The Missouri State Lady Bears (9-15 overall, 7-6 MVC) will play their final two road contests of the 2007-08 regular season this week, beginning with a 6 p.m. (CST) matchup with the Indiana State Sycamores (10-12, 4-8) Thursday (Feb. 21) at Hulman Center in Terre Haute, Ind.

Missouri State picked up a pair of key home victories last week to gain sole possession of fifth place in the Missouri Valley Conference standings. On Thursday (Feb. 14) the Lady Bears led by 21 points at the half before holding on for a 73-66 win over Bradley. Saturday’s (Feb. 16) game with UNI was never close following a 21-1 Missouri State run in the first half, as the Lady Bears cruised to a 17-point victory.

Thursday’s tilt will be broadcast locally in Springfield on KTXR 101.3 FM. The contest will also be televised live on Mediacom (MCC-14). Live stats for the contest will be available at Indiana State’s athletics website, www.gosycamores.com.

Last Time Out: The Lady Bears turned in a solid defensive effort and their best shooting performance from beyond the three-point arc this season to cruise to a 73-56 victory over UNI Saturday in Springfield. MSU connected on 13-of-24 (.542) attempts from three-point range while limiting the Panthers to just .346 shooting from the field.

Playing on a sprained left ankle, senior guard Tahnee Balerio led four Lady Bears in double figures with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Balerio went 3-of-5 from long range, including two big treys during MSU’s decisive first-half run. She also handed out a game-high five assists and recorded a career-high two blocks. The Lady Bears got a big game from Tiffany Coppage as well. The junior guard tallied a career-high 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting from three-point range.

Missouri State wasted little time in taking control of the contest, using a 21-1 scoring burst to build an 18-point lead midway through the first half. After UNI’s Jacqui Kalin scored the first points of the game on a jumper at the 18:43 mark, MSU reeled off the next 17 points and held the Panthers without a field goal for eight and-a-half minutes. Two Maggie Dwyer free throws with 10:17 to play in the half capped the run and gave the Lady Bears a 21-3 lead.

The Lady Bears knocked down 8-of-16 tries from three-point range and led by as many as 19 points in the first half. Coppage buried four of her five triples on the day in the opening period, the last of which gave MSU a 34-15 advantage with 3:12 to go in the half.

Despite shooting just 30.8 percent from the floor in the game’s first 20 minutes, UNI scored the last seven points of the half to cut the margin to 36-24 at the break.

The Panthers trimmed their deficit to 10 points after Nicole Clausen sank a pair of free throws on their first possession of the second half. But Missouri State came right back with six straight points, as Balerio converted a three-point play and Marisha Brown drilled a trey on the following trip down the floor to push the Lady Bear lead back to 16.

UNI would get no closer than 12 points the rest of the way, as the Panthers struggled to connect from long range. After hitting just 1-of-10 first-half three-point attempts, UNI fared little better in the second period, shooting .222 (2-of-9) from beyond the arc.

The Coaches: Nyla Milleson (Kansas State, ’85) is 9-15 in her first season as the head coach at Missouri State and 194-51 overall. The Goodland, Kan., native led Drury University to a 185-36 mark 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 and advanced 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.

Milleson is 0-1 against Indiana State following the Sycamores’ 78-55 win in Springfield on Jan. 27.

Jim Wiedie (Kent State, ’88) is in his eighth season guiding the Sycamores and overall as a collegiate head coach, having compiled a 137-89 record.

In 2005-06, Wiedie was named MVC Coach of the Year for a second time after leading ISU to the first outright MVC title in school history. The Sycamores earned their third trip to the postseason in four years after cruising through MVC play with a 16-2 record.

In 18 games against Missouri State, Wiedie’s teams have gone 5-13 and are 3-4 in games played at Hulman Center.

Series Record: Missouri State leads the series with Indiana State, 40-13, and has taken 18 of the last 23 meetings. The Lady Bears are 16-9 all-time versus the Sycamores in Terre Haute. Last season MSU shot a season-high .509 from the floor and hit 12-of-22 from three-point range to defeat ISU, 83-76 at Hulman Center (1/11/07).

