Missouri State Lady Bears (12-5, 4-2 MVC) vs. Wichita State Shockers (11-6, 3-3 MVC) 

Game Overview
After seeing their seven-game home win streak come to an end with Monday night's 81-72 loss to Illinois State, the Missouri State Lady Bears will look to resume their winning ways Saturday afternoon when they meet the Wichita State Shockers at JQH Arena to close out a three-game home stand.

Wichita State is off to a solid start, entering Saturday's game with an 11-6 overall record and 3-3 mark in Valley play. The Shockers have done most of their damage at home, racking up nine wins in 11 games at Charles Koch Arena this season. WSU also suffered a setback to Illinois State in its last outing, falling to the Redbirds by a 75-60 score this past Saturday.

Saturday's game is the 66th meeting in the series, with Missouri State holding a 43-22 advantage, despite dropping two of three contests to WSU last year and seven of the last nine match-ups between the two schools dating back to the 2005-06 season.

Quick Hits
► The Lady Bears are 27-8 all-time versus the Shockers at home, but WSU has taken two of the last four meetings in Springfield
► MSU leads the Valley in overall team assists (14.8 apg.), but ranks just eighth in conference play in the same category, entering today's game with an 11.5 assist per-game average in its six MVC contests
► Casey Garrison needs 12 points to move onto MSU's career top 30 scoring list; the sophomore enters Saturday's game with 798 career points in 47 games, good for a 17.0 ppg., average
► The Lady Bears are a perfect 4-0 following losses this season
► Wichita State has allowed the exact same number of points (1052) it has scored this season; the Shockers are third in the MVC in scoring defense, but rank just ninth in scoring offense
► Missouri State's team scoring average (76.7) led the MVC and ranked 21st in the nation as of Monday

Series History
Missouri State holds a 43-22 advantage in the series with Wichita State, including a 27-8 all-time mark in Springfield vs. the Shockers.

Last year, WSU claimed victory in two of the three games played by the schools. The Shockers won a 66-62 decision in Wichita before the Lady Bears rebounded with a 75-65 victory in Springfield. Wichita State got the last laugh, pulling out a 52-51 win in the opening round of the State Farm MVC tournament to end the Lady Bears' season.

The Coaches
Nyla Milleson (Kansas State, '85) is in her third season at Missouri State with a 33-44 mark as the Lady Bears' mentor and an overall record of 218-80 in 10 years as a collegiate head coach. 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. Including her 187 wins at the high school level, Milleson notched her 400th career coaching victory with MSU's win at Oral Roberts on Dec. 19.          

Jody Adams (Tennessee, '94) has compiled a 24-24 mark in her two years as the Shockers' head coach. Adams was named the seventh coach in the history of the Wichita State program in 2008  after leading Murray State to a 24-8 record and an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2007-08, her first year as a collegiate head coach. Prior to taking the reins of the Racers' program, Adams spent three seasons as an assistant coach at Southern Illinois, helping guide the Salukis to the 2006-07 MVC regular-season title. The Cleveland, Tenn., native has also made coaching stops at UMKC, Minnesota, Wake Forest and Auburn after beginning her career as a student assistant at Tennessee. Adams was a two-year starter at point guard at UT for legendary head coach Pat Summitt, helping lead the Lady Vols to the 1991 NCAA National Championship.

Scouting the Lady Bears
Picked to finish seventh in the MVC's preseason poll, Nyla Milleson's Lady Bears have been one of the biggest surprises in the conference so far in 2009-10. MSU has gotten balanced contributions across the board, as five players are averaging eight points or more per game through the first 17 games of the season. Sophomore Casey Garrison is the top scorer (18.9 ppg.) and assister in the MVC, ranking 14th nationally in assists per game (5.9) and 26th in scoring entering the week. Garrison also rates among the circuit's leaders in offensive rebounding (1st-3.4 rpg.), minutes played (1st-36.1 mpg.), assist-turnover ratio (2nd-1.8), steals (2nd-2.8 spg.), rebounding (4th-7.8 rpg.) and field goal percentage (8th-.509). Sophomore forward Lacey Boshe is MSU's third-leading scorer, averaging 9.7 ppg., while her .513 field goal percentage is tops on the club and seventh in the conference coming into the weekend. The Lady Bears' No. 2 scorer, sophomore Jaleshia Roberson (14.1 ppg.) has two 30+ point games to her credit so far this season and leads the MVC with an average of 2.9 three-pointers per outing.

