Missouri State heads to Illinois for two games this week, visiting Illinois State at 7 p.m. Friday and Bradley at 2 p.m. Sunday.
   The Lady Bears are 7-8 overall and 3-1 in Missouri Valley Conference play after Sunday's victory against UNI, and face the league's top two scoring defenses this weekend, with Illinois State (6-8, 0-3) pacing the league at 55.1 points per game, and Bradley (9-5, 3-0) following with a 61.4 defensive average.
   Missouri State has had plenty of success recently on the Valley road and in the state of Illinois, boasting a 19-5 record in its last 24 MVC road contests and a 15-4 mark in the last 19 games in the Land of Lincoln.
   MSU picked up its 50th MVC win under
Kellie Harper Sunday in the fourth game of her fifth conference season, and Harper's .658 conference winning percentage ranks eighth in league history.
Series Histories
Missouri State leads Illinois State 41-31 in the all-time series and has won 11 of the last 14 meetings. MSU trails 18-17 in Normal, but has won five of its last six trips to Redbird Arena.
    Missouri State is 51-25 all-time against Bradley, with 20-14 mark in Peoria. Bradley swept the season series last year, and the Lady Bears won seven straight meetings prior to that.
Scouting Illinois State
Illinois State is 6-8 overall and 0-3 in MVC games. Junior college transfer Simone Goods leads the Redbirds with 15.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, and Hannah Green averages 13.7 points with a league-high 27 blocked shots. The Redbirds lead the MVC in scoring defense at 55.1 points per game, but score just 53.3 themselves while shooting 34.9 percent overall, 24.8 percent on 3-pointers and 66.3 percent from the foul line.
Scouting Bradley
Bradley is 9-5 overall and 3-0 in league play. The Braves have a balanced offense with no double-figure scorers but six players averaging between 6.6 and 9.3 points per game. As a team, Bradley scores 66.1 points per game and allows 61.4 with shooting percentages of .405 overall, .302 from long range and .672 from the charity stripe.