The Lady Bear Necessities
- Missouri State women's basketball will look to bounce back after a Friday night loss at Belmont in a Sunday afternoon (2 p.m.) Missouri Valley Conference contest at Murray State. The Lady Bears have won the last three matchups in the series, including a season sweep of the Racers a year ago. The winner of Sunday's matchup will take over sole possession of third place in the MVC standings.
- Missouri State and Murray State are the only two teams remaining in the MVC that are undefeated at home. The Racers are 8-0 in front of their home crowd, while Missouri State is 10-0 at home this season and have won its last 12 games at Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield.
- Point guard Lacy Stokes (Jr., Mount Vernon, Mo.) ranks 15th nationally and second in the MVC with a 2.86 assist-to-turnover ratio, but her ratio jumps to 4.7 (47 AST/10 TO) in eight MVC games. She owns eight games this season with fewer than two turnovers - five of those games coming in Valley play. Stokes also ranks 59th nationally with 4.7 assists per game and 90th with 80 total assists this season.
- Head Coach Beth Cunningham is one victory shy of reaching 200 career wins (199-132). She owned a record of 167-115 in nine seasons as head coach at VCU from 2003-2012 and is 32-17 in her second season at Missouri State.
- 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 30-4 when holding opponents to 70 points or less.
- MSU's freshman class has been a bright spot recently, earning more valuable minutes as of late. Kyrah Daniels earned a spot in the starting lineup and continues to lead MSU in MVC action with 11.4 points/game and 15 three-point field goals. Louis Volker is shooting .594 (19-32) in conference games, while Kaemyn Bekemeier is coming off yet another career game, setting career-best marks in points (14) and rebounds (5) at Belmont. Bekemeier is also shooting .607 (17-28) from the field and .462 (6-13) from three in Valley games.
- After finishing last season ranked 251st nationally in three-point percentage (.292), the Lady Bears currently rank 52nd at .350.
- 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.
- This season, MSU is 9-0 when outrebounding its opponents and 11-1 when owning more assists.
The Series
Missouri State leads the all-time series against Murray State, 4-1, which includes a 1-1 record on the road.
Missouri State swept the season series a year ago, beginning with a 77-61 victory in Murray, marking MSU's first road victory in the series. The Lady Bears used a dominant first half in which they outscored the Racers, 47-21, and held Murray State to .292 (7-24) from the field and .111 (1-9) from three to ultimately secure a 16-point win. Six Lady Bears scored in double figures, led by
Indya Green with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
In the return trip to Springfield, the squads delivered a double-overtime thriller. With Missouri State holding a narrow lead for most of the second half, a Murray State triple sent the game to overtime. In the first overtime, the Racers led by three with 0:34 on the clock, but
Aniya Thomas drained a three to send it to double overtime, where
Sydney Wilson went on to tie the game at 86-86 before hitting the ulitmate game-winning three with 1:20 left as MSU grabbed the lead for good. Thomas led the way with 23 points, while
Kennedy Taylor (10 pts, 11 reb.) and
Jade Masogayo (19 pts., 11 reb.) each posted double-doubles.
A Lady Bear Win Would...
- Secure career victory No. 200 for head coach Beth Cunningham.
- Mark Missouri State's fourth consecutive victory over Murray State.
- Move Missouri State into sole possession of third place in The Valley standings.
