The Missouri State Lady Bears (9-16 overall, 7-7 MVC) wrap up the road portion of the 2007-08 regular season Sunday with a 1:05 p.m. matchup with the league-leading Illinois State Redbirds (21-3, 11-2) at Redbird Arena in Normal, Ill.
Missouri State will be looking to rebound from a heartbreaking 86-77 overtime loss Thursday (Feb. 21) at Indiana State. The Lady Bears will come home to close out the regular season with the final three contests in Hammons Student Center, beginning with next Sunday’s (March 2) game against Wichita State.
Sunday’s game will be broadcast locally in Springfield on KTXR 101.3 FM. Live stats for the contest will be available at Illinois State’s athletics web site, www.goredbirds.com.
Last Time Out: Freshman Marisha Brown’s career-high 26-point wasn’t enough for Lady Bears, as Indiana State used strong performances from Angela Phillips and Laura Rudolphi down the stretch to pull out an 86-77 overtime victory Thursday (Feb. 21) evening in Terre Haute. Rudolphi totaled a game-high 27 points and Phillips forced overtime by hitting a pair of free throws with 6.5 seconds left in regulation, then scored eight points in the extra period to key the Sycamores’ victory.
Phillips and Rudolphi combined for 14 points in the overtime period, as ISU went 4-of-5 from the field and 9-of-10 from the foul line while limiting MSU to just 25 percent shooting. Rudolphi finished the night 12-of-18 from the floor to lead five Sycamores in double figures.
Missouri State, which began the day with a nine hour bus ride after its chartered flight was scrapped due to inclement weather, shook off the long haul with a strong start to the contest. The Lady Bears outscored ISU 18-5 to build an early double-digit advantage, hitting eight of their first 12 field goal attempts to take a 17-9 lead on a Brown three-pointer with 12:53 left in the first half. MSU then grabbed its largest lead of the night at 24-11 on another Brown basket with 10:21 to go in the period.
But the Sycamores responded with a 19-3 burst over a three and-a-half minute span to claim its first lead of the contest. ISU took a 41-35 lead into the lockerroom after outscoring MSU 30-11 to close the half.
Brown came up with five straight points to give the Lady Bears a one-point lead with her third three-pointer of the game with 12:25 left in regulation. After a Kara Schilli layup put the Sycamores back up 51-50, it was Tiffany Coppage’s turn to take the reins. The junior guard buried her fourth triple of the game with 11:17 to go, then scored on a putback on MSU’s next possession to stretch the Lady Bear advantage to four points.
Indiana State swung the momentum with an 11-0 run to turn that deficit into a 62-55 lead with just under six minutes left in the ballgame. MSU came right back with an 11-4 spurt, pulling even at 66-66 on Tiff Terwelp’s 15-footer with 0:40 left on the clock. A pair of free throws by Brown gave the Lady Bears a two-point lead with 12.5 seconds to play, but Phillips drive to the basket netted a foul and the senior guard sank both throws to pull ISU even. Missouri State had one last shot for the win, but Tahnee Balerio’s 24-foot jumper from the top of the key was off the mark at the buzzer.
The Coaches: Nyla Milleson (Kansas State, ’85) is 9-16 in her first season as the head coach at Missouri State and 194-52 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 Illinois State following the Redbirds’ 95-59 win in Springfield on Jan. 25.
Robin Pingeton (St. Ambrose, ’90) is in her fifth season as head coach of the Redbirds, having compiled an 84-61 record at Illinois State. Prior to taking over in Normal, Pingeton served as head coach at her alma mater, St. Ambrose, where she went 194-76 in eight seasons. She then moved on to Iowa State, where she assisted head coach Bill Fennelly for three seasons before accepting the Illinois State job in 2003. In 11 games against Missouri State, Pingeton’s teams have gone 5-6, including a 3-2 mark in Normal vs. MSU.
Series Record: Sunday’s match-up will be the 54th meeting between the Lady Bears and Redbirds, with Missouri State currently holding a 30-23 edge. Illinois State has a slight edge in games played in Normal, entering Sunday’s game with a 13-12 home mark in the series.
The two teams have split their last 10 meetings, but ISU has taken three straight and five of the last six matchups. Illinois State outscored MSU 55-19 in the second half to record a 95-59 victory in the first meeting of the season between the two clubs. The Redbirds dominated on both ends of the floor, hitting 56 percent (18-of-32) of their second-half field goal attempts while holding the Lady Bears to just 6-of-36 (.167) shooting. ISU’s Maggie Krick scored 25 points on 7-of-9 shooting from three-point range to lead all scorers.
Scouting Illinois State: Illinois State has rebounded from two straight losses to win three games in-a-row to improve to 21-3 overall. The Redbirds reeled off 14 straight wins before dropping a 75-71 affair at home to Creighton and a two-point decision to UNI in Cedar Falls.
