Lady Bears WNIT Tournament Central

Missouri State Lady Bears (20-11) at Nebraska Cornhuskers (16-14) - WNIT First Round
Date and Time	Wednesday, March 15 \| 6 p.m. CT
Location	Pinnacle Bank Arena \| Lincoln, Neb.
WNIT	Tournament Central \| Bracket (PDF)
Tickets	Tickets
TV	Watch (B1G+)
Radio	KWTO 93.3 FM (Tom Ladd, Lynne Miller) \| Listen Live \| Varsity Network
Live Stats	Statbroadcast.com
Missouri State	Game Notes \| Women's Basketball Home Page
Nebraska	Game Notes \| Women's Basketball Home Page
Bears Mobile App	App Store (Apple Devices) \| Google Play Store (Android Devices)

Starting Five - Storylines for the WNIT First Round
1) The Missouri State Lady Bears are continuing their tradition of dominance on the boards this season. MSU ranks 9th nationally and 1st in the Missouri Valley Conference with 16.0 offensive rebounds per game, while ranking 2nd in the conference and 27th in the country in total rebound average with 41.3 per game. Missouri State also owns a +8.8 rebound margin, which is 2nd in the conference and 12th nationally.

2) Missouri State played 10 teams this season that made either the NCAA Tournament or WNIT fields. The Lady Bears faced off against Drake, Middle Tennessee, Saint Louis, Toledo and Oklahoma State, all of which made the NCAA Tournament. Previous opponents from this season joining MSU in the WNIT field are Northern Iowa, Missouri, Illinois State, Little Rock and Belmont.

3) This year's Lady Bear squad is made up of multiple impactful newcomers. Fifth-year senior Aniya Thomas leads the team with 14.8 ppg, 135 assists and 63 steals, while sophomore Kennedy Taylor averages 12.1 points and 8.3 boards per game as they were both named to the MVC All-Newcomer Team. MVC Freshman of the Year Jade Masogayo is one of two freshman in NCAA Division I averaging at least 8.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.4 blocks per game this season.JUCO transfer Indya Green is also posting 8.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game with seven double-doubles on the season.

4) MSU's only returning starter from a year ago is fifth-year senior Sydney Wilson, who ranks second all-time in career victories at MSU with 119, trailing only her former teammate Brice Calip (122). Wilson is one of just 16 Lady Bears in program history to own 1,000 career points and 600 career rebounds. Her 1,146 points rank 23rd all-time at MSU. She owns 17 double-figure scoring performances this season.

5) Missouri State is 11-0 this season when holding opponents to less than 60 points and 14-1 when scoring 70+ points. They also own a 20-3 record when collecting more assists than their opponent, meanwhile that record falls to 0-8 when their opponent has more assists.

Series History
Missouri State trails the all-time series against Nebraska, 1-2, including an 0-1 ledger in Lincoln. The teams last met on Dec. 8, 1993 with MSU taking home a 71-57 victory in Springfield. MSU and Nebraska faced off in Lincoln on Feb. 2, 1993 with the Lady Bears falling in a close contest, 84-88, on the road. The first meeting in the series came on Jan. 8, 1976 as MSU fell 64-74 on a neutral floor.

The Opponent
Nebraska is 16-14 overall on the season and finished 8-10 in the Big Ten. In their last outing, the Cornhuskers fell to Michigan State, 64-67, in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament. Nebraska is led by Jaz Shelley, who averages 14.6 points/game, followed by Alexis Markowski who is averaging a double-double at 12.4 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. As a team, the Cornhuskers average 71.5 points and 40.9 rebounds per game, while shooting .412 from the field, .330 from three and .713 at the line.

Lady Bears WNIT Tournament Central

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Players Mentioned

Brice Calip

Indya Green

Jade Masogayo

Kennedy Taylor

Aniya Thomas

Sydney Wilson

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