The Lady Bear NecessitiesÂ
- Missouri State women's basketball kicks off a three-game road swing with a Friday night (6:30 p.m.) Missouri Valley Conference showdown at Belmont. The winner of Friday's matchup will take over sole possession of second place in the MVC standings. MSU is 0-2 all-time against the Bruins.Â
- Point guard Lacy Stokes (Jr., Mount Vernon, Mo.) ranks 9th nationally and second in the MVC with a 3.04 assist-to-turnover ratio, but her ratio skyrockets to 6.7 (40 AST/6 TO) in seven MVC games. She owns eight games this season with fewer than two turnovers - five of those games coming in Valley play. Stokes also ranks 71st nationally with 4.6 assists per game.
- Head Coach Beth Cunningham is one victory shy of reaching 200 career wins (199-131). She owned a record of 167-115 in nine seasons as head coach at VCU from 2003-2012 and is 32-16 in her second season at Missouri State.
- The Lady Bears have won 9 of their last 10 games. In that span, Missouri State is averaing 72.0 points per game and holding opponents to 61.4 per game. The Lady Bears are shooting .468 from the field, .379 from three and are forcing 19.5 turnnovers per game with a plus-5.7 turnover margin over the last 10 games.Â
- In the Beth Cunningham era, the Lady Bears are 20-2 when scoring 70+ points. Under Cunningham, Missouri State is 23-0 when allowing 65 points or less and 30-3 when holding opponents to 70 points or less.Â
- MSU's freshman class has been a bright spot recently, earning more valuable minutes as of late. Last weekend in wins against Evansville and Indiana State, the five-member class shot a combined 27-for-51 (.529) from the field, leading MSU's classes with 68 points across the two games. Kyrah Daniels continues to lead MSU in MVC action with 11.7 points/game, while Louis Volker is shooting .613 (19-31) in conference games. Kaemyn Bekemeier is 12-for-20 (.600) from the field with four triples, nine assists and and five steals in five Valley appearances.Â
- After finishing last season ranked 251st nationally in three-point percentage (.292), the Lady Bears currently rank 56th at .349.
- Missouri State is 5-0 this season in games decided by five points or less. The Lady Bears have won those five games by a combined 10 points.Â
- This season, MSU is 9-0 when outrebounding its opponents and 11-1 when owning more assists.Â
The Series
   Missouri State trails the all-time series against Belmont, 0-2, after facing off for the first times in the programs' histories last season in the Bruins' first season in the Missouri Valley Conference. Â
   In the first-ever meeting between the programs, the Lady Bears' comeback bid fell short after cutting the deficit to two points in the fourth quarter after trailing by as many as 16 points in the third period. Belmont went on to pull away down the stretch to win 75-66.
Aniya Thomas paced MSU with 21 points, while current Lady Bears
Jade Masogayo (16 points, 3 blocks) and
Kennedy Taylor (10 points, 12 rebounds) had big performances as well.Â
   In the return game in Springfield, MSU once again found itself in a one-possession game in the fourth quarter. After MSU cut the Belmont lead to three, the Bruins put together five quick points, including a dagger three from Destinee Wells as the shot clock expired, to get enough separation from the Lady Bears to end MSU's eight-game win streak. That loss to the Bruins marks the last time the Lady Bears lost a game at home as they are currently riding a 12-game home win streak.
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A Lady Bear Win Would...
- Mark MSU's first-ever victory against Belmont.
- Move Missouri State into sole possession of second place in the MVC standings.
- Secure career victory No. 200 for head coach Beth Cunningham.