ISU’s deep and talented rotation features four players averaging double figures in points, led by reigning conference MVP Kristi Cirone. A junior guard, Cirone (16.0 ppg./6.1 apg.) sits atop the Valley leaderboard in assists and assist/turnover ratio (3.4), while ranking second in scoring and steals (2.4). Guards Maggie Krick and Tiffany Hudson average 12.4 and 9.8 points per contest, respectively, and have combined to shoot just under 37 percent from three-point range. The Redbirds’ sophomore duo of Ashleen Bracey (10.3 ppg./7.6 rpg.) and Nicolle Lewis (10.0 ppg./5.2 rpg.) give ISU a strong inside presence. Bracey leads the Valley in field goal percentage (.560) and ranks third in the conference in rebounding. Lewis, whose .543 field goal percentage is the third-best mark in the league, also ranks second in blocks per game (1.6). Freshman Sha’la Jackson has been Illinois State’s top option off the bench for most of the season and enters Sunday’s game with averages of 8.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per outing while shooting 45 percent from three-point range.
As a team the Redbirds rank among the nation’s leaders in scoring offense (6th-78.5 ppg.), field goal accuracy (5th-.480), assists (3rd-19.1 apg.) and assist/turnover ratio (3rd-1.36). ISU also leads the conference in scoring (+15.9) and rebound (+6.9) margins, as well as three-point field goal percentage (.384) and field goal percentage defense (.389), while ranking second in scoring defense (62.6 ppg.), three-point field goals (6.6) and blocks per game (3.6).
Overtime Woes: With their 86-77 loss at Indiana State Thursday (Feb. 21), the Lady Bears dropped their third straight overtime game and fell to 12-12 all-time in contests extending beyond regulation. MSU lost a 79-73 overtime decision Jan. 6 at Creighton in its only other overtime game of the season, and fell at Drake last January, 82-76 in its only extended affair last year. The Lady Bears last overtime win came on Jan. 14, 2006, when they topped Evansville 67-59 in double overtime at Hammons Student Center. Missouri State has dropped five of its last six overtime contests, dating back to its 2004 NCAA Tournament first-round loss to Notre Dame.
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 13 contests is remarkable on several different levels. MSU has outscored its opponents 71.7 to 70.4 points per game in going 7-6 over that stretch, shooting 40.7 percent from the floor, including 37.4 percent from three-point range. The Lady Bears have also converted 73.4 percent of their free throws in their last 13 outings. In contrast, MSU was outscored by 15 points per game in going 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 2.8 more assists and 1.8 more steals per game compared to the first 12 games 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 14.5 ppg., 5.3 apg. and is shooting nearly 43 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 13 contests. She has hit 37-of-46 (.804) 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 MSU’s Feb. 14 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 202-78 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 187 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 25 games of the season. In addition to Terwelp (8.9 rpg.) being the league’s leading rebounder, Maggie Dwyer (14.4 ppg.) is fifth in the league in scoring. Tahnee Balerio ranks second in the conference in assists (5.0 apg.), seventh in three-point field goal percentage (.411), seventh in minutes played (32.8 per game) and is seventh in scoring (13.9 ppg.) during MVC play.
As a team Missouri State is third in the Valley in scoring offense (69.6 ppg.), second in three-point field goal percentage (.360), third in total rebounds (40.0) and rebound margin (+0.3) and fourth in steals (8.0) during MVC play. Overall, MSU is fourth in three-point field goal percentage (.340) and first in three-pointers made (7.1) 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 43 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 (11.1 ppg./10.1 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 23 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: Tahnee Balerio moved past Tara Mitchem into the No. 14 spot on MSU’s career scoring chart with her 18-point effort vs. UNI (Feb. 16).
Tiff 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 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 and eclipsed the 900 career scoring plateau with her 13-point night vs. Indiana State (Feb. 21).
Balerio moved onto yet another Missouri State career top 10 list with her two free throw attempts at SIU (Feb. 8). She enters Sunday’s game with 377 career attempts from the charity stripe. She also continued her ascent up the MSU all-time assist and three-point field goal lists; she enters Sunday’s game with 394 career assists, good for fifth all-time at MSU; Balerio is also fifth in three-point field goal attempts with 411 and seventh on the Lady Bears’ three-point field goals made chart (130). She needs nine more treys to catch K.C. Cowgill in the sixth spot with 139 career threes.
Balerio Tops 1,000-Point Plateau: 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: 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 24, 2002 - Missouri State 67, Indiana State 63 (OT) - Jenni Lingor scored 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Lady Bears to an overtime victory over Indiana State. MSU shot just 50 percent from the foul line and hit just 6-of-20 three-point attempts, but forced the Sycamores to commit 23 turnovers to win its sixth in-a-row and improve to 12-4 in the Valley. Lingor hit five of MSU’s six treys on the night to match her own Lady Bear season-high in that category, and Ann Cavey pulled down a career-high 13 boards in her final regular-season home contest.
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 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 14 games of the conference season, Terwelp has recorded nine double-figure rebound games and averaged a point-rebound double-double (11.1 ppg./10.1 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.
900/800 Club: Tiff Terwelp needs just 19 rebounds to become the fifth Lady Bear to score 900 career points and grab 800 career rebounds. The Quincy, Ill., native surpassed the 900-point mark with a 13-point effort in MSU’s 86-77 overtime loss at Indiana State (Feb. 21).
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.