In their first meeting of the 2007-08 season with ISU (Jan. 27), the Lady Bears struggled offensively throughout the afternoon, hitting just 8-of-33 (.242) field goal attempts and turning the ball over 12 times in the first 20 minutes of the game to give the visitors an opening to take control of the contest. Indiana State shot just under 52 percent from the field and Angela Phillips handed out nine assists and went 6-of-11 from three-point range to tally a game-high 20 points in the 78-55 ISU win.

Scouting Indiana State: Returning four starters and 10 letterwinners from last year’s 19-11 club that went 12-6 in the Valley, the Sycamores are led by 6-2 post Laura Rudolphi (14.5 ppg./5.5 rpg.), who leads the Valley in blocks (1.9 per game), ranks fourth in the conference in scoring and 10th in rebounding. ISU’s perimeter trio of senior Angela Phillips (12.2 ppg./4.3 apg.), junior Leah Phillips (6.0 ppg./38.3 3FG%) and sophomore Kelsey Luna (12.3 ppg./34.6 3FG%) combine to make the Sycamores a constant threat to score from long range. In addition to shooting 36 percent from beyond the three-point arc, Angela Phillips is fourth in the MVC in assists per game, while Luna leads the Valley in three-point field goals made (2.6 per game).

The Sycamores are 6-3 at home this season, but enter Thursday’s game on a three-game losing streak. ISU’s 67.5 ppg. average ranks fourth in the MVC, but the Sycamores are allowing 70.6 points per outing, which is next-to-last in the league. One of the top free throw shooting clubs in the circuit, Indiana State has connected on just under 76 percent of its foul shots. The Sycamores have been susceptible on the boards, as their -5.0 rebound margin ranks last in the Valley.

Getting Offensive: In the Lady Bears’ nine wins this season, they have put up impressive numbers in several offensive categories. Missouri State has scored 70 points or more in each of their victories and has shot .468 from the field, including .447 from beyond the three-point arc. The Lady Bears have also averaged 9.3 three-point field goals per outing, connected on 76.5 percent of their free throw attempts and outscored their opponents 130 to 90 from the foul line. Perhaps most impressive, MSU has scored an average of 77.1 points per game while limiting the opposition to just 63.6, for a +13.5 point scoring differential. On an individual basis, Maggie Dwyer has averaged 17.4 points, while Tahnee Balerio has shot .545 from three-point range in those contests.

Second-Half Surge: The Lady Bears’ offensive turnaround over their last 12 contests is remarkable on several different levels. MSU has outscored its opponents 71.2 to 69.1 points per game in going 7-5 over that stretch, shooting 41.2 percent from the floor, including 39.3 percent from three-point range. The Lady Bears have also converted 74.5 percnt of their free throws in their last 12 outings. In contrast, MSU went 2-10 over the first 12 games of the season, shooting 34.8 percent from the field, 30.5 percent from beyond the arc and just 66.1 percent from the foul line. MSU has committed an average of 2.2 fewer turnovers, recorded 2.4 more assists and 1.8 more steals per game compared to the first half of the season.

On an individual level, Missouri State’s senior captains Balerio and Tiff Terwelp have stepped up their respective games during the second half of the season. Balerio is averaging 15.3 ppg., 5.1 apg. and is shooting 46 percent from three-point range, compared to 10.5 ppg., 3.9 apg. and a 22.6 3FG% over the first 12 games of the season. Terwelp’s numbers have also taken off, as the 6-2 forward has registered seven of her eight double-doubles on the year in the last 12 contests. She has hit 34-of-42 (.810) free throw attempts after starting the season just 11-of-23 (.478) from the foul line.

Busby Sidelined: Sophomore guard Melissa Busby will be forced to miss the remainder of the 2007-08 season with a knee injury. The Edmond, Okla., product sustained ligament damage to her right knee early in the second half of Thursday (Feb. 14) night’s 73-66 win over Bradley. The Lady Bears’ fourth-leading scorer, Busby had seen action in all 23 contests this season, starting the last 15. She was averaging 7.6 points per game while shooting .354 from three-point range.

200 in the Valley: The Lady Bears 78-58 win at Southern Illinois (Feb. 8) represented their 200th Missouri Valley Conference regular-season victory. Since joining the MVC in 1992, the Lady Bears now have a league-best 202-77 record in conference play and have won at least a share of eight regular-season titles and seven conference tournaments. MSU’s conference win total is 16 victories better than Drake’s 186 wins, which is the second-highest count in the circuit.

