The Missouri State Lady Bears (10-17 overall, 8-8 MVC) enter the final weekend of Missouri Valley Conference play looking to solidify their position in the upper half of the regular season standings. The Lady Bears will tangle with the MVC’s preseason favorite, the Drake Bulldogs (18-9 overall, 11-5 MVC), in a 7:05 p.m. matchup Thursday (March 6) evening at Hammons Student Center. MSU will wrap up the conference season as well as its 32-year stay in Hammons on Saturday (March 8) against Creighton.
Missouri State comes into Thursday’s game with an 8-8 record in conference play, good for fifth place in the Valley race. With only a Saturday road contest against Bradley left on its schedule, UNI is just one-half game behind the Lady Bears with an 8-9 mark. Indiana State (6-10) also enters the final week of the regular season with a shot at moving up the MVC standings with home matchups against Southern Illinois and league-leading Evansville on tap. A Missouri State victory in either tonight’s game or Saturday’s regular-season finale against Creighton would clinch at least a sixth-place finish, meaning the Lady Bears would avoid a play-in game at next week’s State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in St. Charles, Mo.
Thursday’s game will be broadcast locally in Springfield on KTXR 101.3 FM. Live stats and streaming video will be available at www.missouristatebears.com.
Last Time Out: Missouri State got double-doubles from senior co-captains Tiff Terwelp and Tahnee Balerio and cruised to a 73-55 victory over Wichita State Sunday (March 2) afternoon in Springfield. MSU shot nearly 58 percent from the floor in the opening half and led by as many as 23 points in improving to 8-8 in the Valley and 10-17 overall.
Terwelp grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds and went 7-of-10 from the field to finish with 14 points and her 10th point-rebound double-double of the season, while Balerio totaled 12 points and 11 of MSU’s season-high 20 assists. The Lady Bears also posted a season-low 10 turnovers and held the Shockers to just 3-of-14 (.214) shooting from beyond the three-point arc.
Missouri State came out of the gate firing, connecting on 15-of-26 field goal attempts in the opening half to seize control of the contest. Freshman Marisha Brown scored 12 of her game-high 16 points in the opening stanza, including back-to-back three-pointers midway through the half that started a 21-7 scoring burst to close the period. The Lady Bears outscored Wichita State 11-0 over the final five minutes of the period to take a commanding 37-20 lead into the locker room. MSU limited the Shockers to 7-of-27 (.259) shooting from the field in the first half and outscored WSU 20-4 in the paint.
It was more of the same for Missouri State to start the second half, as Maggie Dwyer buried a trey to open the scoring and push the Lady Bears’ lead to 20 just 59 seconds into the period. Roxy Stiles’ jumper at the 15:20 mark stretched the lead to 46-23, MSU’s largest of the afternoon.
Wichita State’s offense came alive late in the game, as the Shockers hit 16-of-31 (.516) field goal attempts in the second half. But WSU would get no closer than 17 points after the break.
The Coaches: Nyla Milleson (Kansas State, ’85) is 10-17 in her first season as the head coach at Missouri State and 195-53 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 Drake following the Bulldogs’ 72-42 win in Des Moines (Jan. 4).
Amy Stephens (Nebraska, ’91) is 79-70 in her fifth season as coach of the Bulldogs and 276-113 overall as a collegiate head coach.
Stephens came to Des Moines after a highly successful eight-year stay as head coach at Division II Nebraska-Kearney (1994-2002) and one year as assistant coach at the University of Nebraska (2002-03).
Stephens guided Drake to a 16-15 record and a WNIT bid in her first season at the helm (2003-04). Last year, the Bulldogs captured the State Farm MVC Tournament title with four wins in four days on their home floor to earn the conference’s automatic NCAA Tournament bid.
Against the Lady Bears, Stephens is 6-5 with a 2-4 mark vs. MSU in Springfield.
