Missouri State Lady Bears (8-2) 

vs. 

No. 20/19 Georgetown Hoyas (8-3) 

Game Overview

After extending their win streak to five games Friday (Dec. 17) with a 67-61 victory over Coppin State to kick-off a three-game East Coast road swing, the Missouri State Lady Bears will be looking for even bigger things Sunday (Dec. 19) when they take on the No. 20 Georgetown Hoyas at McDonough Arena in Washington, D.C. MSU will be attempting to stop a nine-game losing streak against ranked opponents that dates back to the 2001 NCAA Tournament.

The Lady Bears overcame a physical Coppin State squad that forced 25 MSU turnovers Friday, getting a key 12-2 scoring run late in the game to withstand the Eagles' comeback attempt. Georgetown, meanwhile, is coming off an 81-54 win at Rider (Dec. 11) that halted a two-game slide. Sunday's meeting will be just the second in the series, with the Hoyas taking a 79-55 victory last November in Springfield to open the 2009-10 season.

Missouri State will conclude its road trip, as well as the non-conference season Tuesday (Dec. 21) with a 4:30 p.m. (Central) contest against Morgan State in Baltimore.                  

Quick Hits

• Missouri State's 8-2 start is its best in four seasons under Nyla Milleson; it also represents the Lady Bears' top effort over the first 10 games since 2003-04
• The Lady Bears were the top-ranked Valley team at No.42 in this week's RPI ratings; Creighton (64) and Illinois State (82) were also among the top 100 
• A victory Sunday would stop a nine-game losing streak for MSU vs. ranked opponents dating back to the 2001 Final Four vs. Purdue (March 24, 2001)
• The MSU defense has held its last four of its last five opponents under .300 shooting and ranked eighth nationally for field goal percentage defense (.321) coming into the week
• The Lady Bears set or matched five JQH Arena records Dec. 9 vs. SIU Edwardsville, including fewest points allowed (39), fewest points in a half (17), fewest field goals allowed (13), lowest field goal percentage allowed (.210) and widest margin of victory (+29)
• MSU leads the Missouri Valley Conference in total rebounding (47.2 rpg), field goal percentage defense (.322), three-point field goal percentage defense (.249), offensive rebounding (15.7 rpg), defensive rebounding (31.5 rpg), and blocked shots (6.2)
• Tia Mays leads the MVC and ranks 13th among all Division I players in blocked shots (2.8 bpg); she moved into the MSU single-season top 10 chart with three rejections Friday at Coppin State
• Mays's nine blocked shots against Arkansas State (Dec. 5) broke the Missouri State single-game record established by Sharon Zeilmann on two separate occasions; her effort also matched the all-time MVC mark held by UNI's Cassie Hager
• Jaleshia Roberson moved into ninth place on MSU's all-time three-point field goals list Nov. 30; she needs two more triples to catch former teammate Melissa Busby (136) in the eighth spot and five more to reach Tahnee Balerio and K.C. Cowgill in the No. 6 slot with 139 career threes
• Reigning MVC Player of the Year Casey Garrison moved past Tahnee Balerio into 14th place on the Lady Bears' career scoring chart with her 12-point performance vs. Eastern Michigan (Dec. 3); she eclipsed the 1,300-point mark Friday at Coppin State and needs 17 points to catch Secelia Winkfield in the 13th spot on the career scoring list
• Jasmine Malone became the 53rd Missouri State player and the fourth current Lady Bear to surpass the 500-point mark for her MSU career Dec. 9 with her 16-point effort vs. SIU Edwardsville, joining Garrison, Roberson and Lacey Boshe; Shorter needs just 10 points to join the 500 club as well
• Garrison and Malone have combined to hit their last 23 free throw attempts, dating back to Nov. 17; Malone enters play Sunday with a streak of 14 straight makes from the line, while Garrison has converted her last nine tries; Garrison has knocked down 47-of-52 (.896) free throws on the season to rank second in the MVC and 31st nationally coming into the week; she has four different streaks of at least nine consecutive makes from the foul line this season, including a career-long string of 13 successful tries in-a-row
• Christiana Shorter ranks among the top 10 in six individual statistical categories, including rebounding, field goal percentage, offensive rebounding, blocks, defensive rebounding and steals

