Missouri State Lady Bears (20-8, 12-5 MVC) 

vs. 

Bradley Braves (15-12, 11-6 MVC) 

Game Overview

After reaching the 20-win plateau for the 15th time in school history with Thursday's victory at UNI, the Missouri State Lady Bears still control their own destiny as far as securing the No. 2 seed at next week's State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament heading into Saturday's regular-season finale against the Bradley Braves in East Peoria, Ill.

The Lady Bears turned in one of their best all-around performances Thursday, building an early 17-point lead against UNI, then cruising to a 95-79 victory to clinch at least a fourth-place MVC finish. Bradley posted a hard-fought 58-55 win over Wichita State to stay within one game of the Lady Bears in the Valley standings, keeping alive its hopes of a second-place Valley finish.

Quick Hits

► The Lady Bears will clinch at least a tie for second place in the MVC standings with a victory over Bradley; MSU wrapped up at least a fourth-place finish Thursday, which marks its best in five years

► Entering Saturday's game tied with Creighton for second place in the Valley, MSU holds the head-to-head tiebreaker vs. the Bluejays; several seeding scenarios involving a tie with Bradley, as well as a three-way tie with the Braves and Bluejays are still in play pending the outcome of Saturday's action, however 

► Casey Garrison needs 14 points to catch Sarah Klaassen in the No. 19 position on the Lady Bears' career scoring chart; Garrison is the lone NCAA Division I player to rank among the top 30 in individual scoring (13th), assists (27th) and steals (28th) through games of March 4

► MSU ranks 13th in in the nation in team scoring (77.4) and 12th in team free throw percentage (.761)

► The Lady Bears' win at UNI Thursday marked their eighth road win of the season; that total is MSU's best since the 2004-05 season, when it went 9-6 on the road

► Jaleshia Roberson's 77 three-point field goals on the season is the fourth-highest all-time at MSU; the sophomore guard needs six more treys to move up to second place on the list

Series History

Saturday's game will be Missouri State's 60th in its series with Bradley. MSU enters with a commanding 41-19 advantage, including a 15-11 mark against the Braves on their home court.

Bradley has enjoyed some recent success against the Lady Bears, having taken five of the last eight contests. MSU, however, came from behind to post a 72-67 win over BU in the MVC opener for both clubs, Dec. 31, at JQH Arena.The Lady Bears outscored Bradley 13-4 over the final four minutes of regulation, as Lacey Boshe turned in a career-best 24 points to lead the Lady Bears' rally from a 12-point, second-half deficit.

The Coaches

Nyla Milleson (Kansas State, '85) is in her third season at Missouri State with a 41-47 mark as the Lady Bears' mentor and an overall record of 226-83 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.

Paula Buscher (Missouri State, '86) is in her 10th season at Bradley and her 13th season overall as a collegiate head coach. The Peoria, Ill., native has compiled a 175-192 career record, including a 132-154 mark as head coach of the Braves. The former Lady Bear guard (1983-85) led the Braves to a school-record 21 victories in 2008-09 en route to being named Rawling's MVC Coach of the Year. Buscher made head coaching stops at Minnesota State-Mankato and Nebraska-Omaha before accepting the Bradley job in 2000. In 21 games against Missouri State, Buscher's Braves are 8-13, including a 4-5 mark on BU's home floor.

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 Saturday's game averaging 7.4 points or more. Sophomore Casey Garrison leads the conference in scoring (19.8 ppg) and steals (2.8 spg), ranks second in assists (5.4) and was the only Division I player to rank among the top 30 nationally in those three categories through games of March 4. Garrison also rates among the circuit's leaders in offensive rebounding (3.1 rpg), assist-turnover ratio (1.9) minutes played (35.9 mpg), field goal percentage (.491), rebounding (7.4 rpg) and free throw percentage (.840) entering Saturday's action. Freshman forward Christiana Shorter has come on strong since the start of MVC play, entering the weekend as the sixth-leading rebounder (7.3 rpg) among all Valley players in conference play. The Tulsa native is also 11th in the conference in steals per game (1.8 spg) during MVC play and third overall on the team with a 11.2 ppg, scoring average. The Lady Bears' No. 2 scorer, sophomore Jaleshia Roberson (14.4 ppg), has two 30+ point games to her credit so far this season, ranking 27th in the country with an average of 2.8 three-pointers per outing. Her 77 treys on the year is the fourth-highest single-season total in school history.

As a team, Missouri State's scoring average (77.4 ppg) was the 13th-best in all of Division I women's basketball, while its three-point field goal (.376) percentage ranked 17th and its free-throw (.761) was 12th nationally through March 4.    

Scouting the Braves

Bradley retuned 10 letterwinners and three starters from last year's 21-10 squad that set a school record for victories in a season and advanced to the semifinal round of the State Farm MVC Tournament for the first time ever. BU is 15-12 overall this year behind a balanced cast that features five players averaging better than five points per outing. Leading the way is junior forward Sonya Harris (9.1 ppg), a second-team All-MVC selection in 2008-09. Harris's 10.0 rebounds per contest rank second in the league, while her 2.1 blocks per outing lead the MVC. Freshman Katie Yohn (10.0 ppg/2.1 apg) is the Braves leading scorer and top three-point threat, while junior guard Raisa Taylor (8.7 ppg/4.7 rpg) leads the team with 41 steals on the year. Senior Jenny Van Kirk and sophomore Leah Kassing give BU a solid inside presence, combining for over 12 points and nine rebounds per game.

As a team, Bradley leads the Valley in total rebounding (41.3 rpg) and blocked shots (5.0 bpg) and ranks second in the league in assists (14.1 apg.). BU has struggled at the foul line, converting only 59.8 percent of its attempts, as well as in the turnover department, entering the weekend averaging just under 22 giveaways per outing.