Winkfield part of 2008 Hall of Fame Class: Six new members of the Missouri State Athletics Hall of Fame were inducted last Saturday (Feb. 16), including former Lady Bear Secelia Winkfield, who was an integral part of Missouri State’s extended NCAA tournament run in the early 1990s under coach Cheryl Burnett. A native of the Kansas City area, Winkfield was the eighth player in Lady Bears’ history to record 1,000 career points, and, 15 years later, she remains in 13th place on the all-time scoring list with 1,333 points. Winkfield remains in the Missouri State all-time top 10 in games played (123), field goals (547), attempts (1,119) and is still fourth in assists (455) and third in steals (302). She led the team in rebounding and assists one year each and in steals twice. Winkfield played on teams which reached the NCAA second round in 1991, the NCAA Final Four in 1992 and the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1993. She was a Kodak all-district choice and Kodak All-America honorable mention as a senior, a two-time all-Gateway selection, and Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year her final season. She was in the Pan American games in 1991 and was one of nine Missouri State players selected to the MVC all-centennial team in 2007.

A Look At The Numbers: Several Lady Bears rank among the Missouri Valley Conference’s statistical leaders through the first 24 games of the season. In addition to Tiff Terwelp (8.9 rpg.) being the league’s leading rebounder, Maggie Dwyer (14.5 ppg.) is third in the league in scoring. Tahnee Balerio ranks second in the conference in assists (4.8 apg.), fifth in three-point field goal percentage (.442), 10th in minutes played (32.4 per game) and is seventh in scoring (14.5 ppg.) during MVC play.

As a team Missouri State is fourth in the Valley in scoring offense (69.0 ppg.), second in three-point field goal percentage (.377), third in total rebounds (39.5) and steals (7.9) and fifth in free throw percentage (.751) during MVC play. Overall, MSU is third in three-point field goal percentage (.346) and first in three-pointers made (7.0) per game.

Century Mark for Terwelp, Balerio: Terwelp played in her 100th career contest for Missouri State at Oral Roberts (Dec. 15). In MSU’s Feb. 10 loss at Evansville, the Quincy, Ill., product made the 100th start of her Lady Bear career. Terwelp has started 42 consecutive games for MSU, dating back to January of last year.

Balerio also reached the 100-game plateau for her MSU career in the Lady Bears’ Jan. 6 loss at Creighton, becoming the 35th player in MSU history to top the century mark in games played.

Double Trouble: Terwelp notched her fourth-straight point-rebound double-double in MSU’s loss at Evansville (Feb. 10) with an 11-point, 11-rebound performance. The Valley’s leading rebounder, Terwelp is averaging a double-double in conference play (11.0 ppg./10.2 rpg.). This marks the second time in Terwelp’s MSU career that she has posted four double-doubles in-a-row. Last season she also accomplished the feat as part of a stretch where she recorded doubles in six of eight contests. Terwelp just missed her fifth straight double-double Feb. 14 against Bradley when she pulled down 13 boards and tallied nine points. She fell one point and three steals short of recording just the second triple-double in the history of the MSU program in the 73-66 victory.

A Lady Bear has finished in double figures in rebounding in 17 of MSU’s last 22 contests. Four different players have posted double-digit rebound games in that span, and three of those have registered point-rebound double-doubles, including Terwelp (vs. Arkansas State, Creighton, Southern Illinois (twice), Bradley, Indiana State, Wichita State and Evansville), Jacque Griggs (vs. UALR) and Dwyer (vs. Tulsa and Western Kentucky). In all, nine Lady Bears have established new single-game rebounding highs so far in 2007-08.

Climbing the Charts: Balerio moved past Tara Mitchem into the No. 14 spot on MSU’s career scoring chart with her 18-point effort vs. UNI Saturday (Feb. 16).