Scouting the Lady Bears

With 10 letterwinners and four starters back from last year's 22-11 team that finished tied for third in the Missouri Valley Conference to secure the program's first postseason bid in four years, the Lady Bears entered the 2010-11 season as the MVC's preseason favorite. Leading the way for Nyla Milleson's fourth MSU team will be returning All-MVC performers Casey Garrison and Jaleshia Roberson, who were named to the league's preseason all-conference team. The junior duo formed arguably the deadliest one-two punch in the MVC-particularly during conference play-in 2009-10. In MSU's 18 Valley games, they combined for 36.1 points per outing, with Garrison's 20.4 ppg, average pacing all scorers by more than three points per game. They entered the 2010-11 season as two of the conference's top three returning scorers. The reigning Jackie Stiles MVC Player of the Year, Garrison spearheaded MSU's potent offense last year, finishing as the MVC's top scorer and steals leader. She became the first Lady Bear since Kari Koch in 2004 to receive all-region recognition from the Women's Basketball Coaches Association when she was named a Region 6 finalist for the organization's State Farm All-America Team.

Through the first 10 games of the new season, Garrison is once again among the league leaders in a number of statistical categories, including scoring (2nd), free throw percentage (2nd), three-point field goal percentage (2nd), assist-turnover ratio (3rd), assists (9th) and offensive rebounding (10th).     

Garrison has received help in the back court from fellow junior Jasmine Malone, who is second on the team in scoring (11.9 ppg) and tied for third in rebounding (6.4 rpg), as well as freshman Karly Buer, who enters the week fourth on the team with a 6.4 point per game average. A Concordia, Kan., native, Buer is second on the team in assists (25) after registering three straight games of at least 10 points and four assists (Nov. 20-30).

Also returning is the Valley's 2010 Freshman of the Year, Christiana Shorter. A Tulsa, Okla., native, Shorter finished her rookie campaign on a high note, registering five double-doubles in the Lady Bears' final six contests. Shorter leads the club in steals (1.8 spg) and rebounding (8.3 rpg), while her 11.0 ppg average is third on the squad. Sophomore Tia Mays (5.3 ppg/7.7 rpg) has also played a significant role for MSU, leading the Lady Bears' defensive resurgence with a league-high 2.8 blocks per game average.