Series Record: Missouri State holds a slim 31-29 advantage in the series with Drake, with the Bulldogs claiming victory in three straight meetings and five of the last six contests between the two schools. DU has won two of the last three games in Springfield, but MSU has won 21 of its previous 33 meetings with the Bulldogs at Hammons Student Center.
Scouting Drake: After knocking off Illinois State in Des Moines Sunday (March 2), Drake will be looking to inch closer to the top two spots in the standings with Thursday’s game and a Saturday afternoon contest at Wichita State to close the regular season. The Bulldogs enter play Thursday tied with Creighton for third in the circuit with an 11-5 mark, just one game behind second-place Illinois State and only two games removed from the top spot, currently held by a 13-3 Evansville squad.
The Bulldogs return five starters and 11 letterwinners from last year’s club that struggled through an injury-riddled regular season before winning the State Farm MVC Tournament with four victories on their home court. Drake finished 14-19, good for eighth in the Valley after losing all-conference performers Jill Martin and Jordann Plummer for the year due to injuries in the season’s first month. Both are back this year, with Martin (16.4 ppg./8.8 rpg.) leading both the Bulldogs and the MVC in scoring while ranking second in the league in rebounding. Plummer (9.4 ppg./1.7 spg.) is shooting .512 from the floor, which is the fourth-highest field goal percentage in the MVC. Senior guard Lindsay Whorton earned honorable mention all-conference honors a year ago and currently leads the Valley in minutes played (36.0). The Independence, Mo., native burned the Lady Bears last season, scoring 25 points, including two big three-pointers in overtime, in DU’s 82-76 win in Des Moines, before totaling 27 in the Bulldog’s 81-68 victory in Springfield. Through 27 games this year, Whorton is second on the club and sixth in the MVC with a 14.2 ppg. average, ranking fourth in the conference in three-point field goals per game (2.1).
As a team the Bulldogs are averaging 69.9 points per contest while posting the second-best scoring margin (+8.6) and and field goal percentage (.437) in the MVC. Additionally, Drake leads the Valley in scoring defense, allowing just 61.4 points per game.
Terwelp Tearing It Up: Senior forward Tiff Terwelp recorded her 10th double-double of the season, scoring 14 points and grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds versus Wichita State (March 2) to become just the fifth Lady Bear and the 21st player in Missouri Valley Conference history to top the 800-rebound mark. Her 248 rebounds this season currently rank as the eighth-highest single-season total in MSU history. The Quincy, Ill., native surpassed the 900-point mark with a 13-point effort in MSU’s loss at Indiana State (Feb. 21) and moved past Lisa Davies into fifth place on the Lady Bears’ career rebounding list during MSU’s Feb. 24 loss at Illinois State. Terwelp needs 52 points to become the 20th Lady Bear to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
Balerio Reaches Another Milestone: Senior guard Tahnee Balerio notched her third point-assist double-double of the 2007-08 season in Sunday’s victory over Wichita State. The senior guard scored 12 points and fell just one assist shy of her career high of 12. She also surpassed the 400 career assist mark, becoming just the fifth player in Missouri State history to score 1,000 points and hand out 400 assists.
That’s More Like It: MSU’s 73-55 win over Wichita State Sunday snapped a five-game Lady Bear losing streak in the series with the Shockers. With the victory in the final game played by the two schools in Hammons Student Center, the Lady Bears ran their all-time record against WSU in HSC to 26-8.
Overtime Woes: With their 86-77 loss at Indiana State on 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’ 10 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 .470 from the field, including .444 from beyond the three-point arc. The Lady Bears have also averaged 9.1 three-point field goals per outing, connected on 74 percent of their free throw attempts and outscored their opponents 142 to 96 from the foul line. Perhaps most impressive, MSU has scored an average of 76.7 points per game while limiting the opposition to just 62.7, for a +14.0 point scoring differential. On an individual basis, Maggie Dwyer has averaged 17.0 points, while Tahnee Balerio has shot .528 from three-point range in those contests.
