 overall record and the Oklahoma Class 5A state title in 2007-08, averaging 10 points and five rebounds per contest. At 6-2, Shorter brings the versatility to play the post or step out to a wing spot where she can exploit her athleticism and ability to run the floor. She chose the Lady Bears over the likes of Wichita State, Oklahoma State, Tulsa and New Mexico State.

    Smith was a first-team All-District 6-5A selection last season after averaging 16.7 points, seven boards and four assists in helping Coppell High go 20-16. A versatile athlete with the strong passing and shooting abilities, Smith can play on the block as well as the perimeter, where she has the ability to stretch defenses with her shooting range.

    Stock averaged just under 10 points and four boards last season in her first year playing at Nixa High. The 6-3 post helped the Lady Eagles to a 19-8 record last year. Stock originally committed to the Lady Bears during her sophomore year at Salisbury (Mo.) High School, where she was an MBCA Class 2 All-State selection in 2006-07.

 

Bears Live and Lady Bears Gameday Guide

Throughout the 2008-09 season, Lady Bear basketball will be shown on Missouri State’s on-line video channel, Bears Live -- a new, premium broadband video destination for exclusive live and on-demand Missouri State streaming video and audio content. Fans wanting to watch Bears and Lady Bears basketball through the Bears Live feature can subscribe at www.missouristatebears.com.

    Missouri State fans who subscribe to the Bears Live video streaming service will be able to watch 22 men’s and 20 women’s basketball games live on their computer in 2008-09. All home games will be streamed with the exception of regionally and nationally televised games. 

    Links to live game stats (when available) and KTXR’s free, on-line broadcast of every Missouri State women’s basketball game can be found on the Lady Bears’ Gameday page located on the MSU Athletics Web site.

 

Lady Bear Captains

Seniors Jamie Adams, Tiffany Coppage and Maggie Dwyer will serve as tri-captains for the 2008-09 season. Coppage is a repeat choice to lead the team after filling the same role last year alongside seniors Tahnee Balerio and Tiff Terwelp.

 

Roster Refresh

The 2008-09 Lady Bears’ roster includes three seniors, two juniors, one sophomore and six freshmen. The 12-member group includes six returning letterwinners and six newcomers. The Lady Bears return two starters from last season, including All-MVC second-team forward Maggie Dwyer. Junior guard Melissa Busby and senior guard Tiffany Coppage also spent some time in MSU’s starting lineup in 2007-08. Other returnees include senior forward Jamie Adams, junior guard Roxy Stiles and sophomore forward Jacque Griggs. Newcomers include Lacey Boshe, Casey Garrison, Morgan Harrington, Jasmine Malone, Jaleshia Roberson and Regan Soldner. Junior guard Kendra Roberts will sit out the upcoming season after transferring to MSU from Arkansas.

 

On Standby

The Lady Bears will have to wait until the 2009-10 season to obtain the services of junior guard Kendra Roberts, who joined the Missouri State program in June after playing her first two collegiate campaigns at the University of Arkansas.

    Roberts will sit out this season per NCAA transfer guidelines and have two years of eligibility remaining.

 

Missouri State Postseason Run

One or both of the MSU basketball teams have made postseason appearances in all but one of the last 23 years. With last year’s 11-19 finish, the Lady Bears missed the postseason for just the second time since the 1996-97 season. The MSU women have seen postseason action in nine of the past 11 years and in 15 out of the last 18 seasons, dating back to the 1990-91 campaign.

 

Affiliation

Missouri State is in its 27th NCAA Division I season and 17th MVC year. MSU was in AIAW competition on the state, regional and national levels through the 1981-82 season, moved to Division I and Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference play in 1982-83 and started MVC competition in 1992-93 when the Gateway underwent a rebranding initiative.