Starting Five - Storylines for the TCU Game
1) The Missouri State Lady Bears continue to have success on the boards this season. MSU ranks 13th nationally and 1st in the Missouri Valley Conference with 16.5 offensive rebounds per game, while ranking 3rd in the conference and 87th in the country in total rebound average with 40.5 per game. Rebounding has been an advantage for the Lady Bears over the years, as they have won the rebounding battle 107 times in their last 130 contests.
2) MSU and TCU have a similar roster make-up, as each team returned just one starter from a year ago and welcomed seven newcomers to the fold this season. The two teams also enter the matchup statistically similar in many categories, including: points/game (61.2 - MSU, 61.5 - TCU), FG% (.371 - MSU, .372 - TCU), assists/game (13.0 - MSU, 12.8 - TCU) and blocks/game (3.2 - MSU, 2.9 - TCU).
3) The Lady Bears are 41-9 in their last 50 true road games and 55-16 in the last 71 games away from home as they hit the road for their second consecutive game with the trip to Fort Worth. The trip will be a homecoming for Lady Bears
Aniya Thomas (Duncanville, Texas) and
Jade Masogayo (Fort Worth, Texas) as they return to their home state for the matchup at TCU.
4) Fifth-year senior
Sydney Wilson continues to move her way up the career victories list at MSU. With two wins so far this season, Wilson now has 101 for her Lady Bear career which is tied for fourth in program history alongside Jackie Stiles (1998-01). Next on the list is Tina Robbins (1991-94), who sits in third place with 102 career wins.
5) Junior
Paige Rocca has been MSU's leading scorer the past two games with nine points against Middle Tennessee and a season-high 11 points at Toledo. She also set a career high with four assists against the Rockets in MSU's last outing.
Series History
Missouri State and Texas Christian University have met four times in the programs' histories. MSU trails the all-time series to TCU, 1-3. The Lady Bears hold an 0-2 record on the road against the Horned Frogs.
Their last meeting was on 3/17/2018 as part of the WNIT with MSU falling, 51-86. MSU's lone win in the series occurred on 12/10/99 as Missouri State defeated the Horned Frogs, 76-56, in Springfield. TCU's head coach Raegan Pebley is 2-0 against the Lady Bears in her career.
The Opponent
TCU returns just one starter from a year ago, while the Horned Frogs welcomed seven newcomers, which includes six transfers, this season. TCU is led by three transfers, as Tomi Taiwo is the team's leading scorer with 14.6 points per game followed by Lucy Ibeh (9.8 ppg) and Roxane Makolo (7.1 ppg). Transfer Bella Cravens is the team's leading rebounder with 5.6 boards per game.
As a team, TCU's stats this season closely resemble that of MSU. The Horned Frogs are averaging 61.5 points per game while shooting .372 from the field, .318 from three-point range and .659 from the charity stripe. TCU also currently owns a -3.8 rebounding margin compared to Missouri State's +7.0 margin.
