Starting Five - Storylines for the MVC Tournament
1) The No. 17/21 Missouri State Lady Bears are Missouri Valley Conference champions for the second consecutive season, and take the top seed into the MVC Tournament for the 12th time in program history. The Lady Bears (20-2, 16-0) completed the league schedule without a loss for the first time in program history, and begin tournament play at 11 a.m. Friday against the winner of Thursday's game between No. 8 Southern Illinois and ninth-seeded Indiana State.
2) Missouri State is 70-9 overall since Dec. 20, 2018, ranking eighth nationally in total wins since that date and fourth in win percentage (.886), 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 39-6 in their last 45 games away from home, including a 12-1 mark this season. Missouri State has won 28 of its last 30 games against MVC competition away from Springfield, and are one of two Division teams this season with an 11-0 record in true road games.
4) Missouri State has won the rebounding battle in 19 of 22 games this year and 45 of the last 52, with a plus-10.7 margin this season on pace for a school record and a .800 defensive rebounding percentage that ranks second nationally after leading the NCAA last year with a .773 mark.
5) The Lady Bears allow 56.8 points per game, ranking 27th nationally and on pace for second-best defensive average in school history behind the 1973-74 team at 45.9. Only six times previously have the Lady Bears given up fewer than 60 points on average, most recently in the 2003-04 season. No team has scored more than 73 points against Missouri State and 20 of 22 have scored below its season average. MSU has faced top-20 scoring offenses in Maryland (1st - 91.3), FGCU (7th - 82.8) and Drake (19th - 77.1) twice.
Regular Season Champions
With this year's outright title, MSU has won 14 Gateway/MVC regular season championships, doing so in 1990, '91, '92, '93, '94, '95, '96, '99, 2001, '04, '05, '12, '20 and '21.
Tournament Tough
MSU is 46-21 all-time at the MVC/Gateway Tournament with a record 11 championships and 16 finals appearances to its credit. Missouri State enters the tourney with all-time records of 2-3 in the opening round, 17-8 in the quarterfinals, 16-5 in the semifinals and 11-5 in championship games. MSU has been the No. 1 seed 11 times previously, winning from that spot on six occasions. The Lady Bears are 7-2 in Moline with titles in 2016 and 2019.
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