Lady Bears Open 2014-15 Season Friday at Memphis
November 11, 2014 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 11, 2014
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Missouri State Lady Bears (0-0/0-0 MVC) at Memphis Tigers (0-0/0-0 American)
Missouri State Lady Bears (0-0/0-0 MVC) at Memphis Tigers (0-0/0-0 American)
Date: Friday, Nov. 14, 2014
Tip: 4:02 p.m. (Central)
Location: Memphis, Tenn.
Site: Elma Roane Fieldhouse (2,565)
Radio: KTXR 101.3 FM
Live Audio: RadioSpringfield.com
Live Video: Bears All-Access
Live Stats:
Game Overview
The Missouri State Lady Bears (0-0, 0-0 MVC) tip off their 46th season of varsity competition on the road Friday with a 4 p.m. game at Memphis. Missouri State enters this year with a 22-23 record in season openers.
Friday's game is a rematch of a 2012 WNIT second-round game with the Tigers that the Lady Bears won by an 82-65 score at JQH Arena.
The Lady Bears won their two exhibition contests at JQH Arena by an average score of 86-53, but will not return home until Dec. 6 as the season's first six games are away from Springfield. That schedule balances out, however, as MSU will not play a true road game until Jan. 16 after its home opener, with seven home games and one neutral site contest on the ledger.
Series History
Series History
Missouri State is 1-1 against Memphis, including an 82-65 home win in the second round of the 2012 WNIT. The Tigers won the previous meeting in 1980 in College Station, Texas.
Scouting Memphis
Scouting Memphis
Memphis is picked to finish sixth this season in the 11-team American Athletic Conference, with junior guard Ariel Hearn earning preseason all-league distinction. Hearn averaged 17.8 points last season and joins two other returning starters from a team that went 13-18 overall and 6-12 in AAC play for a seventh-place finish. Prior to last year, the Tigers had posted four consecutive winning seasons.
Scouting the Lady Bears
Scouting the Lady Bears
Missouri State returns seven players and three starters from last season's club, including all-MVC junior guards Kenzie Williams and Tyonna Snow. Williams led the Lady Bears in scoring with 14.8 points per game as a sophomore, while Snow added 13.3 points per contest and ranked fifth nationally with 93 steals. NiJay Gaines, who averaged 3.4 points and 4.5 boards last year, is the team's only senior, as nine of the 13 players on the roster are freshmen or sophomores. Five of the team's six freshmen earned all-state recognition following their high school senior seasons.
Saturday, May 30
Saturday, May 30
Thursday, May 28
Sunday, May 24