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 .451 from the field and better than 81 percent from the foul line in the final five minutes of all games this season. Casey Garrison been especially efficient down the stretch, shooting .443 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 2.4 points per game, which equates to a 40-minute average of 48.0 points per contest.

That's More Like It

With their win at UNI Thursday, the Lady Bears notched their 20th victory of the season, which is their top total in three years under Nyla Milleson. Missouri State's 20 wins is the second-highest total in the MVC entering the weekend, and coupled with its 12-5 league mark, represents quite a turnaround from a year ago, when the Lady Bears managed just six wins in MVC play and just 10 victories overall.

Missouri State's 20-win season is its 15th in 41 years of varsity competition. In the 12 seasons it has reached the 20-win mark since joining the Division I ranks in 1982-83, MSU has advanced to the NCAA Tournament 11 times.

So Far, So Good

MSU's 20-8 start is its best since the 2004-05 season, when it won 20 of its first 28 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

Sophomore guard Casey Garrison put her abilities on full display during last Sunday's win over Evansville, pouring home 21 points in the first 11:24 of the second half to spark a 29-10 run that turned a two-point MSU deficit into a 62-45 contest. That stretch included a field goal with just over 14 minutes left on the clock that put her over the 1,000-point mark in just her 57th career game. In doing so, she became the second-fastest to reach the mark in Missouri Valley Conference history, trailing only NCAA Division I scoring leader and fellow Lady Bear Jackie Stiles, who accomplished the feat in her 44th collegiate game.

Garrison's career scoring average of 17.8 ppg, is the second-highest mark in school history behind Stiles's 26.1 career average.

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.

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 28 games of the season, the Lady Bears are outscoring the opposition by a 504-365 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 19 times and has put up 157 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 13 free throw shooters coming into the weekend. Jaleshia Roberson  enters Saturday's game ninth overall, shooting 84.2 percent from the stripe, while Casey Garrison is right on her heels, ranking 10th with a season mark of .840. The No. 6 free-throw shooter in MVC play (.907), Lacey Boshe ranks 13th overall in the circuit with an .813 percentage. The trio has combined to hit on 190-of-220 (.864) attempts from the line in MVC play.

In their Feb. 20 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 17 games of the MVC slate, they have combined for 36.1 points per outing, with Garrison's 20.6 ppg, average pacing all scorers by 3.5 points per game. Roberson is scoring at a 15.6 ppg, clip, which is good for fifth in the circuit. Furthermore, Garrison leads the conference in two 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 Saturday's game with a 15.1 apg, average. Casey Garrison's 5.4 assist per-game average ranks second in the circuit, while Jaleshia Roberson is 11th among all Valley players with a 3.0 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 10.5 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 2.8 takeaways per game to lead the league coming into Saturday's game, while Jaleshia Roberson and Christiana Shorter are tied for 13th in the MVC with identical 1.5 spg, averages.

Road Warriors

The Lady Bears notched their eighth road win of the season Thursday at UNI, 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.

Leaders of the Pack

The Lady Bears lead the Valley in four team statistical categories and rank second in five others. Missouri State paces the conference in scoring (77.4), assists (15.1), steals (10.5) and turnover margin (+2.4). Additionally, the Lady Bears were ranked among the top 20 teams nationally in scoring (13th), three-point field goal percentage (19th) and free throw percentage (12th) through games of March 4. Overall, MSU ranks in the top 50 in the nation in seven team categories.

Lady Bears Land Hardware

For the third time this season, sophomore guard Casey Garrison picked up Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week honors. Garrison earned her fourth career weekly award as the league's top performer for the period Feb. 22-28, after averaging 25.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 4.0 steals in lifting the Lady Bears to their 18th and 19th victories of the season.

Garrison joins fellow MSU sophomore Jaleshia Roberson and Illinois State's Ashleen Bracey as the only three-time MVC Player of the Week honorees this season. Freshman Christiana Shorter has also racked up her share of awards in 2009-10. The Tulsa native has been named MVC Newcomer of the Week four times, making her one of two Valley players (along with SIU's Stephany Neptune) to receive four weekly awards this season.

Garrison's award continued a recent stream of MVC honors for the Lady Bears, as MSU has earned at least one of the two weekly citations from the Valley in eight of the 16 weeks the conference office has presented individual honors. In all, the Lady Bears have piled up 11 individual honors so far this year, which is more than twice as many as the next most-decorated clubs (Southern Illinois and Wichita State with four each) in the MVC. 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. Shorter earned her Newcomer of the Week honors on Dec. 7, Jan. 11, Feb. 1 and Feb. 8, while Roberson was honored as Valley Player of the Week on Dec. 21, Jan. 11 and Feb. 8.

Buzz Bombs Away

Senior guard Melissa Busby enters Saturday's game eighth on the school's all-time three-point field goals list with 135. MSU's active leader in games played (100), Busby also has a chance to climb further on the three-point attempts chart, coming into the contest sixth all-time with 406 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 last Friday when she didn't attempt a single three on the night vs. Southern Illinois.

Missouri State All-Time

Missouri State is in its 41st season of women's collegiate basketball and has an all-time record of 694-483 (.590). MSU began formal competition in 1969 and, with its 20-8 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 MVC competition in 1992-93 when the Gateway merged with The Valley.

Bundle Up

With their win over league-leading Creighton (Jan. 9), 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 its Jan. 7 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 their 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.

MSU Peaks in The Valley

The Lady Bears are 222-97 all-time in MVC play with a 130-30 home record against league foes. Missouri State has won at least a share of 11 regular-season titles and nine conference tournaments since the 1989-90 season. MSU has played in 10 of the 17 Valley tournament championship games and 12 of the 24 title games since the inception of the Gateway Conference Tournament in 1983.