State Farm MVC Tournament Championship

No. 3 Missouri State Lady Bears (23-9) 

vs. 

No. 1 UNI Panthers (26-5) 

Tournament Overview

The Missouri State Lady Bears will square off against the UNI Panthers this afternoon at 2:05 p.m., with the 2011 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title on the line. Missouri State will be bidding for its 10th conference tournament title and its first in five years, while the Panthers will be shooting for their second straight Valley title and NCAA Tournament berth.

The 26th installment of the MVC's postseason tournament will be held at The Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo., for the fourth straight year, with the champion of the 10-team field earning the conference's automatic NCAA Tournament berth.

Missouri State knocked off Drake Friday in quarterfinal round action, then held off a late Indiana State rally Saturday in the semifinals after building a 20-point first-half lead to advance to the program's 13th championship game appearance in the last 21 years. Today's game will mark Missouri State's fourth meeting with the Panthers in the MVC Tournament, with the Lady Bears claiming victory in each of the first three. MSU has also enjoyed its fair share of success in title-game match-ups, bringing a 9-3 record in such games into today's contest. UNI is 1-0 in its only previous Valley title game, which came last year when the Panthers topped Creighton, 54-53, to secure its first trip to the NCAA Tournament.

Quick Hits

▪ Friday's quarterfinal victory over Drake marked the 250th of head coach Nyla Milleson's collegiate career and her first at the MVC Tournament in four games

▪ The Lady Bears are the third seed at the MVC Tournament for the sixth time; MSU is now 2-4 in tourney openers as the No. 3 seed and 4-5 overall in their six trips as third seed

▪ The Lady Bears' 21 wins in the regular-season marked their highest total since the 2003-04 season when they brought a 25-3 mark into the Valley Tournament 

▪ In its 24 trips to the MVC meet, Missouri State is now 14-10 in its first game of the event after stopping a four-game losing streak in the tourney Friday; the win over Drake also represented MSU's first-ever at The Family Arena since the event moved to a neutral floor in 2008

▪ Missouri State has averaged 71.4 ppg in its previous 12 title game appearances

▪ MSU is 35-14 all-time at the MVC Tournament with a record nine championships to its credit, but is just 8-6 in neutral-court games at the event

▪ The Lady Bears bring a six-game win streak into today's game, their longest of the season and overall since January 2010; UNI has won its last 18 games dating back to its first meeting of the season with the Lady Bears on Jan. 6

▪ MSU is shooting .810 (34-of-42) from the foul line in the tournament

▪ Missouri State has outscored the opposition 3,554 to 3,144 in its previous 49 MVC Tournament games, good for a +8.4 ppg scoring margin

▪ MSU ranks ninth nationally in blocks per game and 12th in field goal percentage defense

▪ The Lady Bears are 18-0 when holding the opposition to 61 points or less this season, but just 5-9 when allowing more than that figure

▪ The Lady Bears are 21-2 when leading at the half and 23-1 when taking a lead into the final 2:00 of regulation

▪ With Saturday's win over Indiana State, the Lady Bears improved to 13-3 all-time in semifinal-round games at the Valley Tournament

▪ MSU is shooting .390 as a team from three-point range and averaging 80.6 points per game over its current six-game win streak

▪ The Lady Bears' 86 points Friday represented their highest-scoring tournament game since scoring a MSU tourney-record 93 points vs. Illinois State in the semifinal round of the 2004 meet; Friday's total is the biggest ever for Missouri State in the tournament away from Hammons Student Center

▪ MSU has topped the 70-point mark in six straight games for the first time since January 2010, when they posted eight straight

▪ Missouri State won its ninth road game of the year last Saturday at SIU to match five other seasons for its best total since the 1991-92 campaign

▪ Last Thursday's victory at Evansville gave MSU its second straight 20-win season and its 16th overall in the 42-year history of the program

▪ The Lady Bears' school-record 180 team blocked shots ranks fourth all-time in Valley history

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 has been All-MVC performers Casey Garrison and Christiana Shorter. 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 WBCA when she was named a Region 6 finalist for the organization's State Farm All-America Team. Through the first 32 games of this season, Garrison is once again among the league leaders in a number of statistical categories, including free throw percentage (2nd), three-point field goal percentage (2nd), scoring (2nd), assist-turnover ratio (3rd), assists (4th), minutes played (7th), steals (9th) and offensive rebounds (9th). Shorter, the Valley's 2010 Freshman of the Year, has been a dominant force in the paint for the Lady Bears over her first two seasons in Maroon and White. The Tulsa, Okla., native finished her rookie campaign on a high note, registering five double-doubles in MSU's final six contests last year and has nine more doubles to her credit this season. Shorter is the Valley's second-leading rebounder, while her 12.6 ppg average is second on the squad and 13th in the conference.

