Missouri State Lady Bears (11-3, 2-0 MVC) 

vs. 

UNI Panthers (8-5, 1-1 MVC) 

Game Overview

After posting a 2-0 start to the conference season for the second straight year, the Missouri State Lady Bears will head north Thursday for a showdown with the UNI Panthers at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The Lady Bears will be shooting for their first 3-0 MVC start since the 2003-04 season, when they reeled off 11 victories to kick-off the Valley season.

MSU showed why they were the preseason choice of the league's coaches, media representatives and sports information directors to win the MVC regular-season crown by dispatching Southern Illinois and Evansville in short order last weekend. The Lady Bears 32-point win over SIU on Friday marked its largest margin of victory under head coach Nyla Milleson, while their 75-54 victory against UE extended their home win streak in conference play to six games.

Picked second in the Missouri Valley Conference's preseason poll, UNI split its two games on the opening weekend of MVC play, topping Indiana State in Terre Haute before dropping a 69-60 decision to Illinois State in Normal on Saturday.

 

Quick Hits

► Missouri State's 11-3 start represents its best in four seasons under Nyla Milleson, as well as the Lady Bears' top effort over the first 13 games since 2003-04, when they started 20-1

► The Lady Bears were the top-ranked Valley team at No. 49 in this week's RPI ratings; Creighton (74) and Illinois State (88) were also among the top 100 

► Missouri State is 7-0 when shooting above .400 from the floor and 11-0 when holding the opposition under 70 points

► Following last weekend's sweep of Southern Illinois and Evansville, MSU has won six straight MVC home games dating back to February 5 and is a combined 12-2 with nine consecutive victories vs. SIU and UE under Milleson

► The Lady Bears' win over SIU (Dec. 31) gave them a school-record seven wins in the month of December; MSU's 7-1 mark in December represents its best in any month since going 8-1 in January of 2005; the Lady Bears have won 16 of their last 18 December games over the last three years

► Reigning MVC Player of the Year Casey Garrison moved past LaTanya Davis into 12th place on the Lady Bears' career scoring chart with her eight-point performance vs. SIU; she needs one more point to catch Karen Rapier (1,365) in the 11th spot and 28 points to crack the top 10

► Garrison and fellow junior Jasmine Malone have combined to hit 44 of their last 45 free throw attempts, dating back to Nov. 17; Malone has connected on 10 straight attempts at the line after seeing her streak of 15 straight makes come to an end Dec. 19 at Georgetown, while Garrison went 2-of-2 vs. SIU (Dec. 31) to stretch her streak to a career-high 19 straight makes; Garrison has knocked down 57-of-62 (.919) free throws on the season to lead the MVC; she has four different streaks of at least nine consecutive makes from the foul line this season and two of at least 13 straight conversions

► With nine rebounds vs. Evansville (Jan. 2) Garrison became just the third player in program history to record 1,300 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists for her career, joining Secelia Winkfield and Jenni Lingor in the exclusive club

► MSU leads The Valley in scoring defense (58.2 ppg), scoring margin (+10.6), total rebounding (47.4 rpg), field goal percentage defense (.315), three-point field goal percentage defense (.250), defensive rebounding (32.0 rpg), offensive rebounding (15.4 rpg) and blocked shots (6.4)

► Tia Mays leads the MVC in blocked shots (3.4 bpg), moving up to fourth on the MSU single-season top 10 blocks list with six rejections Sunday vs. Evansville; she has at least five blocks in five of her last eight games and at least five boards in 11 straight contests

► Jaleshia Roberson moved into sole possession of sixth place on MSU's all-time three-point field goals list Sunday; she needs eight more threes to catch Sarah Klaassen in the No. 5 spot after passing Tahnee Balerio and K.C. Cowgill (139) with her 2-of-9 effort from beyond the arc against the Purple Aces

► Christiana Shorter ranks among the Valley's top 10 in six individual statistical categories, including rebounding, field goal percentage, offensive rebounding, blocks, steals and defensive rebounding

 

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 enter 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 14 games of the new season, Garrison is once again among the league leaders in a number of statistical categories, including free throw percentage (1st), three-point field goal percentage (3rd), scoring (2nd), assist-turnover ratio (2nd) and assists (6th).

