Starting Five - Storylines for the Oklahoma State Game
1) The Lady Bears are receiving votes in both the AP and Coaches Poll, receiving 112 points in the Coaches and 14 in the AP Poll. MSU ended last season ranked 14th in the Coaches Poll.
2) Missouri State ranks 6th in the nation in three-point defense, allowing opponents to shoot just .136 from behind the arc. The Lady Bears have held Little Rock and North Texas to three made 3FG combined on 22 attempts. MSU will face their toughest challenge yet with an OSU squad that is shooting .342 from long distance.
3) The Lady Bears are 33-4 in their last 37 true road games and 43-7 in the last 50 games away from home. Missouri State has won 13 straight road games, which is tied for the program record, the first of which took place from Jan. 18-Nov. 14, 2019. Their current 13-game road win streak began on March 1, 2020.
4) Senior forward
Jasmine Franklin enters Sunday's contest against the Cowgirls just 11 points shy of 1,000 career points, as she currently sits at No. 30 on the career scoring list with 989 points in her MSU career. Franklin moved into the No. 2 spot on the MSU all-time career blocks list with two blocks against North Texas on Sunday. She has 110 blocks in her Lady Bear career.
5) Missouri State is 75-10 overall since Dec. 20, 2018, ranking seventh nationally in total wins since that date and fourth in win percentage (.881), trailing only Baylor, UConn and FGCU. Five teams ahead of the Lady Bears on the wins list have been ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll over that span.
The Opponent
Oklahoma State was an eight-seed in last season's NCAA Tournament, and the Cowgirls advanced to the NCAA Second Round before being eliminated by eventual-national champion Stanford. The Cowgirls return three starters from last season's tournament team.
OSU is led by Lauren Fields who averages 15.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg and has five steals on the year.Sophomore Lexy Keys is a shooting threat, who is 10-of-19 from the field and 6-of-12 from long range already this season. Preseason All-Big 12 honorable mention selection Taylen Collins paces the Cowgirls with eight rebounds per game and 16 total rebounds, while contributing 6.5 ppg.
Oklahoma State is 1-1 to begin the 2021-22 season, averaging 56 ppg and shooting .356 from the field. The Cowgirls are shooting .342 from behind the arc, while averaging 14 apg and 10.5 spg.
Series History
Oklahoma State owns the all-time series lead over Missouri State, 9-3.The Lady Bears are 2-3 at home against the Cowgirls and own a 1-6 record on the road in Stillwater.
This will be the first meeting between the Cowgirls and Lady Bears since Nov. 23, 2015. In their last meeting, Oklahoma State took home a 74-55 victory against MSU in Springfield.
