Starting Five - Storylines for the Drake Series
1) The 25th-ranked Missouri State Lady Bears (6-2, 2-0 Missouri Valley Conference) swept UNI to open league play last week and return to JQH Arena for the first time in more than a month to take on Drake (7-6, 5-1) at 7 p.m. Friday and 5 p.m. Saturday. MSU is off to a 2-0 MVC start for the fourth consecutive season after going 2-0 in 2018, 10-0 in 2019 and 4-0 in 2020. The Lady Bears are 49-7 in Valley play since the 2017-18 season began, and 83-17 in their last 100 league contests.
2) Missouri State is 56-9 overall since Dec. 20, 2018, ranking 10th nationally in total wins since that date and seventh in winning percentage (.862). Six teams ahead of the Lady Bears on the wins list have been ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll over that span.
3) MSU is 16-1 at home under Coach Mox after a 16-0 start that registered as the longest win streak at JQH Arena and sixth in school history. Since the start of last season, MSU's 16-1 home record has come by an average score of 80.7-59.3 with a plus-12.6 rebound margin. Additionally, the Lady Bears have out-scored the opposition 140-63 over the first four minutes of the last 17 home games.
4) Missouri State has won the rebounding battle in seven of eight games this year and 33 of the last 38, with a plus-12.4 margin this season ahead of the school-record pace (+9.9) and a .803 defensive rebounding percentage that ranks second nationally after leading the NCAA last year with a .773 mark.
5) The Lady Bears lead the MVC in field goal defense (.340) and rank second in 3-point defense (.236), ranking in the top 20 nationally in both categories. Missouri State has held the opposition below 28 percent from the field three times this year, and below that number from beyond the arc five times.
The Opponent
Drake is 7-6 overall and 5-1 in MVC play. Grace Berg leads the Bulldogs with 16.3 points per game on 51 percent shooting as a five-time MVC Newcomer of the Week, while Maddie Monahan (14.2) and Kierra Collier (13.2) join her in double figures. The Bulldogs average 21.3 assists per game to again rank among the NCAA leaders, and score an MVC-best 79.4 points per game while shooting 45.9 percent overall, 34.4 percent on 3-pointers and 75 percent at the foul line. DU allows 68.9 points per game and is plus-7.5 on the glass to rank second in the MVC behind the Lady Bears.
Series History
Missouri State owns a 45-44 series lead and has played Drake more than any other opponent. The Lady Bears have won four of the last five meetings and three in a row, and lead 28-18 all-time in Springfield. This will be the fifth consecutive meeting in which one team is ranked.