Terwelp also broke into the top 30 when she scored her 731st career point vs. DePaul (Dec. 2) to move past Meg Tierney for the 30th spot. Terwelp surpassed the 800-point mark for her MSU career in the Lady Bears’ win over Southern Illinois (Jan. 12) and passed four former MSU standouts with her nine-point effort vs. Bradley (Feb. 14) to move into sole possession of the No. 21 spot on the chart. She needs just two points to surpass the 900 career scoring mark.

Balerio moved onto yet another Missouri State career top 10 list with her two free throw attempts at SIU (Feb. 8). She enters Thursday’s game with 373 career attempts from the charity stripe. She also continued her ascent up the MSU all-time assist and three-point field goal lists against UNI (Feb. 16); she handed out her 386th career assist to tie Jenni Lingor for the fifth-highest total at MSU and went 3-of-5 from three-point range. She reached the No. 5 spot on the three-point field goal attempts chart with 407 for her MSU career. Balerio is currently seventh on the Lady Bears’ three-point field goals made chart (130) and needs nine more treys to catch K.C. Cowgill in the sixth spot with 139 career threes.

Balerio Tops 1,000-Point Plateau: Tahnee Balerio became the 19th player in school history to join the 1,000-point club with her 16-point performance Jan. 12 vs. Southern Illinois, knocking down a pair of free throws with 9:26 left in the game to reach the 1,000 career scoring mark. Sarah Klaassen was the last Lady Bear to accomplish the feat, surpassing the mark in MSU’s win over Drake in the quarterfinal round of the 2006 State Farm MVC Tournament.

More Charting: Tiff Terwelp broke into MSU’s career rebounding top 10 with her 14-board effort in MSU’s Jan. 4 loss at Drake. She passed LaTanya Davis (648) for the No. 10 spot on, then climbed all the way to No. 8 with her 17-rebound performance in a 79-73 overtime loss at Creighton (Jan. 6), passing both Sandy Meyer (661) and Karen Rapier (666). With her 14 rebounds at Bradley Jan. 19, Terwelp passed Kelly Mago (696) and Jenni Lingor (699) to become just the sixth Lady Bear to score 800 points and grab 700 rebounds. Terwelp also moved onto MSU’s career blocked shot chart, climbing to No. 7 on the list with her 52nd career rejection vs. UNI (Feb. 16.

On this Date in Lady Bears History: February 21, 2004 - Missouri State 89, Southern Illinois 35 - Missouri State handed SIU its worst loss in school history as the Lady Bears won their 18th straight home game. Stephanie Busbey led MSU with a career-high 23 points on 10-for-13 shooting from the floor. The Lady Bears, who forced 28 SIU turnovers in all, used a 24-3 scoring run late in the first half to take a 51-17 lead into the break and never looked back.

Streak’s Over: MSU’s 78-55 win over UNI on Jan. 17 put the brakes on a school-record 15-game road losing streak that included nine road losses in-a-row in regular season conference play, dating back to January of last season. The Lady Bears’ four-game MVC win streak was their first during regular-season conference play since the 2004-05 season. Also, MSU’s two-game road win streak was its first in conference play since winning at Creighton and Drake in February 2005.

On the Record: Illinois State’s Maggie Krick added another update to the Missouri State record book (Jan. 25), tying the single-game record for three-point field goals made by a Lady Bear opponent with seven triples. She matched the mark shared by Texas’s Danielle Viglione (3/16/96) and Canisius’s Amanda Cavo, who equaled the mark just over one month ago in MSU’s 97-89 win over the Griffins in Springfield.

In the Crunch: The Lady Bears’ came away with victories over Evansville (1/10) and Southern Illinois (1/12) thanks in large part to big second-half efforts in each contest. As a team Missouri State shot just under 52 percent from the floor (27-of-52) in the combined second periods of the two games to outscore the Purple Aces and Salukis by a +12.5 margin. MSU also came through with solid defensive efforts in each game, holding its two opponents to identical 8-of-29 (.276) shooting performances from three-point range that included a combined second-half showing of 7-of-30 (.233) from beyond the arc.

Dwyer Honored Again: After leading the Missouri State Lady Bears to back-to-back road victories over UNI and Bradley, junior forward Maggie Dwyer has earned her second consecutive Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Week honor and her fourth overall in 2007-08, the league office announced Jan. 21.