As a team, Missouri State's scoring average (76.7 ppg.) was the 21st-best in all of Division I women's basketball, while its three-point field goal percentage (.363) ranked 24th nationally coming into the week.

Scouting the Shockers
Under the direction of second-year head coach Jody Adams, the Shockers have also exceeded preseason prognostications. Wichita State enters today's contest just two games shy of their season win total from a year ago, thanks in large part to a talented crop of newcomers. After going 13-18 last season, WSU returned just three letterwinners and was selected to finish ninth in the Valley's preseason poll. Two of those returners are making significant contributions this year, led by sophomore Haleigh Lankster's 13.5 point per-game scoring average. The Tulsa native's 31 threes lead the club, while her 2.0 steals per game ranks seventh in the MVC. Senior guard Marisah Henderson runs the show for WSU, coming into today's game second overall in the conference in assists (5.4). Five of the Shockers top six scorers are new to the program this season, however, paced by freshman Jessica Diamond's 9.4 ppg., average. Junior transfer Morgan Boyd (8.0) is WSU's third-leading scorer, while the Shockers top rebounder, Jazimen Gordon (5.1 rpg.), combines with newcomers Chynna Turner and Sheena Johnson for better than 20 points per game.

So Far, So Good
MSU's 12-5 start is its best since the 2003-04 season, when it 20 of its first 21 games en route to a 28-4 finish and the school's 12th NCAA Tournament appearance. In each of the Lady Bears' last seven starts that included at least 11 wins in their first 15 games they have gone on to earn a bid to the Big Dance.

Streaking Along
With their 69-65 win over Indiana State last Saturday, the Lady Bears notched their 12th victory of the season, surpassing their previous high for an entire season under Nyla Milleson. MSU's 12 wins was the top mark in the MVC entering the weekend, and coupled with its 4-2 league mark, represents quite a turnaround from a year ago, when the Lady Bears managed just one win in their first six Valley games and a league-low five victories overall through the third weekend of conference play.

Comeback Kids
No lead has been safe for Lady Bear opponents so far in 2009-10, as MSU has claimed victories in four games in which they have faced double-digit deficits. Indiana State led by 10 points early in the second half of the Lady Bears' eventual 69-65 win last Saturday, marking the third straight MVC home game in which MSU overcame a double-digit deficit. The Lady Bears trailed by as many as 12 against Bradley on Dec. 31, before rallying for a five-point win, then climbed out of an 11-point hole to post a 90-80 victory vs. UNI two days later. MSU also defeated UTEP on Dec. 4, after trailing the Miners by 11 in the first half. Prior to that win, the Lady Bears had not overcome a deficit of 10 points or more in nearly two seasons, dating back to a Jan. 12, 2008, victory over Southern Illinois.

Bouncing Back
Missouri State is 4-0 following losses in 2009-10 and is one of just three Valley teams (along with Drake and Illinois State) to have made it to this point in the season without suffering back-to-back defeats. What's more, the Lady Bear offense has clicked in those four outings, averaging 81.3 points while shooting .465 from the field in wins over Saint Louis, UTEP, Tulsa and Creighton.

Lady Bears Land Hardware
For the second time in 2009-10, a pair of Lady Bears earned a clean sweep of the Missouri Valley Conference's weekly individual honors, as Jaleshia Roberson was named MVC Player of the Week, and Christiana Shorter picked up MVC Newcomer of the Week honors for the period Jan. 4-10.   

The awards were the second of the season for both Roberson and Shorter. A sophomore from Kansas City, Roberson earned her first player of the week distinction of the season on Dec. 21 after connecting on 11-of-18 (.611) three-point attempts and 18-of-31 (.581) tries from the field overall in the MSU victories over Murray State and Oral Roberts. Shorter earned newcomer of the week laurels on Dec. 7, after picking up all-tournament recognition at the Commerce Bank Wildcat Classic in Manhattan, Kan.   

