Missouri State Lady Bears (18-8, 10-5 MVC) 

vs. 

Evansville Purple Aces (4-23, 1-15 MVC) 

Game Overview

The Missouri State Lady Bears will wrap up the home portion of their 2009-10 schedule Sunday afternoon when they welcome the Evansville Purple Aces to JQH Arena for a 2:05 p.m., contest.

MSU secured its first winning Missouri Valley Conference season in five years with an 83-72 victory over Southern Illinois Friday. The win also ensured the Lady Bears of no worse than a sixth-place regular-season finish, meaning they will have the benefit of an opening-round bye at the State Farm MVC Tournament. Evansville, on the other hand, dropped its eighth consecutive contest with a 25-point setback at Wichita State. The Purple Aces will be looking to avenge an 86-57 setback to the Lady Bears on Jan. 30 at Roberts Stadium.

Quick Hits

► The Lady Bears are 11-1 on Senior Day since the 1997-98 season

► For the third straight year, Missouri State will take part in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's Pink Zone initiative benefitting breast cancer awareness; The Lady Bears are unbeaten in their previous three Pink Zone games at home

► Casey Garrison is the lone NCAA Division I player to rank among the top 40 in individual scoring (17th), assists (20th) and steals (34th) through games of Feb. 25; Garrison enters Sunday's game needing 20 points to become the second-quickest ever in the Valley to reach the 1,000-point mark

► The Lady Bears' win over SIU Friday was its 10th victory at JQH Arena this season, marking their highest home win total since the 2005-06 season, when they went 14-4 at Hammons Student Center; the victory also assured MSU of its first double-digit MVC win total since 2004-05

►Jaleshia Roberson's 75 three-point field goals on the season is tied for fourth all-time at MSU; the sophomore guard needs eight more treys to move into second place on the list, currently shared by Kari Koch and Jenni Lingor

Series History

Missouri State brings a 25-9 series advantage over Evansville into Sunday's game. MSU has won 14 of the previous 15 meetings in Springfield, as well as 14 of the last 20 games overall in the series.

The Lady Bears will be looking for their fourth straight win over the Purple Aces after posting a commanding 86-57 win in Evansville (Jan. 30) in the two clubs' first meeting of the season. Casey Garrison turned in a 28-point performance, hitting 12-of-13 field goal attempts to help the Lady Bears shoot .531 as a team. In three career games vs. Evansville, Garrison has been at the top of her game, converting 75 percent of her field goal tries and averaging 22.0 points to go along with 5.3 boards, 4.0 steals and 4.0 assists per outing.

The Coaches

Nyla Milleson (Kansas State, '85) is in her third season at Missouri State with a 39-47 mark as the Lady Bears' mentor and an overall record of 224-83 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.

Misty Murphy (Colorado State, '98) is 19-42 in her second year as head coach of Evansville and 127-107 overall in eight years as a collegiate head coach. Last year, Murphy guided the Purple Aces to just the second MVC tourney title and NCAA appearance in school history. She accepted the UE job in 2008 after helping guide Rice to a pair of postseason appearances and a 51-46 mark in three years as an assistant coach. Murphy spent four years as a Division II head coach at Colorado State-Pueblo, where she went 66-46 and won a pair of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference titles. The Grand Junction, Colo., native also headed the Sheridan College program from 1999-2001, leading her team to back-to-back Region IX North Sub-Region titles at the junior college level.

Scouting the Lady Bears

Picked to finish seventh in the MVC's preseason poll, Missouri State has gotten balanced contributions across the board, as six players enter the week averaging 7.8 points or more. Sophomore Casey Garrison led the conference in scoring (19.4 ppg), assists (5.4 apg) and steals (2.7 spg) coming into the weekend, and was the only Division I player to rank among the top 40 nationally in those three categories. Garrison rated among the circuit's leaders in offensive rebounding (3.2 rpg), assist-turnover ratio (0.9) minutes played (36.0 mpg), field goal percentage (.483), rebounding (7.5 rpg) and free throw percentage (.839) entering Friday's action. Freshman forward Christiana Shorter has come on strong since the start of MVC play, entering the weekend as the sixth-leading rebounder (7.2 rpg) among all Valley players in conference play. The Tulsa native was also 10th in the conference in steals per game (1.7 spg) during MVC play and third overall on the team with a 10.5 ppg, scoring average. The Lady Bears' No. 2 scorer, sophomore Jaleshia Roberson (14.7 ppg), has two 30+ point games to her credit so far this season, ranking 18th in the country with an average of 2.8 three-pointers per outing. Her 75 treys on the year are tied for the fourth-highest single-season total in school history.