Lady Bear Notables

• Missouri State opened the season at JQH Arena for the second straight year after lifting the lid on the road in each of the preceding six seasons; MSU snapped a six-game opening-night losing streak with its 83-60 win over Lamar
• The Lady Bears' 83 points vs. Lamar represented their highest opening-day offensive output since beating LSU, 85-75 to open the 2000-01 campaign
• After going winless on the road in November for over 26 years, Missouri State has claimed victory in two of its last three true road games over the last two seasons, but is still just 13-21 in the first month of the season since 2002-03
• The Lady Bears secured their second straight +.500 November with their win over Louisiana Tech (Nov. 27); MSU went 3-2 in November last year following three consecutive losing Novembers from 2006-08
• SIU Edwardsville's 39 points marked the lowest point total for a Lady Bear opponent since Jan. 1, 2004, when MSU held SLU to 33 points
• MSU's defensive effort vs. SIU Edwardsville (13-of-62) matched MSU's Jan. 22, 2004 performance vs. Texas-Pan American for the second-lowest single-game opponent field goal percentage on record at Missouri State
• Missouri State became the 30th Division I program to reach the 700-win mark with its Dec. 3 win over Eastern Michigan
• MSU outscored its two exhibition opponents by an average of 27.5 ppg; the Lady Bears shot a blistering .500 (16-of-32) from three-point range and .741 (43-of-58) as a team from the foul line in their preseason exhibition wins
• MSU was one of 17 Division I women's basketball programs to post a turnaround of at least +10 games or more last season coming into the week; the Lady Bears' 12-game improvement was tied for the seventh-best in the nation
• MSU was 14th nationally in team scoring, 17th in FT percentage, 22nd in 3-FG percentage, 29th in steals, 37th in FG percentage and 47th in assists per game last year
• Missouri State's 591 free throws made in 2009-10 was more than four Valley teams attempted on the season and represented the fifth-highest team total in MVC history
• Casey Garrison ranked 13th nationally in scoring and was the only NCAA Division I player in the country to rank among the top 35 in individual points, assists and steals per game last year
• Garrison's 658 points on the season was the fifth-highest all-time total at MSU and 11th on the Valley's single-season scoring list
• Garrison was named MVC Player of the Week for the second straight week and the sixth time of her career on Nov. 22
• With her 27-point performance vs. Evansville (Feb. 28, 2010), Garrison became the 20th player in Missouri State history to top the 1,000-point plateau and the second-quickest Valley player ever to reach the mark, doing so in just 57 career games
• MVC Freshman of the Year Christiana Shorter's string of four consecutive double-doubles (March 4-19) was the first such streak for a Lady Bear since Tiff Terwelp strung together four straight doubles from Feb. 24 through March 8, 2008
• Jaleshia Roberson's 91 three-point field goals last season was the second-highest total all-time at MSU and tied for third all-time in the Valley in a single season; Roberson moved past Jenni Lingor (2005) and Kari Koch (2006) by going 5-of-9 vs. Wichita State (March 12), and fell just 14 triples shy of Melody Howard's MSU record, set in 1994

Scouting the Hoyas

Georgetown enters Sunday's match-up with an 8-3 overall mark that includes wins over the likes of national powers Maryland and Tennessee. Head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy welcomed back three starters and 11 letterwinners in all from last year's 26-7 club that finished tied for second in the Big East and secured the program's second NCAA Tournament bid. Leading the way for GU is sophomore All-America candidate Sugar Rodgers (17.3 ppg/4.1 rpg), who paces the Hoyas in scoring and steals. She receives support in the back court from senior Monica McNutt, who enters Sunday's game averaging 11.5 points and 4.1 boards per outing. The duo has combined to account for 46 of Georgetown's 70 three-point field goals on the season. Junior guard Rubylee Wright (7.6 ppg/2.7 rpg) is the Hoyas' top ball distributor, averaging 5.5 assists per game. Up front, junior forward Adria Crawford leads the way with averages of 7.3 points and 4.4 rebounds per contest, while the junior duo of Tia Magee and Tommacina McBride combine to chip in nearly 11 points and eight rebounds per game for the Hoyas.

As a team, Georgetown has held its 11 opponents to an average of just 56.4 points per outing while posting an impressive +6.5 turnover margin.

The Coaches

Nyla Milleson (Kansas State, '85) is in her fourth season as the head coach at Missouri State with a 51-52 mark as the Lady Bears' mentor and an overall record of 236-88 in 11 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 three of those years. Milleson was honored as Heartland Conference Coach of the Year three times, as Drury won six conference titles in all.      

Terri Williams-Flournoy (Penn State, '91) enters her seventh season as head coach of the Hoyas with a 104-87 record. Last season she led Georgetown to a 26-7 overall record with a 13-3 mark in Big East play, which was good for a second-place regular-season finish. The Hoyas spent 12 weeks in the national rankings and earned the program's second bid to the NCAA Tournament. Before taking over at GU in 2004, Williams-Flournoy made coaching stops at Georgia and Missouri State, spending two years on Katie Abrahamson-Henderson's Lady Bear staff, helping MSU capture back-to-back MVC titles and NCAA Tournament appearances.