The awards continued a recent stream of MVC honors for the Lady Bears, as MSU earned at least one of the two weekly citations from the Valley in five of the nine weeks the conference office has presented individual honors. Sophomore guard Casey Garrison earned MVC Player of the Week recognition on Dec. 14, following her triple-double against Tulsa, while freshman Whitney Edie earned MVC Newcomer of the Week that same day after posting a career-high 20 points in the win over the Golden Hurricane. Garrison also earned the league's player of the week for the period Nov. 23-29, after posting one of the most impressive all-around performances in Missouri State history with a 35-point, 17-rebound effort to propel the Lady Bears to a 73-65 win over Arkansas State (Nov. 27) in Jonesboro.

Hand it Over
Missouri State is leading the Missouri Valley Conference in team assists, coming into Saturday's game with a 14.8 apg. average. Casey Garrison's 5.9 assist per-game average is tops in the circuit, while Jaleshia Roberson ranks 12th among all Valley players with a 2.6 apg. average.

Garrison's 13-assist performance vs. Tulsa not only represented a new career high, but also set a JQH Arena record and helped the Lady Bears post their highest single-game assist total (25) in four seasons. Her total tied four others for the sixth-highest in school history and was the most recorded by a Missouri State player since March 8, 2003, when Kari Koch handed out 13 assists against Evansville.

Stealing the Show
Paced by the performance of sophomore guard Casey Garrison, Missouri State also leads the Valley in team steals. The Lady Bears are averaging 10.4 steals per outing, while Garrison is one of three Lady Bears to rank among the circuit's top performers in individual steals. The Bolivar, Mo., product is averaging 2.9 takeaways per game to rank second in the league, while Christiana Shorter and Jaleshia Roberson are also among the league's top 13 in steals. Shorter ranks 12th with a 1.6 spg. average, while Roberson is right on her heels in 13th with an average of 1.4 steals per game.

Free and Easy
As was their calling card in 2008-09, the Lady Bears are once again gaining a measurable advantage at the free throw line. Through their first 17 games of the season, the Lady Bears are outscoring the opposition by a 322-221 margin at the foul line and lead the Valley in both free throws made and attempted by wide margins. MSU has attempted at least 20 free throws 13 times and has put up 125 more charity tosses than its opponents, an average of +7.4 per outing so far this season. Additionally, three Lady Bears rank among the MVC's top 15 free throw shooters coming into the week. Casey Garrison is 11th in the circuit with a season mark of .829 from the stripe, while Jaleshia Roberson's .828 percentage is the 12th-best mark in the conference. Lacey Boshe has also been consistent from the foul line, shooting .800 coming into Saturday's game, which is good for 15th overall in the MVC.

Garrison knocked down her 200th career foul shot in her 45th game as a Lady Bear at Creighton (Jan. 9). She reached the mark faster than all but two previous Lady Bears, trailing only Jackie Stiles (33 games) and Jessie McVay (43 games) in games required to convert 200 free throws. The Bolivar, Mo., native needs just 64 more makes to crack the MSU career top 10 chart for free throws made.

Turning Up the Heat
At Oral Roberts (Dec. 19), the Lady Bears posted their best single-game shooting performance (.544) since hitting 57.6 percent of their field goal attempts against Texas A&M on March 24, 2005. The Lady Bears were even better in their 15-point win at Creighton (Jan. 9), finishing 30-of-55 (.545) from the floor.

MSU's 99 points at ORU also represented its top offensive showing since March 8, 2003, when it recorded a 107-53 win over Evansville, and its best offensive effort on the road in nearly 18 years, dating back to a 109-45 win at Western Illinois on Feb. 13, 1992.

Out In Front
Missouri State's 2-0 MVC start was its first since the 2003-04 season. Historically speaking, however, getting out in front of the pack in conference play is nothing new to the Lady Bears. In their 18 seasons in the Valley, the Lady Bears have won their first two games on nine occasions, winning the Valley regular-season title four times and finishing no lower than third in the standings in any of those years. Including MSU's nine seasons in the Gateway Conference, the Lady Bears have advanced to the postseason in nine of the 11 years they have started 2-0 in league play.

