Missouri State Lady Bears (9-5, 4-1 MVC) at Valparaiso Beacons (2-11, 0-5 MVC)
Date and Time	Saturday, January 14 | 1 p.m. CT
Location	Athletics-Recreation Center (ARC) | Valparaiso, Ind.
Tickets	Tickets
Radio	KWTO 93.3 FM (Tom Ladd, Lynne Miller) | Listen Live | Varsity Network
TV	ESPN+ (Brian Jennings and Jamie Stangel) | Watch
Live Stats	Statbroadcast.com
Missouri State	Game Notes | Women's Basketball Home Page
Valparaiso	Women's Basketball Home Page
Up Next	Friday, Jan. 20 at Belmont, 6:30 p.m. CT | Nashville, Tenn. | Tickets

Starting Five - Storylines for the Valparaiso Game
1) The Missouri State Lady Bears are continuing their tradition of dominance on the boards this season. MSU ranks 4th nationally and 1st in the Missouri Valley Conference with 18.2 offensive rebounds per game, while ranking 2nd in the conference and 13th in the country in total rebound average with 44.7 per game. Missouri State also owns a +12.1 rebound margin, which is 1st in the conference and 6th nationally. The Lady Bears are currently on pace to set the school record for rebound margin at plus-12.1. The current record is plus-10.8 which was set in 2020-21.

2) Missouri State sophomore Kennedy Taylor earned her second MVC Newcomer of the Week honor of the season after averaging 20.5 points and 13.5 rebounds last week against Illinois State and Bradley. With 13 points and a career-high 15 rebounds against Southern Illinois on Wednesday, Taylor recorded her fourth consecutive double-double and her seventh-straight double-digit scoring performance. She ranks 18th nationally and 1st in the MVC with 3.9 offensive rebounds/game.

3) In Wednesday's win against Southern Illinois, fifth-year senior Aniya Thomas tallied 25 points and a career-high 10 assists to just two turnovers. She became the first Lady Bear since Casey Garrison on Jan. 29, 2012 to record at least 20 points and 10 assists. Thomas leads the team with 70 assists and 37 steals, and ranks 1st in the MVC with 2.6 steals/game and 2nd with 5.0 assists/game.

4) Fifth-year senior Sydney Wilson sits in second place all-time in career wins with 108 as a Lady Bear, trailing only Brice Calip (2017-22) who owns 122 career wins. Wilson is also just 25 points shy of the 1,000-point mark for her career. 

5) MSU is 57-12 in its last 69 MVC road games, dating back to Feb. 20, 2015, and 33-5 in its last 38 conference road matchups. The Lady Bears have won at least six MVC road games for eight straight seasons. MSU is 2-0 in Valley games on the road this season with wins at Indiana State and Evansville.

Series History
Missouri State leads the all-time series against Valparaiso, 10-0. The Lady Bears own a 6-0 record on the road against the Beacons, as they travel to Indiana for the only regular season meeting against Valpo. MSU swept the series last year, including a 66-46 victory on the road (3/3/22) and a 74-62 win in Springfield (1/2/22). In last season's meeting in Springfield, Sydney Wilson scored 13 points and grabbed 13 rebounds against the Beacons, while Paige Rocca and Isabelle Delarue each had 11 points. 

The Opponent 
Valparaiso is 2-11 on the year and 0-5 to begin MVC play. The Beacons are led by Olivia Brown, who averages 12 points per game. Leah Earnest averages 11.1 points and a team-leading 8.3 rebounds per game. Saunders is shooting 47% from the field and 43% from three off the bench for 10.6 points/game.  As a team, Valparaiso owns a -10.4 scoring and -4.7 rebounding margin. The Beacons average 19 turnovers, while owning a .418 FG%, .334 3FG% and .690 FT%.