Starting Five - Storylines for the SIU Game
1) The 19th-ranked Missouri State Lady Bears head to Southern Illinois Wednesday for a 6 p.m. contest, needing one victory to claim the school's 14th MVC regular season title since 1990. The Lady Bears (15-2, 11-0 MVC) are off to their best start since the 2003-04 club opened 20-1, and are 11-0 in Valley play for the third time in school history, starting 11-0 in 2004 and 12-0 in 1996. MSU's 11-game win streak is the longest since the 2018-19 team won 13 games in a row from Dec. 20-Feb. 8.
2) Missouri State is 65-9 overall since Dec. 20, 2018, ranking ninth nationally in total wins since that date and fourth in win percentage (.878), trailing only Baylor, UConn and FGCU. Six teams ahead of the Lady Bears on the wins list have been ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll over that span.
3) The Lady Bears are 29-4 in their last 33 true road games, 36-6 in the last 42 games away from home, and 22-2 in the last 24 MVC road contests. Missouri State is 8-0 on the road this season as one of three Division I teams with at least eight road wins and no losses, and MSU's current nine-game road win streak is the second-longest nationally and tied for second in school history.
4) Missouri State has won the rebounding battle in 14 of 17 games this year and 40 of the last 47, with a plus-9.2 margin this season on pace for third in school history and a .787 defensive rebounding percentage that ranks second 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 yield fewer than 60 since 2003-04 (58.5). No team has scored more than 73 points against Missouri State and 15 of 17 have scored below its season average. MSU has faced top-25 scoring offenses in Maryland (1st - 92.4), FGCU (5th - 84.0) and Drake (25th - 77.4) twice.
The Opponent
Southern Illinois is 8-10 overall and 5-8 MVC play. The Salukis have a pair of 1,000-point scorers on their roster in seniors Makenzie Silvey and Abby Brockmeyer, with both averaging 14.2 points per game. Brockmeyer averages 9.3 rebounds per contest, while Silvey has 29 3-pointers and 44 assists on the year. As a team, SIU averages 59.8 points and allows 61.7, shooting 39.9 percent overall, 30 percent on 3-pointers and 64.9 percent at the foul line with a plus-2.2 rebound margin.
Series History
Missouri State is 56-29 all-time against the Salukis with a 21-18 record in Carbondale. The Lady Bears have lost two of their last three trips to Banterra Center, both by two points, and it is the only Valley arena in which MSU's senior class does not have a winning record.
First Meeting with SIU
Missouri State held SIU to 26 percent shooting and the lowest scoring output by an MVC team against the Lady Bears in three years in a 61-44 victory Jan. 27.
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Emily Gartner scored a season-high 15 points and grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds for her second career double-double, shooting 6-of-9 from the floor, while
Jasmine Franklin added 13 points and
Brice Calip scored 11 for the 25th-ranked Lady Bears.
   An early 9-0 SIU run put the Salukis up 9-4 and gave MSU its largest deficit of the Valley season, but the Lady Bears trailed for just 3:25 of game time and made 11 of their next 13 shots on the way to a 28-17.
   Missouri State led 35-22 margin at the half were still ahead 51-42 despite making only two field goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half before closing on a 10-2 run.
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