Series History

Sunday's contest will be the second meeting between Missouri State and Georgetown, with the Hoyas claiming a 79-55 victory at JQH Arena in the Lady Bears' 2009-10 season opener. All-America candidate Sugar Rodgers led four Hoyas in double figures with 21 points in her collegiate debut, while Casey Garrison paced the MSU attack with 15 points.

Missouri State has dropped six straight games versus Big East Conference schools and enters Sunday's game 5-10 overall against the league.

Last Time Out

Missouri State used a late scoring run and big performances from Casey Garrison and Jasmine Malone to come away with a 67-61 victory in a physical battle with Coppin State Friday. Malone scored seven of her 18 points during a critical 12-2 run over the final four minutes of play to propel the Lady Bears to their fifth consecutive victory.

Despite sustaining a cut above her right eye that required seven stitches to close, Garrison led Missouri State with 19 points, nine rebounds and three assists to help the Lady Bears overcome a 25-turnover night.

MSU pulled out the hard-fought win by taking control of the game when it mattered most. CSU closed to within 55-54 less than five minutes after the Lady Bears had extended their lead to seven points, but Malone reeled off five straight points in a span of 37 seconds to spark MSU's stretch run. Field goals by Garrison and Lacey Boshe sandwiched a CSU bucket, but Malone's jumper at the 1:20 mark made it a 66-56, effectively sealing the victory for MSU.

The rally for MSU came in the wake of a Coppin State rally that saw the Eagles nearly erase an 11-point Lady Bear lead. The Eagles hit on 13-of-20 free throw attempts in the first half, including 8-of-10 by Jeanine Manley, who totaled 16 points over the game's first 20 minutes. Behind Manley's efforts inside and at the charity stripe, CSU scored 16 of the final 23 points of the first period, then took their largest lead of the day with a 12-7 run to start the second half. Manley went 7-of-8 from the foul line over the last 50 seconds of the first half, then tallied six points over the first five minutes of the second to stake the Eagles to a 45-42 advantage.

But Missouri State (8-2) rallied to score 12 of the next 14 points to reclaim the lead for good. Garrison converted back-to-back baskets, and Jaleshia Roberson buried her third and final three of the game with 10:16 to play. Boshe then connected in traffic with nine minutes to play to stretch the margin to 54-47.

But CSU got seven unanswered points from Leola Spotwood over a three-minute, 38-second stretch, the last two of which drew the Eagles to within one point with just 3:53 to play.

Malone sank a pair of free throws just 16 seconds later, then stole the ball and drove three-quarters of the court to convert a three-point play after hitting a layup and drawing a foul.

Opening Statement

With eight wins in its first 10 games, Missouri State is off to its best start under fourth-year head coach Nyla Milleson. The Lady Bears' 8-2 mark is their best through 10 games since 2003-04, when they began the season with victories in 20 of their first 21 games en route to a 28-4 campaign. Missouri State has advanced to the NCAA Tournament in each of the five seasons it has started with at least eight wins in its first 10 games since moving to Division I status in 1982.

The Defense Never Rests

Missouri State's defense has been one of the biggest surprises of the young season, entering the week with the No. 8 field goal percentage defense in the country. The Lady Bears have held four of their last five opponents under .300 from the field, a first in the 42-year history of the program. MSU also leads The Valley in three-point field goal percentage defense and blocked shots, ranking fourth in the nation in the latter category coming into the week.

Strength In Numbers

The Lady Bears ranked 42nd in this week's College Basketball News RPI Report (Dec. 12), making them the highest rated Valley team in the report. Creighton (64th) and Illinois State (82) also ranked among the top 100 teams, while the Valley was the 10th-highest rated conference.

Missouri State is also drawing recognition in several mid-major polls, including the CollegeInsider.com Women's Mid-Major Top 25 (Dec. 14), which ranked the Lady Bears No. 11, just one spot behind Illinois State, which was the highest rated Valley squad in the poll.