As a team, Missouri State's scoring average (76.5 ppg) was the 14th-best in all of Division I women's basketball, while its free-throw (.755) and three-point field goal (.383) percentages ranked 20th nationally through Feb. 25.

Scouting the Purple Aces

Evansville returns six letterwinners and two starters from last year's 15-19 squad that charged through the field at the State Farm MVC Tournament with four victories in four days to secure the program's second-ever NCAA Tournament berth. The Purple Aces faced a challenging non-conference slate that included the likes of seven post-season qualifiers from a year ago. UE won three of its 11 pre-conference games before dropping 15 of its first 16 Valley games. Last in the MVC in scoring offense (55.5 ppg), Evansville has struggled to find a consistent go-to weapon. One of just two seniors on UE's inexperienced roster, Amy Gallagher leads the way with a 10.7 ppg, average. No other player averages more than 6.9 points per outing, but the Purple Aces make up for a lack of scoring punch with a balanced cast featuring five players scoring between 5.4 and 6.9 points per outing. Gallagher receives help on the perimeter from sophomore Jordan Lewis (5.6 ppg), freshman Kaylan Martin (6.1 ppg) and junior Stephanie Bamberger (5.4 ppg). On the interior, freshman Samantha Heck (6.9 ppg) and sophomore Chelsea Falkenstein (5.7 ppg) are carrying the load, entering the weekend averaging 4.8 and 4.9 rebounds per game, respectively.

Despite giving up a league-worst 71.4 points per game, Evansville does feature the MVC's top three-point field goal defense. The Purple Aces are holding the opposition to just 28.9 percent shooting from beyond the arc.   

Crunch Time

One of the keys to the Lady Bears' turnaround in 2009-10 has been their ability to come through down the stretch. MSU is shooting .441 from the field and better than 80 percent from the foul line in the final five minutes of all games this season. Casey Garrison been especially efficient down the stretch, shooting .450 from the field and nearly 89 percent from the charity stripe in the last five minutes. The sophomore has been even better over the last two minutes of play, contributing 2.65points, which equates to a 40-minute average of 50.0 points per contest.

That's More Like It

With their win over Southern Illinois on Friday, the Lady Bears notched their 18th victory of the season, which is their top total in three years under Nyla Milleson. Missouri State's 18 wins is the second-highest total in the MVC entering the week, and coupled with its 10-5 league mark, represents quite a turnaround from a year ago, when the Lady Bears managed just five wins in their first 15 Valley games and just nine victories overall through the same point in the conference season.

So Far, So Good

MSU's 18-8 start is its best since the 2004-05 season, when it won 19 of its first 26 games en route to a 25-8 finish and the postseason WNIT championship. Since the 1990-91 season, the Lady Bears have advanced to the postseason in each of the 11 seasons they have posted at least 17 wins in their first 25 games.

Take a Number

In just her 48th career game, sophomore guard Casey Garrison topped the 800-point plateau and moved onto Missouri State's career top 30 scoring list with her 21-point effort vs. Wichita State (Jan. 23). She passed Gail Beck to move into the No. 21 position on the list with her 24-point performance Friday night vs. SIU.

Garrison enters Sunday's contest with 980 points in 56 career games, good for an average of 17.5 ppg, the second-highest mark in school history behind Jackie Stiles's 26.1 career scoring mark. Unofficially, if she were to top the 1,000-point mark Sunday, her time to reach the plateau would be the second-fastest in Valley history. Fellow Lady Bear Jackie Stiles holds the distinction of being the quickest to 1,000 points, reaching the figure in her 44th collegiate game in 1999. Drake's Wanda Ford is believed to be the current No. 2 on the list, topping the mark in her 58th career game as a Bulldog in 1984.

Cardiac Cubs

No lead has been safe for Lady Bear opponents so far in 2009-10, as MSU has claimed victories in five games in which they have faced double-digit deficits. On Feb. 7, the Lady Bears overcame an 18-point deficit to Drake to come away with an 87-78 win, marking their biggest come-from-behind victory since at least the 1990-91 season. Previously, MSU overcame deficits of 10 points to Indiana State (Jan. 16), 12 points against Bradley (Dec. 31) 11 points vs. UNI and UTEP to post victories. Entering the season 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.