Garrison has received help in the back court from junior Jasmine Malone, who ranks third on the team in scoring (10.6 ppg) and fourth in rebounding (5.4 rpg). The San Antonio product is one of the top defenders in the circuit, posting the seventh-best steals-per-game average (2.0) in the MVC in conference play. After a slow start to the season, junior guard Jaleshia Roberson (8.1 ppg) averaged 2.1 three-pointers per game in conference play, good for fourth in the league. The second-team all-conference pick from last year connected on 91 treys as a sophomore to rank second on the Lady Bear single-season list. Freshman Karly Buer, who is fifth on the team with a 4.6 ppg average, has also been a key cog in the Lady Bear attack. Buer is third on the team in assists after registering three straight games of at least 10 points and four assists (Nov. 20-30).    

Sophomore Tia Mays (4.2 ppg/6.3 rpg) has also played a critical role for MSU, leading the Lady Bears' defensive resurgence with a school-record 103 blocks on the season. The 6-1 post has helped transform Missouri State into the conference's top rebounding club, ranking second only to Shorter in offensive rebounds per game (2.7 rpg).

Lady Bear Notables

▪ Casey Garrison  earned her third straight First-Team All-MVC nod Wednesday, becoming just the fifth Lady Bear and the 18th Valley player overall to accomplish the feat

▪ Joining Garrison on the MVC's list of year-end honors was Christiana Shorter (Second-Team All-MVC), Karly Buer (All-Freshman Team), Tia Mays (All-Defensive Team) and Lacey Boshe (Second-Team Scholar-Athlete), bringing the program's total number of All-MVC honorees under head coach Nyla Milleson to 20 over the last four seasons

▪ Garrison (1,725 points) moved past Lynn Strubberg into sixth place on the Lady Bears' career scoring chart with her 13-point performance vs. Creighton on Feb. 27; she needs 44 more points to move into the top 5 (Jeanette Tendai with 1,769 points)

▪ Garrison was named MVC Player of the Week for the fourth time this year and the eighth time of her career Jan. 31 after averaging 30.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists in two games

▪ Garrison's 442 career free throws made ranks second all-time at Missouri State behind Jackie Stiles's 852 makes

▪ Garrison saw her string of 25 straight makes from the free throw line end Saturday, but still connected on 10 tries for the second time in her last three games

▪ Tia Mays earned her first MVC Newcomer of the Week honor Jan. 17, and Christiana Shorter picked up her first MVC Player of the Week award Jan. 24 after claiming newcomer of the week honors four times last year

▪ Mays moved into second place on the Lady Bears' career blocked shot list with Friday's three-block performance vs. Drake and became just the second Valley player to reject 100 shots in a season with Saturday's five-block effort against Indiana 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

▪ Shorter and Mays finished the regular season 1-2 in the Valley in offensive rebounding; Garrison ranks ninth in offensive rpg and among the top 10 in eight statistical categories overall

▪ Shorter moved into MSU's single-season top 10 for rebounds with Friday's nine-board effort and enters today's game seventh on the list with 260 rebounds this year; she needs five more to move up to sixth on the chart and 20 additional boards to climb into the top five

▪ 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

▪ 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)

▪ 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; it took the Lady Bears less than two weeks to hold another opponent to the same total, limiting Morgan State to 39 points on Dec. 21