Second-Half Surge: The Lady Bears’ offensive turnaround over their last 14 contests is remarkable on several different levels. MSU has outscored its opponents 71.3 to 69.2 points per game in going 8-6 over that stretch, shooting 41.9 percent from the floor, including 38 percent from three-point range. The Lady Bears have also converted 72.4 percent of their free throws in their last 14 outings. In contrast, MSU was outscored by an average of 14.3 points per game in going 2-11 over the first 13 games of the season, shooting 34.8 percent from the field, 30.7 percent from beyond the arc and just 66.5 percent from the foul line. MSU has committed an average of 2.8 fewer turnovers, recorded 3.1 more assists and 1.9 more steals per game over its last 14 contests compared to the first 13 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 14.4 ppg., 5.6 apg. and is shooting 45.5 percent from three-point range, compared to 10.8 ppg., 4.1 apg. and a 22.4 3FG% over the first 13 games of the season. Terwelp’s numbers have also taken off, as the 6-2 forward has registered nine of her 10 double-doubles on the year in the last 14 contests, averaging 12.1 points and 9.6 boards per game while shooting 51.1 percent from the floor. She has also hit 33 of her last 45 (.733) free throw attempts after starting the season just 18-of-30 (.600) from the foul line.
Home Sweet Hammons: The Lady Bears are 324-107 (.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.
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 23 contests this season, starting the last 15 prior to her injury. 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 203-79 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 189 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 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 27 games of the season. In addition to Terwelp (9.2 rpg.) being the league’s leading rebounder, Maggie Dwyer (14.1 ppg.) is seventh in the league in scoring. Tahnee Balerio ranks second in the conference in assists (5.3 apg.), sixth in three-point field goal percentage (.419), sixth in minutes played (33.3 per game) and is eighth in scoring (13.9 ppg.) during MVC play.
As a team Missouri State is fifth in the Valley in scoring offense (69.6 ppg.), third in three-point field goal percentage (.364), total rebounds (39.0) and steals (8.1) during MVC play. Overall, MSU is fourth in three-point field goal percentage (.342) and first in three-pointers made (6.9) per game.
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.
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 (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 Thursday’s game with 387 career attempts from the charity stripe. She also continued her ascent up the MSU all-time assist and three-point field goal lists; she also enters the game with 409 career assists, good for fifth all-time at MSU; Balerio is also fifth in three-point field goal attempts with 417 and seventh on the Lady Bears’ three-point field goals made chart (133). She needs six more treys to catch K.C. Cowgill in the sixth spot with 139 career threes.
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 Illinois State, Terwelp moved into the No. 5 spot on MSU’s all-time rebounding list. 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).
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.
Century Mark For Terwelp, Balerio: Tiff 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 45 consecutive games for MSU, dating back to January of last year.
Tahnee 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 (12.1 ppg./10.4 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 19 of MSU’s last 25 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 (twice), Evansville and Illinois State), Jacque Griggs (vs. UALR) and Maggie Dwyer (vs. Tulsa and Western Kentucky). In all, nine Lady Bears have established new single-game rebounding highs so far in 2007-08.
On This Date In Lady Bears History: March 6, 1991 - Missouri State 87, Drake 66 - Behind 40 points from its bench, Missouri State recorded its third win of the season over the Bulldogs in the semifinal round of the Gateway Tournament in Springfield. MSU never trailed, going on a 15-4 run to close the first half with a 15-point lead, then securing the win with another 15-4 spurt to begin the second period. Both teams shot over 65 percent in the first half, but the Lady Bears forced 13 turnovers in building its halftime edge. LaWaynta Dawson led MSU with 20 points and Charity Shira added 14 off the bench.
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.
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 9.2 boards per game. Over the first 16 games of the conference season, Terwelp has recorded 12 double-figure rebound games and averaged a point-rebound double-double (12.1 ppg./10.4 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.
Welcome Wagon: 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.
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.
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’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.
Missouri State All-Time: Missouri State is in its 39th season of women’s collegiate basketball and has an all-time record of 663-453 (.594) for a total of 1,116 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.