A 6-1 forward from Grand Haven, Mich., Dwyer played a pivotal role in Missouri State wins over UNI and Bradley, converting 69 percent of her second-half field goal attempts and shooting .538 from the field in all, while averaging 16.5 points to help the Lady Bears pick up their first two road victories of the season. Against UNI on Jan. 17, the Grand Haven, Mich., native went 4-of-4 from the floor in the second half and totaled 14 points, three rebounds and two assists in a 78-55 MSU win that snapped a 15-game road losing streak.

With the score knotted at 42-42 Jan. 19 at Bradley, Dwyer scored eight of the next 10 MSU points to help spark a 28-10 scoring run that ultimately netted the Lady Bears’ fourth win in-a-row. She scored 12 of her game-high 19 points in the second half, grabbed two boards and handed out a pair of assists in the 70-55 victory.

Dwyer, who was also tabbed for the same honor on Dec. 10, Dec. 26 and Jan. 14, became the first Lady Bear to earn four weekly awards in a season since Jackie Stiles was named MVC Player of the Week seven times in 2000-01.

Windex Woman: Tiff Terwelp has been the Lady Bears top rebounder in each of the past two seasons, and currently leads the Valley in rebounding with an average of 8.9 boards per game. Over the first 13 games of the conference season, Terwelp has recorded nine double-figure rebound games and averaged a point-rebound double-double (11.0 ppg./10.2 rpg.).

Earlier this season, Terwelp cleaned the glass to the tune of 18 rebounds in the loss at ASU. That effort matched single-game performances by Lynn Strubberg (1/28/83 at Northwest Missouri St.) and Roshonda Reed (1/16/99 at Indiana St.) for the third-highest rebound total in MSU history. Terwelp’s previous career-high of 16 boards came in a 70-51 loss at Tulsa in December 2006.

The Quincy, Ill., product nearly equaled that effort at Creighton (Jan. 6) when she pulled down 17 rebounds.

Holding Aces: Missouri State’s first Missouri Valley Conference win of the season, a 76-65 victory over Evansville on Jan. 10, snapped a streak of five straight losses in MVC regular-season play and six in-a-row against Valley opponents, including last season’s loss to Bradley in the State Farm MVC Tournament.

The victory over the Purple Aces gave head coach Nyla Milleson her first career MVC win and was the Lady Bears’ first victory in an MVC home opener since defeating Evansville (1/6/05) at the start of the 2004-05 conference season. It also prevented the third straight 0-3 start to an MVC season for Missouri State.

Instant O: After averaging just 57.8 points per game in their first eight contests of the season, the Lady Bears scored 176 points combined against Oral Roberts (Dec. 15) and Canisius (Dec. 21). That figure represents the best two-game scoring total for MSU since December 2004, when the Lady Bears knocked off Saint Louis (86-56) and Eastern Kentucky (91-81) in succession. Additionally, MSU’s 97 points vs. Canisius represented the highest point total by a Lady Bear club since a 107-53 win over Evansville on March 8, 2003.

Valley Openers: With their loss at Drake on Jan. 4, the Lady Bears are now 11-5 in Missouri Valley Conference openers and 18-7 overall in conference openers since formal competition began in the Gateway in 1983. The defeat was MSU’s largest loss in MVC regular-season play since an 84-47 setback at Creighton six years ago (1/6/02).With its Jan. 6 overtime loss at Creighton, MSU started conference play 0-2 for the third consecutive season.

Preseason Picks: Missouri State was picked to finish seventh in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll of coaches, media and sports information directors. The Lady Bears received 136 points, while preseason favorite Drake received 24 of 40 first-place votes and 348 total points

For the History Books: The Lady Bears’ 96-79 loss at Oral Roberts (Dec. 15) will be remembered for several significant individual performances that left their mark on the Missouri State record book. Melissa Busby’s six treys matched seven other performances by a Lady Bear for the 10th-most three-point field goals made in a single game. Melody Howard (twice), Tina Robbins (12/5/93 at Iowa), Jackie Stiles (twice) and Kari Koch (twice) also buried six triples in a game for MSU.

Tahnee Balerio’s seven steals marked a new career high for the senior point guard and equaled the single-game efforts of 13 other Lady Bears for the seventh-best all-time performance in school history. Additionally, Balerio’s 12 assists matched her career best in that category (2/23/06 vs. Creighton) and ranks as the No. 10 single-game total, along with 11 other such performances by MSU players.