▪ 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

Scouting the Panthers

Picked second in the Missouri Valley Conference's preseason poll, the Panthers cruised to victory in each of their last 16 Valley games and enter today's game having won their last 18 games and a with a 26-5 overall record. UNI returned 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. A 6-2 senior post, Boeck (13.4 ppg/7.7 rpg) leads the Panthers in rebounding and ranks fourth in the Valley in the same category, while also contributing the sixth-highest point-per-game average in the circuit. Kalin (15.2 ppg/3.2 apg) rates third among the league's leaders in scoring and tops the circuit in free throw percentage (.915). The Panthers' junior point guard was named MVC Player of the Year earlier in the week and paces the league with a 2.6 assist-turnover ratio. Junior guard Katelin Oney (9.5 ppg) provides UNI with a long-distance threat, entering today's action leading the conference in three-point field goal percentage (.433). She and Kalin receive help from a pair of juniors in K.K. Armstrong (8.4 ppg) and Rachel Madrigal (8.1 ppg/1.3 spg). On the interior, senior Erin Brocka gives UNI a solid second option to complement Boeck, entering the week averaging 5.3 points, 6.1 boards and 1.5 steals per contest.

As a team, UNI has posted the top scoring defense in the MVC (54.8 ppg) and averages 7.3 three-point field goals per contest to lead the conference in that category as well. The Panthers also excel at the foul line, where they have converted 76.2 percent of their attempts, while out-scoring the opposition by a league-high +15.0 ppg.

Series History

Today's game will be the 63rd renewal of the rivalry between the Lady Bears and Panthers, with Missouri State holding a commanding 45-17 lead in the series.

The two teams have evenly split their last 10 meetings, and the Lady Bears won the only previous neutral-court match-up in the series, taking an 83-67 decision in the quarterfinal round of the 1996 Valley Tournament in Des Moines.

UNI took both meetings from MSU this season, besting the Lady Bears in Cedar Falls (Jan. 6) by  an 80-67 margin, then coming away with just its fourth win in Springfield on Feb. 6 with a 68-59 victory.

The Coaches

Nyla Milleson (Kansas State, '85) is in her fourth season as the head coach at Missouri State with a 66-59 mark as the Lady Bears' mentor and an overall record of 251-95 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. Milleson is 6-2 against Indiana State and 1-3 in the MVC Tournament overall.

Tanya Warren (Creighton, '88) is 66-58 in her fourth season as both coach of the Panthers and overall as a collegiate head coach. The 2011 Rawling's MVC Coach of the Year, Warren led UNI to its first NCAA Tournament appearance last year, as the Panthers went 17-16 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.

Tournament Tough

The Lady Bears enter today's game with a league-best 35-14 (.714) all-time mark in the event since the initial Gateway Conference meet in 1983. Including today's game, Missouri State will have played in 13 of the 21 tournament championship games since 1991 and is the only school to win the title four straight years (1991-94). Missouri State will be trying for its 10th tourney title, with wins in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2006 to its credit.

Missouri State now has all-time records of 1-3 in the opening round, 12-5 in the quarterfinals, 13-3 in the semifinals and 9-3 in championship games. MSU has posted a victory in its last four championship game appearances dating back to 2001 tourney. The Lady Bears are 2-0 in title games played on a neutral floor.

Most Valuable Lady Bears

Five different Lady Bears have earned league tournament MVP honors a total of seven times, which is more than any other league member. Tina Robbins became the first MSU cager to earn the honor in 1994, and LaTanya Davis picked up the award in 1996. Jackie Stiles was a two-time MVP, receiving the award in both 2000 and 2001. Kari Koch became the first freshman in league history to be named tournament MVP in 2003, then captured the same award as a senior in 2006.  Finally, Jenni Lingor earned the honor in 2004. Missouri State also has had the most players named to MVC all-tournament teams with 23 honorees in the 18 years the league has named such a squad.

Heating Up

After struggling to find an offensive rhythm for most of the month of February, the Lady Bears kicked off their current six-game win streak with their two most-productive games of the month to sweep Drake and Creighton. On Feb. 25, MSU shot just over 49 percent from the floor in scoring a season-high 92 points-its second 90+ point effort of the year against the Bulldogs. Two days later, the Lady Bears scored 73 against CU, then racked up 80 against Evansville (March 3), 70 vs. SIU (March 5), 86 Friday against Drake and 84 yesterday against Indiana State to mark the first time this season they have topped the 70-point barrier in six straight games.

On an individual level, Jaleshia Roberson has gone 17-of-39 (.436) from three-point range over MSU's last six games following a miserable nine-game stretch in which the junior guard hit only 9-of-48 (.188) tries from beyond the arc.