Senior Send-Off

The Lady Bears will honor their lone senior, Melissa Busby, Sunday when they square off against Evansville. Busby, MSU's No. 8 all-time three-point shooter, is also closing in on the centrury mark for career games played, entering her final home game at 98. The team will also honor Busby's classmate, three-year letterwinner Roxy Stiles. Due to a chronic hip condition, Stiles was forced to forgo her senior year. The Claflin, Kan., native is currently working toward completing her undergraduate degree at MSU.

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 26 games of the season, the Lady Bears are outscoring the opposition by a 466-341 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 18 times and has put up 146 more charity tosses than its opponents, an average of +5.6 per outing so far this season. Additionally, three Lady Bears ranked among the MVC's top 11 free throw shooters coming into the weekend. The No. 2 free-throw shooter in MVC play (.947), Lacey Boshe ranked eighth overall in the circuit coming into Friday's action, while Casey Garrison was a fraction of a percentage point behind in ninth. Jaleshia Roberson was right on their heels, ranking 11th. The trio has combined to hit on 173-of-199 (.869) attempts from the line in MVC play, including a streak of 21 straight conversions by Boshe.

In last Saturday's loss at Wichita State, the Lady Bears set a Missouri State road record for foul line efficiency by going 13-of-13 from the stripe. That effort marked the sixth perfect game from the line on record at MSU and represented the second-best single-game performance in school history. The Lady Bears' all-time best game from the line came vs. Drake on March 10, 2001, when MSU went 16-of-16 against the Bulldogs.

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 outings 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.

The Lady Bears super sophomores have been two of the top Valley performers this season, particularly during conference play. Through the first 14 games of the MVC slate, they have combined for 36.1 points per outing, with Garrison's 19.9 ppg, average pacing all scorers by better than three points per game. Roberson is scoring at a 16.2 clip, which is good for fourth in the circuit. Furthermore, Garrison leads the conference in four statistical categories overall and ranks among the top five in six categories in MVC play.

Hand It Over

Missouri State is leading the Missouri Valley Conference in team assists, coming into Sunday's game with a 14.9 apg, average. Coming into the weekend, Casey Garrison's 5.4 assist per-game average was tops in the circuit, while Jaleshia Roberson ranked 12th among all Valley players with a 2.9 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. Roberson has also posted a career game for assists in 2009-10, handing out nine in the Lady Bears' win at Evansville on Jan. 30.

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 was averaging 2.73 takeaways per game to lead the league coming into Friday's game, while Jaleshia Roberson was 13th in the MVC with a 1.54 spg, average. Freshman forward Christiana Shorter is close behind in 15th with 1.50 takeaways per outing.

Road Warriors

The Lady Bears notched their seventh road win of the season Feb. 12 at Indiana State, surpassing their total number of victories on the road for the previous three seasons combined. Additionally, its 86-57 win over Evansville on Jan. 30, marked MSU's largest margin of victory on the road under Nyla Milleson and its most-lopsided win away from home since a 96-55 win at Wichita State on Jan. 30, 2005.

The Long and Shorter of It

Since the start of conference play, Christiana Shorter has averaged 12.5 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, while posting four double-digit rebounding games, as well as three double-doubles. She was 10th among all Valley players in steals per game (1.9) and sixth in rebounding coming into the week, and her 2.9 offensive boards per game in MVC play was tied with fellow Lady Bear Casey Garrison for the second-highest figure in the circuit. Additionally, Shorter's 28 blocked shots ranked as the seventh-best single-season total in MSU history.

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).

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.

Buzz Bombs Away

Senior guard Melissa Busby enters Sunday's game eighth on the school's all-time three-point field goals list with 135. MSU's active leader in games played (98), Busby also has a chance to climb further on the three-point attempts chart, coming into the contest sixth all-time with 402 tries from beyond the arc. The Edmond, Okla., native moved past Tina Robbins for sole possession of the eighth spot on the career three-point field goals list by going 2-of-4 from long range in MSU's win over Evansville (Jan. 30) and needs four more makes to reach Tahnee Balerio and K.C. Cowgill, who are tied for the sixth spot. Busby and passed Sarah Klaassen (395) for the sixth position on the career attempts chart in MSU's loss at Illinois State (Feb. 14). Busby's streak of hitting at least one triple in 16 straight games came to an end Friday when she didn't attempt a single three on the night.

Missouri State All-Time

Missouri State is in its 41st season of women's collegiate basketball and has an all-time record of 692-483 (.589). MSU began formal competition in 1969 and, with its 18-8 mark this year, has wrapped up 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 Sixteen appearance in 1993.

The Lady Bears are in their 28th NCAA Division I season and 18th 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 competition in the MVC in 1992-93 when the Gateway merged with the Valley.