Home Cooking

The Lady Bears wrapped up their longest regular-season home stand in 32 years last week with three straight wins and a 4-1 mark overall. Over the five-game stretch, Missouri State held the opposition to a collective .279 shooting percentage and an average of just 54.2 points per contest. In their final non-conference home game of the season against SIU Edwardsville (Dec. 9), the Lady Bears matched or eclipsed five different JQH Arena team single-game records, including fewest points allowed (39), fewest points in a half (17), fewest field goals allowed (13), lowest field goal percentage allowed (.210) and widest margin of victory (+29).

700 Club

With its victory over Eastern Michigan (Dec. 3), Missouri State became one of three Division I women's programs to reach a substantial milestone the week of Nov. 29-Dec. 5. The Lady Bears 72-57 win represented the 700th win in program history, making MSU the 30th Division I team to reach the plateau. Duke notched its 700th victory on Nov. 30 with a win over James Madison, and Kansas joined the 700-win club as well the following night with a lopsided win over Maine.

The Lady Bears' previous two milestone victories came on the road; MSU reached the 600-win plateau on Feb. 26, 2004 with a 64-47 win at Illinois State, and joined the 500-victory club on Jan. 8, 2000, when it defeated Drake, 81-69 in Des Moines.

All-American Rejects

Through the first 10 games of her Missouri State career, sophomore transfer Tia Mays has already made an imprint in the Lady Bear record book. The 6-1 forward, who ranked 13th nationally in blocks per game coming into the week, rejected nine shots in MSU's 58-47 win over Arkansas State (Dec. 5), breaking the school record and matching the all-time Missouri Valley Conference mark for blocks in a single game, held by UNI's Cassie Hager. Mays eclipsed the MSU single-game record held by Sharon Zeilmann for nearly a quarter of a century. Zeilmann swatted away eight shots on two separate occasions during the 1986-87 season, the most recent of which came on Jan. 5, 1987 at Indiana State.

Mays followed up that effort with a six-block night against SIU Edwardsville (Dec. 9), and on Friday, climbed into the MSU single-season top 10 for blocks with three rejections at Coppin State.

Easy As 1-2-3

As a team, the Lady Bears lead the MVC in field goal percentage defense (.322), three-point field goal percentage defense (.249), blocked shots (6.2 bpg), total rebounding (47.2 rpg), defensive rebounding (31.5 rpg) and offensive rebounding (15.7 rpg), and rank first, second or third in 11 different team statistical categories.

Bench Marks

After being outscored in each of the first three games of the season, Missouri State's bench has outscored the last six Lady Bear opponents by a combined 135-64 margin. MSU reserves enjoyed a strong all-around performance in the Lady Bears' win over LA Tech (Nov. 27), out-scoring the Lady Techster reserves, 23-7 while also outrebounding them 22-7. MSU's contest against ORU (Nov. 30) produced even greater returns, as MSU finished with a 32-5 advantage in bench scoring vs. the Golden Eagles.

Double Your Trouble

The combined efforts of Jasmine Malone and Christiana Shorter vs. Eastern Michigan (Dec. 3) represented the first time MSU teammates have finished with double-doubles in the same game since January 2009, when Casey Garrison and Maggie Dwyer accomplished the feat in back-to-back games against Wichita State (Jan. 24) and Evansville (Jan. 27). Malone, who finished with a team-high 18 points, pulled down 10 rebounds to match a career high and record her first career double-double. Shorter turned in her best all-around effort of the season with a 15-point, 15-board night, good for the ninth double of her MSU career. Garrison just missed joining the duo in what would have been the first triple double-double on record at Missouri State, finishing with 12 points and nine rebounds in her return from an ankle injury that limited her to just 11 minutes in MSU's Nov. 30 loss to Oral Roberts.

