Starting Five - Storylines for the Weekend
1) The No. 21/23 Missouri State Lady Bears (24-4, 14-2 Missouri Valley Conference) seek a regular season MVC championship at home this weekend with games against Valparaiso at 7 p.m. Thursday and Loyola at 2 p.m. Saturday. MSU will secure the title with and the No. 1 seed in the MVC Tournament with one victory, and is 48-7 overall since Dec. 20, 2018, ranking fifth nationally in total wins since that date. MSU has won 12 Gateway/MVC regular season championships, doing so in 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2012.
2) Missouri State has shot 40 percent or better 22 times and scored at least 68 points in 25 games this season. Through March 3, MSU ranks 19th nationally in scoring offense (77.6), 13th in 3-point percentage (.368), 33rd in field goal percentage (.442) and 18th in foul shooting (.770). MSU's scoring average ranks fourth-best in school history behind the 1992, 2001 and 2004 teams.
3) MSU has won the rebounding battle in 24 of 28 games this season and owns a plus-9.3 margin on the glass this year, on pace for second in school history. The Lady Bears lead the nation in defensive rebounding rate at .772, and rank 13th in rebound margin.
4) The Lady Bears are off to their best 28-game start since the 2003-04 team opened 25-3, and best home start at 13-0 since that same club finished 17-0 in Springfield. Missouri State's 10 wins prior to MVC play were the most in school history, and the school record for regular season wins is 25.
5) Missouri State's 13-game home win streak is the longest at JQH Arena and eighth-longest in school history. MSU's average home score this year is 81.8-59.9 with a plus-13.0 rebound margin, winning on the glass each game. The Lady Bears are one of 11 D-I teams with a perfect home record this season.
Series Histories
The Lady Bears are 5-0 against Valparaiso, with each meeting since the Crusaders joined the MVC two years ago. MSU has won the five games by an average of 21.2 points.
    Missouri State leads the all-time series by a 13-3 margin, including a 6-0 mark in Springfield. The Lady Bears have won the last 13 meetings since losing the first match-up between the schools as MVC rivals in January 2014 in Chicago.
Scouting Valpo
Valparaiso is 16-11 overall and 8-8 in MVC play, already doubling last season's win total. The Crusaders are 8-5 on the road, with Grace Hales (12.4 ppg) and Addison Stoller (11.5 ppg) leading a balanced scoring attack that takes 47.3 percent of its shots from beyond the arc. Valpo averages 68.3 points per game, allows 66.6, and shoots 41.6 percent overall, 33.7 percent on 3-pointers and 79.5 percent from the foul line. VU grabs a league-high 10.5 steals per game and is out-rebounded on average by 8.7 boards per outing.
Scouting Loyola
Loyola is 15-12 overall and 6-10 in MVC play after a 9-0 start to the season. The Ramblers rank third nationally in defensive rebounding rate (MSU is first), and are plus-6.8 on the glass for the season. Abby O'Connor leads the Ramblers with 13.0 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, Allison Day averages 10.6 points and Tiara Wallace averages 9.6 points and 4.5 assists. As a team, LUC averages 68.1 points and allows 64.8, shooting 41.8 percent overall, 31.4 percent from 3-point range and 69 percent at the foul line.
First Meeting With Valpo
MSU hit a season-high 28 free throws and nabbed 14 steals in an 81-68 victory at Valpo on Jan. 5. The Lady Bears closed the first half on a 26-7 run to lead 41-23 at the break and led by 22 midway through the third quarter before Valpo got as close as 55-47. The Crusaders shot 14-for-22 from beyond the arc, while
Alexa Willard scored 24 points and
Brice Calip added 18 with six assists and four steals. MSU led 35-23 on the boards.
First Meeting With Loyola
Jasmine Franklin scored as time expired to give MSU a 74-72 overtime win on Jan. 3 in Chicago in the MVC opener for both schools. Nine Lady Bears scored in the first quarter and MSU led 41-35 at half, Loyola briefly gained a 58-57 lead in the fourth quarter, and MSU's final field before Franklin's game winner came with 2:59 left in regulation for a 65-61 score. The game entered overtime at 65-65 and MSU shot 7-for-8 at the foul line in the extra period, shooting 43.5 percent overall in the game with a 39-32 rebounding edge.
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