Starting Five - Storylines for the Loyola Series
1) The 19th-ranked Missouri State Lady Bears secured their second consecutive Missouri Valley Conference regular season title with a victory at SIU Wednesday, and close out the home schedule Saturday and Sunday versus Loyola at 5 p.m. each day. The Lady Bears (16-2, 12-0) have tied the 1995-96 club for the best MVC start in school history, and have now won 14 Gateway/MVC regular season championships, doing so in 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2020 and 2021.
2) Missouri State is 66-9 overall since Dec. 20, 2018, ranking ninth nationally in total wins since that date and fourth in win percentage (.880), 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) MSU is 21-1 at home under Coach Mox with an average score of 78.2-59.3 and a plus-11.6 rebound margin. The Lady Bears have out-scored the opposition 181-92 over the first four minutes of the last 22 home games, and have a plus-5.7 first quarter scoring margin overall this season.
4) Missouri State has won the rebounding battle in 15 of 18 games this year and 41 of the last 48, with a plus-9.3 margin this season on pace for third in school history and a .785 defensive rebounding percentage that ranks second nationally after leading the NCAA last year with a .773 mark.
5) The Lady Bears allow 58.7 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 16 of 18 have scored below its season average. MSU has faced top-25 scoring offenses in Maryland (1st - 93.4), FGCU (5th - 84.0) and Drake (25th - 77.3) twice.
Streaking
The Lady Bears have numerous active win streaks, including:
   • 12 overall wins, tying for ninth in school history and the longest since the 2018-19 team won 13 in a row from Dec. 20 -Feb. 8.
   • 10 road wins, second in school history behind a 13-game streak from Jan. 18-Nov. 14, 2019, and the second-longest active streak in NCAA Division I.
   • 8 MVC road wins, tying for fourth in school history and longest since the record of 13 was set from Feb. 16, 2018-Jan. 5, 2020.
   • 15 MVC home wins, tying for the third-best in MSU history and longest since a 19-game streak from March 2, 2003-Feb. 27, 2005.
   • 15 MVC wins overall, fourth in school history and longest since a 17-game streak from Feb. 9, 2018-Feb. 8, 2019.
The Opponent
Loyola is 10-8 overall and 8-6 in Valley play as one of the surprise teams in the league. The Ramblers lead the MVC by allowing 56.3 point in conference games, and have four players averaging between 10.8 and 8.5 points per contest. LUC averages 60.3 points overall and allows 58.6, shooting 39.4 percent overall, 29.7 percent on 3-pointers and 71.5 percent at the foul line with a plus-2.5 rebound margin.
Series History
Missouri State is 14-3 against Loyola with 14 consecutive wins in the series. The Lady Bears own a 7-0 record at JQH Arena and 14-1 mark when the teams meet as conference opponents.
