The Lady Bear Necessities
- Missouri State women's basketball hits the road for the second consecutive game to open the season with a Wednesday night in-state matchup at Saint Louis (7 p.m.). The Lady Bears have won the last three matchups against the Billikens, including a 71-55 victory in Springfield last season, and are looking for their first win on the road at SLU since the teams last met in St. Louis on 12/12/10.
- The Billikens are the first of three in-state opponents the Lady Bears will face this season. MSU takes on SEMO next week at home before traveling to rival Missouri on December 6 to round out the trifecta.
- MSU is one of two undefeated teams remaining in The Valley at 1-0, alongside Drake at 3-0.
- In their season opener, the Lady Bears survived a late push from Little Rock on the road, coming up with a couple of key defensive stops and clutch free throws to defeat the Trojans, 52-47. Lacy Stokes (Jr., Mount Vernon, Mo.) led the way with 18 points and five assists, followed by freshman Kyrah Daniels (Fr., Highlands Ranch, Colo.) with 10 points.
- MSU returns 61% of its rebounding from a year ago, including its top three rebounders in Kennedy Taylor (Jr., Shawnee Mission, Kan.), Indya Green (Jr., Springfield, Mo.) and Jade Masogayo (So., For Worth, Texas). Those three Lady Bears continued their dominance on the boards last Monday night, accounting for half (21-of-42) of MSU's rebounds against the Trojans and nearly outrebounding the entire Little Rock squad that pulled down 26 boards as a team.
- Missouri State was picked to finish 5th in this year's MVC Preseason Poll, with Masogayo and Taylor earning preseason All-MVC second team nods.
- Head coach Beth Cunningham enters her second season at the helm of the Lady Bears program. In her first season, she led the Lady Bears to a 20-12 overall record and a 14-6 ledger in the Missouri Valley Conference, as she became just the second head coach in program history to record at least 20 victories in year one.
- MSU returns six players (three starters) from a year ago, while welcoming a group of eight newcomers that consists of three transfers and five freshmen. Missouri State looks to build on the success of last season's impact transfers as they usher in DII All-American Lacy Stokes from Missouri Southern, as well as Katrine Jessen (Sr., Skovlunde, Denmark) and Angel Scott (Jr., Edmond, Okla.) from Kansas and Stephen F. Austin, respectively.
- Missouri State's five-member freshman class is its largest since the 2018-19 season.
The Series
Missouri State leads the all-time series against Saint Louis, 14-3. The Lady Bears are 6-2 on the road versus the Billikens and will be traveling to St. Louis for the first time since Dec. 12, 2010. MSU has won the last three matchups in the series, dating bacto to 2009.
The in-state matchup was renewed last season, marking the first game in 12 years between the two squads. Missouri State protected its home court and earned its first victory of the season last year with a 71-55 win over the Billikens.
Indya Green posted a 14-point, 15-rebound double-double, while former Lady Bear
Isabelle Delarue paced MSU with a career-high 18 points.
Kennedy Taylor and
Jade Masogayo added six points each with Taylor pulling down 10 rebounds. MSU jumped out to a fast start and didn't look back as the Lady Bears led wire-to-wire in the contest, marking
Beth Cunningham's first victory at the helm of the program.
A Lady Bear Win Would...
• Extend MSU's win streak against Saint Louis to four games.
• Mark Missouri State's first road win against the Billikens since 12/12/10, which was the last time the teams met in St. Louis
• Mark the first 2-0 start for the Lady Bears since 2021-22 season.
• Secure MSU's 15th victory in the series against the Billikens
