Missouri State Lady Bears (19-8, 14-4 MVC) at Drake Bulldogs (17-9, 12-6 MVC)
Date and Time	Thursday, March 2 | 6 p.m. CT
Location	Knapp Center | Des Moines, Iowa
Tickets	Tickets
Radio	KBFL 96.9 FM (Tom Ladd, Lynne Miller) | Listen Live | Varsity Network
TV	ESPN+ | Watch
Live Stats	Sidearm Stats
Missouri State	Game Notes | Women's Basketball Home Page
Drake	Women's Basketball Home Page
Bears Mobile App	App Store (Apple Devices) | Google Play Store (Android Devices)
Up Next	Saturday, March 4 at UNI, 2 p.m. CT | Tickets

Starting Five - Storylines for the Drake Game
1) The Missouri State Lady Bears are continuing their tradition of dominance on the boards this season. MSU ranks 6th nationally and 1st in the Missouri Valley Conference with 16.7 offensive rebounds per game, while ranking 2nd in the conference and 14th in the country in total rebound average with 42.8 per game. Missouri State also owns a +10.4 rebound margin, which is 2nd in the conference and 7th nationally.

2) Aniya Thomas continues to serve as an all-around player for the Lady Bears, leading MSU with 15.0 points per game, 29 three-point FGs, a .766 free throw percentage, 117 assists and 56 steals. She owns six 20-point games this season and 23 double-figure scoring performances. Thomas has five or more assists in 10 games this season and her scoring average jumps up to 16.4 ppg versus MVC opponents.

3) Sophomore and first-year Lady Bear Kennedy Taylor racked up her fourth MVC Newcomer of the Week honor on Monday, following her performances against Evansville and Indiana State. She averaged 17 points and 12 rebounds, while shooting .684 (13-19) from the field and .727 (8-11) at the line last week. She also pulled down 24 total rebounds, 15 coming on the offensive glass, as she ranks 14th in the nation and 1st in The Valley with 4.0 offensive boards per game.

4) According to HerHoopsStats.com, Jade Masogayo is one of two freshman in NCAA Division I averaging at least 7.5 points per game, 5.0 rebounds per game, 1.5 blocks per game and 1.5 assists per game this season. She also became the first freshman in NCAA Divison I this season and is just one of eightplayers in all of NCAA DI to post at least 19 points, 11 rebounds, five steals and three blocks in a single game with her performance against Murray State on Feb. 17.

5) Missouri State is 10-0 this season when holding opponents to less than 60 points and 13-0 when scoring 70+ points. They also own a 19-2 record when collecting more assists than their opponent, meanwhile that record falls to 0-6 when their opponent has more assists.

Series History
Missouri State leads the all-time series against Drake, 51-44, but the Lady Bears own a 15-25 record on the road against the Bulldogs. MSU has won the last nine game in the series, including a 64-54 victory earlier this season in Springfield. In that last meeting, Aniya Thomas led the way for MSU with 15 points, while Sydney Wilson scored 14 points, grabbed eight rebounds, dished out six assists and collected six steals. Kennedy Taylor also had a game-high 10 boards.

The Opponent 
Drake is 17-9 overall on the season and 12-6 in Missouri Valley Conference play. The Bulldogs are led by Maggie Bair, who averages 16.1 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, while three other Bulldogs average at least 10 ppg. Katie Dinnebier leads the team with 144 assists and 49 steals. As a team, Drake averages 78.5 ppg and 43.8 rpg, while owning a plus-13.0 scoring and pllus-10.6 rebounding margin. The Bulldogs also average 20.7 assists/game, while shooting .470 from the field, .326 from three and .709 at the line.