Missouri State closes the regular season with a three-game home stand, beginning Friday at 7 p.m. against Southern Illinois.
   The Lady Bears (16-10, 12-3 Missouri Valley Conference) are one win away from securing the No. 2 seed in the MVC Tournament, while SIU enters with a 14-12 overall record and 9-6 mark in the MVC, good for fourth place. MSU has reached 12 conference wins for a fourth consecutive season, and is 46-13 in its last 59 Valley games.
   Tickets in non-assessed sections of The Q are priced at $4 for the SIU game, and the Lady Bears will wear their pink uniforms as a continuation of the Play4Kay game two weeks ago. Those game-worn jerseys will be auctioned in the concourse, with proceeds benefiting the Kay Yow Fund for the fight against women's cancers.
   Missouri State is 9-2 this season at JQH with five consecutive wins, and hosts Evansville at 7 p.m. on March 1 and Indiana State at 2 p.m. on March 3 to close the regular season. MSU has out-scored the opposition by an average of 16 points per game at home.
Series History
MSU leads the all-time series with SIU 51-28, including a 29-11 record in Springfield with 10 consecutive wins. The Lady Bears are 11-2 in their last 13 games against the Salukis.
Scouting SIU
Southern Illinois is 14-12 overall and 9-6 in MVC play. The Salukis have four players averaging between 10.2 and 12.0 points per game, and rank among the league leaders in turnovers forced at 17.2 per game. As a team, SIU scores 64.6 points and allows 64.1, shooting 40.6 percent overall, 32.0 percent on 3-pointers and 66.4 percent from the foul line.
First Meeting with SIU
The Lady Bears lost a 71-69 overtime contest on Jan. 26 at Southern Illinois. Neither club led by more than five points for the entire 45 minutes, and MSU was up 60-56 with three minutes left before before yielding that lead and shooting 1-for-11 in OT.
Liza Fruendt scored 19 points,
Aubrey Buckley had 11 points and 11 boards, and
Brice Calip finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.
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