That's a Winner

With their over Indiana State Feb. 10, the Lady Bears locked up their second straight winning season under head coach Nyla Milleson and their 28th overall in 42 years as a varsity program. Missouri State has some work to do to match its longest stretch of consecutive winning seasons, however. The Lady Bears posted 17 straight finishes above the .500 mark from 1990 through 2006.

With their victory at Evansville, the Lady Bears notched their 16th 20-win season and their second in-a-row. In the previous 14 seasons it has reached the 20-win plateau since joining the Divison I ranks in 1982-83, MSU has advanced to the postseason each time.

The Defense Never Rests                     

Missouri State's defense has been one of the biggest surprises of the season, entering the tournament with the 12th-best field goal percentage defense (.347) in the country. The Lady Bears held four straight opponents under .300 shooting, Dec. 3-12-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 led The Valley in field goal percentage defense and blocked shots through the end of the regular season. Led by Tia Mays's 3.2 blocks per game, the Lady Bears ranked ninth nationally in blocks per game as of March 7. Mays has totaled 61 of her 103 blocks on the season in MSU's 16 home games.

Recovery Act

The Lady Bears' 1-4 start in February could be traced in part to a struggling offense that produced an average of just 60.2 points per outing. MSU topped the 60-point mark just two times over the five-game stretch on the heels of its best offensive effort of the season to date at Drake (Jan. 29), in which it shot .559 from the field and scored 90 points.

The Lady Bears shot just .345 as a team in its first five February contests, including an abysmal .208 (15-of-72) from beyond the arc. MSU recovered against Drake (Feb. 25) to shoot .493 from the floor and go 9-of-18 from three-point range in posting its best offensive night of the season with a 92-point outburst. Over their current six-game win streak, the Lady Bears have hit on 32-of-82 (.390) attempts from beyond the arc.

Lady Bears Land Hardware

For the second straight year, the Lady Bears will bring home an impressive haul of post-season honors from St. Charles. Four Lady Bears were named to Valley post-season teams Wednesday, headlined by Casey Garrison's third straight First-Team All-MVC selection. Garrison becomes just the 18th three-time first-team honoree in Valley history and the fifth Lady Bear to accomplish the feat. She joins all-time greats Jackie Stiles, Kerri Koch, Melody Howard and Jenni Lingor on the elite list, and will enter her senior season with the opportunity to become just the sixth MVC player to earn four first-team citations.

Sophomore Christiana Shorter was named to the Valley's second team a year after picking up honorable mention All-MVC honors, as well as the league's Freshman of the Year award. Sophomore Tia Mays earned a spot on the Valley's All-Defensive squad after setting a school record with 95 blocked shots during the regular season. For the fourth straight year, a Lady Bear earned a spot on the conference's All-Freshman Team, as Karly Buer picked up that honor. The Concordia, Kan., native started 20 of MSU's 30 regular-season contests, averaging 4.6 points and posting the third-highest assist total on the club.

Additionally, Lacey Boshe was tabbed a second-team MVC Scholar-Athlete pick for the second consecutive year after picking up CoSIDA First-Team Academic All-District recognition for maintaining a perfect 4.0 GPA through her first three seasons as a Lady Bear.

Another Double-Double for Double-Three  

Missouri State's No. 33 Christiana Shorter racked up the 17th double-double of her Lady Bear career with a 15-point, 11-board effort March 3 at Evansville. That performance moved the Tulsa native into a tie for fourth on MSU's all-time double-double list. She comes into the tournament even with Kelly Mago on the chart, trailing just Tiff Terwelp (21), Roshonda Reed (24) and Jeanette Tendai (35).

May Day

Through the first 32 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 eighth nationally in blocks per game coming into the week, rejected two Bradley shots Feb. 4 to surpass Sharon Zeilmann's 24-year-old MSU single-season school record. With four rejections against Indiana State (Feb. 10), Mays climbed to No. 3 on the MVC's single-season blocked shot list, passing Tammi Blackstone of Drake, who swatted 84 shots in 1998-99. She added five more blocks Saturday to bring her Missouri State-record total to 103 on the year, moving into second on the Lady Bears' career blocks chart as well.

Mays has posted eight of the top 15 single-game block totals in school history, including a Missouri State-record nine rejections in MSU's 58-47 win over Arkansas State (Dec. 5). That effort broke Zeilmann's school record and matched the all-time Missouri Valley Conference mark for blocks in a single game, held by UNI's Cassie Hager. Zeilmann, who swatted away eight shots on two separate occasions during the 1986-87 season, held the Lady Bear single-game mark for nearly a quarter of a century.

