Missouri State Lady Bears (7-4, 2-0 MVC) vs. Illinois State Redbirds (7-5, 1-1 MVC)
Date and Time	Thursday, January 5 | 6 p.m. CT
Location	Great Southern Bank Arena (11,000) | Springfield, Mo.
Tickets	Tickets | (417) 836-7678 | Great Southern Bank Arena Box Office
Promotions	Wear White | 2022-23 Promotions Calendar
Fan Info.	Digital Game Program
Radio	KWTO 93.3 FM (Tom Ladd, Lynne Miller) | Listen Live | Varsity Network
TV	ESPN+ (Corey Riggs, Carly Stubblefield) | Watch
Live Stats	Sidearm Stats
Missouri State	Game Notes | Women's Basketball Home Page
Illinois State	Women's Basketball Home Page
Up Next	Saturday, Jan. 7 vs. Bradley, 1 p.m. CT  | Tickets

Starting Five - Storylines for the Illinois State Game
1) The Missouri State Lady Bears continue to have success on the boards this season. MSU ranks 7th nationally and 1st in the Missouri Valley Conference with 17.0 offensive rebounds per game, while ranking 2nd in the conference and 28th in the country in total rebound average with 42.9 per game. Missouri State also owns a +10.0 rebound margin, which is second in the conference and top 25 nationally. Rebounding has been an advantage for the Lady Bears over the years, as they have out-rebounded 66 of their last 77 MVC opponents and won the rebounding battle 112 times in their last 135 contests overall.

2) Missouri State began MVC play 2-0 for the sixth-straight season with wins at Indiana State and Evansville last week to improve to 33-5 in their last 38 MVC road contests and  57-12 in their last 69 conference road matchups.

3) Since the beginning of the 2017-18 season, MSU has compiled a 60-10 record inside Great Southern Bank Arena, while boasting a 39-4 record since the start of the 2019-20 season. Since the start of the 2019-20 season, MSU's 39-4 home record has come by an average score of 71.9-54.8 with a plus-11.7 rebound margin.

4) Fifth-year senior Sydney Wilson now sits in second place all-time, behind Brice Calip (2017-22) who owns 122 career wins, with 106 career wins as a Lady Bear. Wilson is also just 50 points shy of the 1,000-point mark for her career. 

5) Missouri State's transfers have made a major impact this season. MSU has collected three MVC Newcomer of the Week honors by three different players (Green, Taylor and Thomas). Thomas is the league's reigning newcomer of the week after averaging 19.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game to open Valley play, while her stat line at Evansville of a double-double (27 pts, 10 reb) with at least five assists and five steals was just the fourth of its kind in program history at MSU.

Series History
    Missouri State leads the all-time series against Illinois State, 48-34. The Lady Bears own a 25-14 advantage in Springfield. MSU and Illinois State split the series last season, with MSU falling to the Redbirds, 51-52, at home before bouncing back with a 75-69 victory in Normal.             
    Sydney Wilson recorded 10 points and 6 rebounds against the Redbirds at home last season, as Ifunanya Nwachukwu tallied 11 points and 7 rebounds in last year's road matchup.

The Opponent 
    Illinois State has started the season 7-5 overall and 1-1 in Missouri Valley Conference play. The Redbirds defeated Drake (87-76) and lost to UNI (64-74) to open the Valley slate last weekend.  Illinois State is led by Drury transfer Paige Robinson, who is averaging 19.4 points a game along with 5.0 rebounds per game and 14 total steals. DeAnna Wilson leads the Redbirds with 7.7 rpg, while Maya Wong is the team's leader with 45 assists. 
    As a unit, the Redbirds are averaging 67.0 points and 34.9 rebounds per game. Illinois State is shooting .389 from the field, .366 from three and .749 from the free throw line, in addition to owning a +2.5 scoring and -3.1 rebounding margin.