Garrison has received help in the back court from fellow junior Jasmine Malone, who has scored in double figures in seven straight games and ranks second on the team in scoring (12.4 ppg) and third in rebounding (6.2 rpg). Freshman Karly Buer, who enters the weekend fifth on the team with a 6.4 point per game average, has also been a key cog in the Lady Bear attack. A Concordia, Kan., native, Buer is second on the team in assists (32) 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 Valley in rebounding (8.5 rpg), while her 11.9 ppg average is third on the squad and 15th in the conference. Sophomore Tia Mays (4.6 ppg/7.2 rpg) has also played a significant role for MSU, leading the Lady Bears' defensive resurgence with a league-high 3.4 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 opened 3-2 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

► 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)

► The Lady Bear defense limited Morgan State (Dec. 21) to just 14-of-72 (.194) shooting, marking the second-lowest single-game field goal percentage on record for a Missouri State opponent; that performance followed a similar effort vs. SIU Edwardsville (.210) on Dec. 9 which matched MSU's Jan. 22, 2004 performance vs. Texas-Pan American for the third-lowest single-game percentage

► 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

► 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 was named MVC Player of the Week for the second straight week and the sixth time of her career on Nov. 22

► Tia 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

► 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 Panthers

Picked second in the Missouri Valley Conference's preseason poll, the Panthers are off to an 8-5 start after returning 10 letterwinners and three starters from last year's NCAA Tournament squad that finished 17-16. Head coach Tanya Warren's club is led by a pair of four-year standouts in Lizzie Boeck and Jacqui Kalin. Boeck (15.3 ppg/8.4 rpg) leads the Panthers and ranks third in the Valley in both scoring and rebounding, while Kalin (14.7 ppg/2.9 apg) also rates among the league's leaders in scoring (5th) and free throw percentage (2nd). Junior guard Katelin Oney (10.8 ppg) provides UNI with a long-distance threat, entering Thursday's action second in the conference in three-point field goal percentage (.443). She and Kalin receive help from a pair of juniors in K.K. Armstrong (6.9 ppg) and Rachel Madrigal (6.5 ppg/1.5 spg). On the interior, senior Erin Brocka gives UNI a solid second option to complement Boeck, entering the week averaging 6.2 points and 6.5 boards per contest.

As a team, UNI averages nearly eight three-point field goals per contest to lead the conference. The Panthers also excel at the foul line, where they have converted 76.7 percent of their attempts so far this year to rank 16th in the nation.

 

The Coaches

Nyla Milleson (Kansas State, '85) is in her fourth season as the head coach at Missouri State with a 54-53 mark as the Lady Bears' mentor and an overall record of 239-89 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.      

Tanya Warren (Creighton, '88) is 49-58 in her fourth season as both coach of the Panthers and overall as a collegiate head coach. A Des Moines, Iowa, native, Warren led UNI to its first NCAA Tournament appearance last year, as the Panthers went 17-15 following back-to-back sixth-place Valley finishes her first two campaigns. Warren came back to UNI in the spring of 2007 after spending the previous three seasons as associate head coach at her alma mater. She served as an assistant on Tony DiCecco's UNI staff from 1995-2001, then spent three seasons at Missouri before returning to Creighton in 2004.

 

Series History

Thursday's game will be the 61st renewal of the rivalry between the Lady Bears and Panthers, with Missouri State holding a commanding 45-15 lead in the series.

MSU has won six of the last 10 meetings between the two clubs, including a pair of wins last season. UNI has taken four of the last six contests played in Cedar Falls, but the Lady Bears still possess a 17-12 overall mark in the series on the Panthers home court.

Last Time Out

Behind a monster performance from Christiana Shorter and their best team shooting effort of the season, the Lady Bears improved to 2-0 in Missouri Valley Conference play with a 75-54 victory over Evansville Sunday afternoon at JQH Arena. Shorter recorded her 12th career double-double with a 21-point, 14-rebound effort to help MSU win at home for the sixth straight time in Valley play and the eighth time in its last nine games overall.

MSU seized control for good with a 32-12 scoring spurt over a 10-minute, 22-second stretch to turn a two-point game into its largest advantage of the afternoon. Shorter and Jasmine Malone each tallied eight points during the pivotal run that saw the Lady Bear defense kick into high gear as well. MSU, which outscored the Purple Aces 42-16 in the paint, limited UE to just four points over a span of six-and-a-half minutes to allow the offense to take over.

Shorter would finish the afternoon 8-of-12 from the floor to highlight Missouri State's .470 (31-of-66) shooting day and lead a contingent of four Lady Bears in double figures. Malone notched her seventh straight double-figure scoring effort with 14 points, while Casey Garrison and Jaleshia Roberson added 13 and 10 points, respectively.