The Des Moines native became the fastest Missouri State player to reach 50 career blocks and her current average of 3.2 bpg would rank third all-time on the Valley's single-season list. If she concludes the season atop the MVC's leader board, Mays would become just the third Lady Bear to lead the conference in blocks, joining Zeilmann (1985 and 1987) and Breton Wyett (2007) in that exclusive club.

All Good Things Must Come to an End              

Casey Garrison's quest for the top spot on Missouri State's all-time chart for consecutive free throws made was fulfilled in the Lady Bears' Jan. 16 victory over Indiana State. She went 6-of-6 from the stripe to stretch her string of consecutive makes to 33, surpassing Lisa Davies's 13-year-old school record. Garrison then sank her first four shots vs. Wichita State (Jan. 21) before misfiring on two straight attempts, marking her first misses at the stripe since Dec. 5. Garrison's streak of 37 straight free throws ranks fifth on the Valley's all-time list. She wasted little time in regaining her stroke, connecting on her next 10 tries from the line and 24 of her next 25 immediately after the streak ended. She saw a 22-consecutive free throws made streak end Feb. 25, when she went 4-of-5 against Drake. Garrison went 10-of-12 from the line Saturday, ending a streak of 25 straight makes, but converting 10 tries for the second time in her last three games.

Bench Marks

After being outscored in each of the first three games of the season, Missouri State's bench has out-scored the last 29 Lady Bear opponents by a combined 215 points (559 to 344). In their two tournament games so far, the Lady Bears reserves have out-scored the opposing reserves by a combined 60-16 margin. Jaleshia Roberson (11.0 ppg) and Lacey Boshe (10.0 ppg) each bring double-digit tournament scoring averages off the bench into today's game.

Easy As 1-2-3

The Lady Bears lead the MVC in scoring offense (70.3 ppg), field goal percentage defense (.354), blocked shots (5.6 bpg), total rebounding (43.6 rpg), offensive rebounding (15.2 rpg) and defensive rebounding (28.4 rpg), and rank first, second or third in 11 different team statistical categories.

Climbing the Charts

Junior guard Casey Garrison took her place on a pair of Missouri State career top 10 lists the week of Jan. 3-9. The Bolivar, Mo., product eclipsed Cindy Henderson's career scoring total with her 13-point effort at Bradley (Jan. 8) to move into the top 10 for career scoring, just two days after cracking the school's top 10 steals list.

Already No. 2 all-time at MSU in career scoring average (18.2 ppg), Garrison needs 66 points to move up to fifth on the scoring list after passing Lynn Strubberg with her 13-point effort Feb. 27 vs. Creighton, but an astounding 1,668 points to catch all-time NCAA scoring leader Jackie Stiles in the top spot on the chart with 3,393 career points. Garrison has a much shorter distance to climb to reach the top of the steals list, needing just 129 more to equal Kari Koch's school-record career total of 340.

With six assists Feb. 25 against Drake, Garrison broke into the career top 10 for assists at Missouri State and enters today's game seventh on the list with 377 helpers. With 56 more rebounds she would crack the top 10 in that category as well, making her just the second Lady Bear ever to post top 10 career totals in points, rebounds, assists and steals. Jenni Lingor is currently the only player in the history of the varsity program at MSU to accomplish the feat, ranking fourth in points, sixth in assists, seventh in rebounds and eighth in steals. With 36 points at Drake (Jan. 29), Garrison joined Lingor as the only Lady Bears to total 1,500 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists.

Garrison also moved onto the Valley's all-time top 25 scoring the last weekend of February, passing seven players to enter today's game in the No. 17 position on the chart. With 1,725 points in 95 career games, Garrison's scoring average of 18.2 points per contest ranks eighth on the MVC's career list. The Bolivar, Mo., native also climbed to eighth on the conference's career free throws made chart by going 10-of-12 at the line in Saturday's win over Indiana State.

Missouri State All-Time

Missouri State is in its 42nd season of women's collegiate basketball and has an all-time record of 719-495 (.592). 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. The Lady Bears are 234-104 all-time in MVC play with a 137-32 home record against league foes.