The Missouri State Lady Bears (16-11, 12-4 Missouri Valley Conference) wrap up the regular season with a trip to Iowa this week to face No. 22 Drake (23-4, 16-0) at 7 p.m. Thursday and UNI (20-7, 13-3) at 8 p.m. Saturday.
   Missouri State will be either the second or third seed at next week's MVC Tournament in Moline, Ill., setting up either a 6 p.m. or 8:30 p.m. game on Friday, March 10. The Lady Bears can still pass UNI in the standings with two wins this weekend, and need to beat UNI on Saturday for a chance to win a tie-break with the Panthers should the teams finish with the same record.
    Drake is the first top-25 opponent for the Lady Bears this season. MSU is 19-43 all-time against ranked foes.
   MSU is 22-8 in its last 30 road games, including a 17-3 mark in MVC road contests over that time.
   Missouri State has won 12 of its last 14 games, using stingy defense to make a late-season charge. Opponents are averaging 54.2 points against the Lady Bears over that span, with no team scoring more than 66 points in regulation.
Series Histories
MSU holds a 41-40 series lead over Drake, but is 12-23 against the Bulldogs in Des Moines. Missouri State has averaged 78 points in its last 18 games against Drake.
    Missouri State owns a 49-26 lead in the series with UNI, though the Panthers are 7-4 in the last 11 meetings. MSU holds an 18-17 lead in Cedar Falls, including a 78-75 overtime win last season.
Scouting Drake
Drake has already clinched the MVC regular season title and enters weekend play at 23-4 overall, 16-0 in Valley play, and ranked 22nd in both national polls this week. Preseason league player of the year Lizzy Wendell leads the Bulldogs with 20.9 points per game, and Caitlin Ingle dishes out a league-best 7.6 assists and set the MVC career record in that category earlier this season. As a team, DU scores a league-high 82.6 points and allows 63.0 while shooting 49.2 percent overall, 35.4 percent from beyond the arc and 76.5 percent from the charity stripe.
Scouting UNI
UNI is 20-7 on the year and 13-3 in MVC play. Senior Madison Weekly once again leads the Panthers in scoring at 15.4 points per game to go with 110 assists, and Ellie Herzberg follows with 11.6 points on 45 percent shooting. UNI averages 66.4 points per game and allows 57.9 while shooting 38.3 percent overall, 29 percent on 3-pointers and 68.5 percent from the foul line.
First Meeting with Drake
Drake won the first matchup of the season, a 90-64 New Year's Day victory at JQH Arena. The Bulldogs set an arena record with 13 3-pointers, while the Lady Bears buried a season-high 12 treys.
   Freshmen
Shameka Ealy and
Alexa Willard combined for 30 points for MSU, with Ealy scoring 16 along with four 3-pointers. Drake started each of the first two quarters with 8-0 runs and never trailed. The Lady Bears won the rebounding battle, 44-43.
   MSU's two free throw attempts were the fewest since 1993, and Drake set a JQH record for fewest fouls with eight.
First Meeting with UNI
UNI won 61-54 on Dec. 30 in JQH Arena in the MVC opener for both clubs. The Lady Bears held UNI to under 40 percent shooting overall and 5-for-29 from
the 3-point line, but surrendered 20 second-chance points on 16 Panther offensive boards and were unable to capitalize on a five-minute UNI scoring drought in the fourth quarter.Â
   MSU cut the gap to 56-52 with 1:05 left in the game, but the Panthers countered with a 3-pointer with 37.8 seconds left and followed with a pair of free throws 11 seconds later to put the game out of reach.
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Liza Fruendt scored a game-high 19 points, and
Audrey Holt blocked a career-high six shots.
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