The Lady Bears' fifth straight win over Evansville did not come without a struggle, as MSU led by as many as 17 points in the opening period before the Purple Aces heated up from long range late in the half to make it a contest.

MSU gained some breathing room at the free throw line, as Shorter sank four consecutive foul shots, and Lacey Boshe connected on a pair of tries from the line as well over the ensuing three minutes. Roberson and Shorter would then convert back-to-back buckets in transition to make it a 53-41 contest with 10:25 to play.

After a Malone jumper made it a 14-point game with just over eight minutes to go, Evansville made one final push. Bamberger connected from three-point range and Briyana Blair hit two free throws to pull the Aces to within 57-48.

But Missouri State responded with 12 unanswered points, five of which came from Kendra Roberts. Roberson's second trey of the day with 4:33 to play hiked the Lady Bear lead to 21, and Malone's lay-in at the 2:57 mark gave MSU a 73-51 advantage-its biggest of the game.

MSU limited the Aces to just .275 shooting, marking the sixth time this season the Lady Bears have limited an opponent to under 30 percent from the floor. The Lady Bears also outrebounded UE by a 51-35 margin and converted a season-high .909 (10-of-11) free throw attempts. Led by Tia Mays's six blocked shots, the Lady Bear defense racked up 10 rejections on the day.

 

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.

 

High-Octane 'O'

The Lady Bears have recorded three straight victories of 20 points or more for the first time in seven years. MSU outscored Morgan State, Southern Illinois and Evansville by an average of 26.7 points, with its 82-50 MVC season-opening win over SIU representing the Lady Bears' largest margin of victory under Nyla Milleson. The last time the Lady Bears turned in three consecutive wins by margins greater than 20 points was January 2004, when they knocked off Oral Roberts, SEMO and Saint Louis by an average of 40 points.

 

Homeland Defense

Missouri State's current five-game home win streak has been fueled by a relentless defense that has held the opposition to an average of just 49.4 points per game. The Lady Bears have limited their five opponents to a combined .260 (83-of-319) field goal percentage and outrebounded them by a 259 to 196 margin over the stretch.

 

Opening Statement

With 11 wins in its first 14 games, Missouri State is off to its best start under fourth-year head coach Nyla Milleson. The Lady Bears' 11-3 mark represents their best start to a season 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 last week with the ninth-best field goal percentage defense in the country. The Lady Bears held four straight opponents under .300 from the field from Dec. 3 through Dec. 12, a first in the 42-year history of the program. MSU has posted two of the best defensive efforts in school history, including a .194 effort at Morgan State that ranked as the second-lowest field goal percentage ever for a Lady Bear opponent. The Lady Bears lead The Valley in scoring defense, scoring margin, field goal percentage defense, three-point field goal percentage defense and blocked shots, ranking fourth in the nation in the latter category.

 

Easy As 1-2-3

As a team, the Lady Bears lead the MVC in scoring defense (58.2 ppg), scoring margin (+10.6), field goal percentage defense (.315), three-point field goal percentage defense (.250), blocked shots (6.4 bpg), total rebounding (47.4 rpg), offensive rebounding (15.4 rpg) and defensive rebounding (32.0 rpg), and rank first, second or third in 12 different team statistical categories.

 

Strength In Numbers

The Lady Bears ranked 49th in last week's College Basketball News RPI Report (Dec. 27), making them the highest rated Valley team in the report. Creighton (74) and Illinois State (88) also ranked among the top 100 teams, while the Valley was the ninth-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. 28), which ranked the Lady Bears No. 9, making them the highest rated Valley squad in the poll.

 

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.

 

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 14 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 ranks ninth nationally in blocks per game, 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.

Mays followed up that effort with a six-block night against SIU Edwardsville (Dec. 9), and climbed to No. 6 on the MSU single-season top 10 blocks list with six rejections at Morgan State. The Des Moines native has 47 rejections, which is already good for fourth all-time in a single season at MSU, and needs just 28 more blocks to equal Zeilmann's Lady Bear record. Mays has also been dominant on the glass for MSU, recording 11 straight games of five boards or more.

 

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.

 

Bench Marks

After being outscored in each of the first three games of the season, Missouri State's bench has outscored the last 11 Lady Bear opponents by a combined 204-122 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.

 

MSU Peaks in The Valley

The Lady Bears are 224-98 all-time in MVC play with a 132-30 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 18 Valley tournament championship games and 12 of the 25 title games since the inception of the Gateway Tournament in 1983.

 

Missouri State All-Time

Missouri State is in its 42nd season of women's collegiate basketball and has an all-time record of 707-489 (.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.