Preseason Picks

For the first time in six seasons, the Lady Bears began a season as the Missouri Valley Conference's preseason favorite, as MSU was tabbed to win the conference title by the league's head coaches, media representatives and sports information directors. Additionally, junior guard Casey Garrison was the panel's unanimous choice for preseason MVC player of the year, while junior guard Jaleshia Roberson was also selected to the preseason All-MVC team.

With 10 letterwinners and four starters back from last year's breakthrough 22-11 campaign that saw them finish tied for third in the Valley and return to the postseason for the first time in four seasons, Missouri State garnered 27 of 40 first-place votes and 385 total points to outpace No. 2 UNI in the poll. The Panthers (329 points) grabbed three first-place votes, edging third-place Creighton - which picked up seven first-place nods - by just one point.

Missouri State's selection represented the ninth time in the last two decades the Lady Bears have been the preseason choice to win the conference's regular-season title, and its first since the 2004-05 campaign. The Lady Bears have captured the regular-season crown on seven of the previous eight occasions they have been picked to win the MVC race.

Joining Garrison and Roberson on the preseason All-Valley squad were UNI's Jacqui Kalin and Lizzie Boeck and Creighton's Sam Schuett.

Three-time defending league champion Illinois State (258) finished fourth in the polling, while Wichita State (226) came home fifth. Bradley (204) registered a sixth-place finish, while Drake (180), Indiana State (150), Southern Illinois (83) and Evansville (57) rounded out the field.

Most Valuable Lady Bear                       

Casey Garrison became the sixth Missouri State player to receive Valley MVP recognition when she was named the 2009-10 Jackie Stiles MVC Player of the Year on March 11.

Garrison joins an impressive list of former Lady Bears to earn the league's top honor, including Secelia Winkfield, Melody Howard, Kari Koch, Jenni Lingor and three-time honoree and the award's namesake, Jackie Stiles. Garrison is the third MSU sophomore to be named conference MVP, joining Stiles and Kari Koch. She is also joins Stiles and Koch as the only Lady Bears to be named MVC Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year in successive years. Additionally, Garrison became the 12th player in MSU history to be named first-team all-conference for a second time, and picked up MVC All-Defensive Team honors for the first time in her career.

Garrison also became the first Lady Bear since Kari Koch (2004) to receive all-region recognition from the WBCA when she was named a finalist for the State Farm All-America Team.

Watching No. 5    

Casey Garrison has been named to the prestigious 2010-11 Naismith preseason watch list, the Atlanta Tip Off Club announced Nov. 9. Garrison, the unanimous preseason choice to repeat as Valley player of the year, was the lone MVC player chosen for the 50-player list.

The watch list was compiled by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors, which based its criteria on player performances from the previous year and expectations for the 2010-11 college basketball season. The Naismith Trophy presented by AT&T will be awarded on April 4, 2011 at the Final Four in Indianapolis.

Garrison led the Missouri Valley Conference in scoring (19.9 ppg) and steals (2.7 spg) and ranked second in assists (5.1 apg), spearheading the Lady Bears' turnaround from a 10-20 season in 2008-09 to a 22-11 overall mark and third-place Valley finish last year. The 6-0 guard was the only Division I women's basketball player in the nation to rank among the top 35 individuals in those same three categories this season.

Since 2005, presenting sponsor AT&T has set the standard in allowing fans to participate in determining the trophy winner. Through the power and ease of text messaging fan voting will account for 25 percent of all of the final results - more than any other national college basketball award.

In late February, the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors will compile a mid-season team of the top 30 players in the nation. Then in March, the Naismith Trophy voting academy will vote to narrow the list to the four finalists.

The Naismith Trophy is the most prestigious national award presented annually to college basketball's player of the year.

For Openers

With their win vs. Lamar (Nov. 12), the Lady Bears are 21-21 all time in season openers. The 83-60 victory stopped a string of six consecutive opening-day losses. MSU won 10 straight lid-lifters from 1992-2001.