Welcome Wagon: Nyla Milleson and her staff have received four commitments to join the Lady Bears in 2008 during the November early signing period. Local products Lacey Boshe (Marshfield, Mo.) and Casey Garrison (Bolivar, Mo.) will be joined by a pair of Texas prep standouts, Jasmine Malone (San Antonio) and Regan Soldner (Southlake) in the class of 2008.

For Openers: With their 92-55 loss at #22 Texas, the Lady Bears are now 20-19 all-time in season openers and have dropped their last four contests on opening night. The 37-point setback is the largest margin of defeat in a MSU season opener since the Lady Bears lost a 43-point decision (94-51) at Arkansas to start the 1985-86 season. It is also MSU’s worst loss since Jan. 6, 2002, when it fell by an 84-47 score at Creighton.

This season marks the fifth year in-a-row Missouri State has played its first game away from Hammons Student Center. Last year, MSU lost to Iowa, 79-70, in its season opener after dropping the first game of 2005-06 at Arkansas State and its 2004-05 opener at Richmond.

MSU vs. Ranked Opponents: With its 80-48 loss at #17 DePaul on Dec. 2, Missouri State dropped to 0-2 vs. ranked opponents on the season. The Lady Bears are now 19-36 all-time versus ranked opponents and have lost 10 straight against top 25 teams.

Missouri State’s last win over a ranked foe came against Gail Goestenkors’ fifth-ranked Duke Blue Devils in the 2001 NCAA West Regional semifinal (3/24/01).

MSU’s season opener at #22 Texas was the Lady Bears’ first opener versus a ranked opponent since the 2000-01 season when they defeated #10 LSU, 85-75. MSU is 2-2 all-time versus ranked teams in season openers.

Lady Bear Captains: Senior Tahnee Balerio, senior Tiff Terwelp and junior Tiffany Coppage will serve as tri-captains for the 2007-08 season. This marks the second year in a row Balerio and Terwelp have been selected Lady Bear captains.

If You Build It They Will Come: The Lady Bears are playing their 32nd and final season in Hammons Student Center in 2007-08. Missouri State broke ground on the $67 million JQH Arena on Dec. 21, 2006 and the new 11,000-seat arena is slated for completion in time for the start of the 2008-09 basketball season. Last year the Lady Bears drew 81,349 fans, or an average of 5,424 per contest, good for 18th in the nation. Missouri State has ranked in the top 20 nationally in average attendance in each of the last 17 seasons, including 1992-93 when the Lady Bears led all of Division I in that category.

Home Sweet Hammons: The Lady Bears are 325-107 (.752) at home since HSC opened in 1976-77. MSU has had 24 winning seasons, four losing campaigns and three seasons at .500 at HSC. The Lady Bears have gone undefeated at HSC six times (1989-90, 1991-92, 1993-94, 1995-96, 2000-01, 2003-04). From Dec. 18, 1990 to Dec. 27, 1992 the Lady Bears won 30 consecutive games at Hammons Student Center. MSU also had a 24-game winning streak dating from Feb. 15, 2003 before falling at home to #1 LSU in December of 2004. Over the last 18 seasons, Missouri State has averaged more than 13 wins per season and fewer than three losses in that same time. Missouri State has ranked in the top 15 nationally in attendance for 15 of the last 17 seasons and has been in the top 10 in 11 of those years.

Missouri State All-Time: Missouri State is in its 39th season of women’s collegiate basketball and has an all-time record of 662-451 (.595) for a total of 1,113 games. MSU began formal competition in 1969 and has now posted 26 winning seasons and made 13 NCAA Tournament appearances. The Lady Bears advanced to the Final Four in 1992 and 2001 and the Sweet Sixteen in 1993.

Missouri State Postseason Run: One or both of the MSU basketball teams have made postseason appearances in each of the last 22 years.

With last year’s 7-21 finish, the Lady Bears missed the postseason for the first time since the 1996-97 season. The MSU women have seen postseason action in nine of the past 10 years and in 15 out of the last 17 seasons, dating back to the 1990-91 campaign.