Bundle Up
With their win over league-leading Creighton, the Lady Bears put the brakes on a recent cold spell against their Valley neighbors to the north. The northern reaches of the Missouri Valley Conference have not been kind to the Lady Bears over the past few years, as MSU had won just two road games against Creighton, Drake, Bradley and UNI combined over the preceding four seasons. Including Thursday's loss to Drake in Des Moines, MSU had dropped 16 of their last 18 games away from home against the four northernmost schools in the Valley. Prior to last Saturday's win at CU, the Lady Bears had lost nine straight on the road vs. Drake and Creighton, and MSU was a combined 3-14 against the two schools on their home floors since the 2001-02 season.

Valley Openers
With their win over Bradley on Dec. 31, the Lady Bears improved to 12-6 in Missouri Valley Conference openers and 19-8 overall in conference lid-lifters since formal competition began in the Gateway in 1983.

The win was the third for Missouri State over Bradley in three MVC openers. MSU claimed an 87-74 road win over the Braves (1/1/05) to open the 2004-05 MVC slate, as well as an 82-77 victory (12/29/01) at Hammons Student Center to kick-off the 2001-02 conference season.

Double Your Trouble
With her 32-point effort at ORU, Jaleshia Roberson joined fellow sophomore Casey Garrison in the Lady Bears' 30-point club, making the duo the first set of MSU teammates to top the 30-point barrier in the same season in nine years. The last Missouri State teammates to post 30-point performances during the course of the same season were Jackie Stiles and Tara Mitchem, who accomplished the feat during the Lady Bears' Final Four campaign of 2000-01.

Additionally, with her career-high 36-point effort at Drake on Jan. 7, Roberson became the first Lady Bear to post multiple 30+ point games in the same season since Tahnee Balerio recorded four such games in 2006-07. Roberson is just the 12th Lady Bear on record to score 30 or better in more than one contest in a given season.

Dial It Up
After shooting just under 27 percent from long range through their first three games of the season, the Lady Bears have heated up from three-point land over the last 13 games. MSU has shot .394 (86-of-218) from beyond the arc over that stretch, and its 13 three-pointers at ORU represented its best single-game total since Feb. 16, 2008, when it went 13-of-24 in a home win over UNI.    

Additionally, the Lady Bears' eight threes vs. Tulsa (Dec. 8) represented a Missouri State high in JQH Arena. The Lady Bears had not hit more than six treys in any of their previous 17 contests in their new home. MSU has connected at least once from long range in 64 straight games and in 270 of its last 272 games dating back to the 2000-01 season.

In Rare Company
Twice this season sophomore guard Casey Garrison has achieved feats only one previous player in Missouri State history had accomplished prior to the 2009-10 campaign. With her 35-point, 17-rebound performance at Arkansas State (Nov. 27), the sophomore guard joined Cindy Henderson (37 points/24 rebounds on Jan. 20, 1975) as the only other Lady Bear on record to score at least 35 points and record at least 15 rebounds in a single game. It was Garrison's second career double-double consisting of 30 points or more, making her only the fourth MSU player on record (along with Henderson, Jeanette Tendai and Jenni Lingor) to record more than one such game in her career.

Garrison quite possibly topped that effort on Dec. 8 vs. Tulsa when she became the second Lady Bear to record a triple-double with an 11-point, 11-rebound, 13-assist performance against the Golden Hurricane. MSU assistant coach Carly (Deer) Stubblefield was the only other Lady Bear to accomplish the feat (Jan. 23, 1998).

Buzz Cracks Century Mark
Senior guard Melissa Busby enters Monday's game ninth on the school's all-time three-point field goals list with 121. MSU's active leader in games played (89), Busby also has a chance to climb further on the three-point attempts chart, coming into the contest seventh all-time with 368 tries from beyond the arc. The Edmond, Okla., native moved past Jamie Bartlett for sole possession of the ninth spot on the career three-point field goals list by going 1-of-5 from long range in Monday's loss to Illinois State and needs 27 more attempts to catch Sarah Klaassen (395) in the sixth position on the career attempts chart.