Starting Five - Storylines for the Bradley Series
1) The 20th-ranked Missouri State Lady Bears are back at home this weekend for games against Bradley at 7 p.m. Friday and 5 p.m. Saturday. MSU is 9-0 in MVC play for the fifth time in school history and reached 10-0 in 2019 and 2000, 11-0 in 2004 and 12-0 in 1996. The Lady Bears are one of five teams nationally with a combined 11 Quadrant 1 and 2 wins according to the NET, while only MSU and Stanford have at least eight such road victories through Feb. 16. At 13-2 overall, MSU is one win shy of tying last season's 14-2 start for the best mark since the 2003-04 club opened 20-1.
2) Missouri State is 63-9 overall since Dec. 20, 2018, ranking ninth nationally in total wins since that date and sixth in win percentage (.875), while only Baylor, UConn and FGCU have fewer losses. 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 19-1 at home under Coach Mox with an average score of 79.2-59.4 and a plus-11.5 rebound margin. The Lady Bears have out-scored the opposition 168-80 over the first four minutes of the last 20 home games, and have a plus-6.3 first quarter scoring margin overall this season.
4) Missouri State has won the rebounding battle in 12 of 15 games this year and 38 of the last 45, with a plus-8.6 margin this season on pace for third in school history and a .784 defensive rebounding percentage that ranks third nationally after leading the NCAA last year with a .773 mark.
5) The Lady Bears allow 58.9 points per game this season, on pace to become the first MSU club to give yield fewer than 60 since 2003-04 (58.5). No team has scored more than 73 points against Missouri State and 13 of 15 have scored below its season average. MSU has faced top-25 scoring offenses in Maryland (1st - 91.7), FGCU (7th - 83.6) and Drake (24th - 78.2) twice.
The Opponent
Bradley is 12-8 overall and 8-5 in MVC play, and is the only league team other that Missouri State to receive first-place votes in this season's preseason poll. Preseason Player of the Year Lasha Petree (18.6 ppg) and Gabi Haack (16.1) rank 1-3 in the MVC in scoring, and the Braves average 71.8 points as a team while shooting 42.4 percent overall, 33.8 percent from 3-point range and 72.1 percent at the foul line. The BU defense yields 65.1 points on average and the Braves own a plus-3.4 rebound margin.
Series History
Missouri State is 58-25 all-time against Bradley with a 33-10 home record. The Lady Bears have won seven in a row in the series.
Play4Kay
Friday is the annual Play4Kay game in support of the fight against women's cancers. For more information on Play4Kay and the Kay Yoy Cancer Fund, visit
KayYow.com.
