SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State will honor one of its women's basketball all-time greats on Sunday, Jan. 21 with the jersey retirement of (#22) Kari Koch Dowell.
 
The ceremony will take place at halftime of the women's basketball game vs. Indiana State on that date, which starts at 2:00 p.m., at Great Southern Bank Arena.
 
Koch was a four-year starter and played on four straight postseason tournament teams for the Lady Bears under head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson (2002-2006). She is one of just three players in program history to collect first-team all-conference honors all four years of their careers, joining Jackie Stiles and Casey Garrison.
 
"This is such a great honor, and I am beyond grateful to be listed in the same category as the greats before me," Dowell said. "Having my jersey retired is a dream come true."
 
The in-state product burst onto the scene in her first season at MSU, winning Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year in 2003 as she became the first freshman in MVC history to be selected as the MVP of the conference tournament. She averaged 14.7 points per game in her freshman campaign and still holds the Missouri State freshman record for free throw percentage at an .821 (78-for-95) mark.
 
For her encore performance, Koch took home MVC Player of the Year as a sophomore in 2004, averaging 17.8 points per game.
 
Additionally, Koch was a three-time MVC All-Defensive Team selection, a WBCA Kodak honorable mention All-American, and was named to the MVC All-Centennial Team in 2007 and the MVC 25 Year team in 2018. She is the all-time leader in program history in three-point field goals (271) and ranks inside the top three all-time in steals (2^nd-340), assists (2^nd – 529), scoring (3^rd – 2,073), scoring average (17.0) and three-point attempts (3^rd – 677).
 
During Koch's tenure, the Lady Bears made three NCAA Tournament appearances and won the 2005 Women's National Invitation Tournament title. She paced the Lady Bears in scoring in all three NCAA Tournament games she appeared in, scoring 19 points against No. 7 Texas Tech in 2003, 15 points against Notre Dame in 2004 and 11 points against No. 11 Purdue in 2006. She also helped lead MSU to two MVC regular season titles and three conference tournament crowns in her four years donning maroon and white.
 
The Elsberry, Mo., native played professional basketball in Athens, Greece for five years and was inducted into the Missouri State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013.
 
For tickets, visit MissouriStBears.com or the Missouri State Athletics Box Office at Great Southern Bank Arena, (417) 836-7678, during regular box office hours.