The contest also marked the second straight season opener at home for the Lady Bears. Last year, MSU dropped a 79-55 decision to Georgetown at JQH Arena. The Lady Bears are now 19-6 at home in season openers since the 1973-74 season and have won 15 of their last 17 such contests.

That's a Wrap

Missouri State concluded play in the Preseason WNIT with a 73-69 victory over Toledo Nov. 20, bringing to a close a successful appearance in the tournament. The Lady Bears notched two wins over 2010 postseason participants (Lamar, Toledo), bringing their all-time mark in the event to 5-4. MSU's victory over the Rockets also ended a 14-game home win streak for the MAC West Division favorite.

Rolling in the WNIT

Junior guard Casey Garrison has never had difficulty filling up a stat line, but her first six games in the WNIT were particularly noteworthy in that department. Over Missouri State's three games in last spring's Postseason WNIT and its three games in this year's Preseason WNIT, Garrison averaged 25.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per outing. The Bolivar, Mo., product was on fire from long range, connecting on 15-of-20 (.750) three-point attempts, while hitting 38-of-42 (.905) foul shots over the same stretch.

Missouri State All-Time

Missouri State is in its 42nd season of women's collegiate basketball and has an all-time record of 704-488 (.591). MSU began formal competition in 1969 and, with its 22-11 mark last year, secured its 27th winning season. The Lady Bears have made 13 NCAA Tournament appearances, highlighted by Final Four trips in 1992 and 2001 to go along with a Sweet 16 appearance in 1993.

The Lady Bears are in their 29th NCAA Division I season and 19th MVC year. MSU was in AIAW competition on the state, regional and national levels through the 1981-82 season, moved to Division I and Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference play in 1982-83 and started MVC competition in 1992-93 when the Gateway merged with The Valley.

Fandemonium

With the conclusion of their first two seasons in JQH Arena, the Lady Bears extended a streak that dates back more than 20 years. Missouri State drew 59,804 spectators in 17 home dates in 2009-10 for an average of 3,518 fans per game. MSU's total attendance led the MVC for the 21st consecutive year, and the Lady Bears outdrew 10 AP Top 25 teams, as well as regional foes Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma State and Iowa in per-game attendance.

Since the 1990-91 season, Missouri State has ranked in the top 20 nationally in average attendance 19 times, including a string of 10 straight top-10 finishes from 1992 through the 2000-01 season. The Lady Bears led all of Division I women's basketball in attendance during the 1992-93 season by averaging 7,421 fans per contest.

Over the last two decades, MSU is fourth among all Division I women's programs in average attendance, trailing only Tennessee, Connecticut and Texas Tech. Additionally, the Lady Bears have finished in the top 50 nationally in per game attendance for 24 straight years.

Lady Bears on the Air

For the 26th consecutive year, Lady Bear basketball will be broadcast by Meyer Communications, which operates Springfield radio station KTXR (101.3 FM). All games will air live on either KTXR or "The Jock" 98.7 FM, and can also be heard over the internet atRadioSpringfield.com.

Rob Evans is back for his fourth season calling the action for Missouri State, and former Lady Bear Dr. Lynne Miller will provide color commentary. Evans will also host "The Nyla Milleson Radio Show" which will originate from one of the two Springfield Houlihan's locations and air primarily on  "The Jock" 98.7 FM (KWTO) once a week during the regular season.

Over the next four years, 17 Missouri State University basketball games will be carried annually by KY3, Inc., the parent company of local broadcast stations KYTV and Ozarks CW (KCZ), as part of the two-tier television rights package negotiated Nelligan Sports Marketing (NSM).

The agreement includes eight women's games per season. Each contest will be carried live over the air, on cable, and on satellite carriers Dish Network and Direct TV within the KY3 and Ozarks CW footprints, which cover 31 counties in two states. Network affiliates already secured include Metro Sports in Kansas City and Charter Communications in St. Louis.

Additionally, at least two regular-season Lady Bear games this season will be broadcast live locally on Fox Sports Midwest as part of  the MVC Television Network.