The Lady Bear Necessities
- Missouri State women's basketball begins a six-game road stretch with a trip to face former Missouri Valley Conference foe Wichita State on Wednesday night (6:00 p.m.) at Charles Koch Arena.
- The Lady Bears lead the all-time series against Wichita State, 52-37, but are just 18-21 against the Shockers in Wichita. The two squads met last season in Springfield with Missouri State securing a 72-65 victory. Wednesday night's game marks Missouri State's first trip back to Wichita since Nov. 10, 2018.
- Missouri State is fresh off a 63-61 season-opening win over Tulsa, another member of the American Athletic Conference. Paige Rocca (Sr., Iowa City, Iowa) led MoState with 15 points, 10 of which came from the free throw line and included the game-winners. Missouri transfer Sarah Linthacum (Sr., Jefferson City, Mo.) notched her first career double-double with a 10-point, 11-rebound performance against the Golden Hurricane.
- Lainie Douglas (Fr., Overland Park, Kan.) had a solid outing in her first career game, posting eight points and nine rebounds on 3-for-6 from the field in 17 minutes of work.
- This year's Lady Bear roster features six returners, including three starters, from a year ago. The group is headlined by reigning MVC Newcomer of the Year Lacy Stokes (Sr., Mount Vernon, Mo.). Stokes averaged 12.0 points/game, recorded 153 assists and collected 85 steals in 2023-24, all team-leading marks. Overall, Missouri State returns 52% of its scoring from last year.
- Eight newcomers round out the Missouri State roster, a group that consists of two freshmen and six transfers from four-year institutions. The transfer group is highlight by Linthacum and Kiley Bess (Sr., Poplar Bluff, Mo.) who were featured in MoState's starting five in the season opener.
- Missouri State was picked to finish fifth in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll for the second consecutive year. MSU finished third in the regular season a year ago with a 15-5 conference record. Stokes earned a spot on the preseason All-MVC first team after earning second-team honors a year ago, in addition to being named to the MVC All-Newcomer and All-Defensive teams.
- Beth Cunningham is in her third season at the helm of the Lady Bears' program, owning a 44-22 record over her first two seasons, including a 26-5 record at home. In the Cunningham era, Missouri State is 27-4 when scoring 70+ points and 32-1 when holding opponents to 65 points or less.
- The 2023-24 season was one that saw the Lady Bears go 23-10, make a run to the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title game and earn a bid into the inaugural Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament. Last season marked the program's seventh consecutive 20-win season and ninth straight postseason appearance.
The Series
Missouri State leads the all-time series against former conference foe Wichita State, 52-37. However, the Lady Bears are just 18-21 on the road against the Shockers. The two teams are meeting for the second consecutive year, but this game marks MoState's first trip to Wichita, Kan. since the 2018-19 season.
In last year's matchup in Springfield, the Lady Bears secured a 72-65 victory at Great Southern Bank Arena. Facing a six-point halftime deficit, Missouri State used a huge third quarter in which the Lady Bears outscored the Shockers 22-9 to mount a second-half comeback.
Lacy Stokes led the way for MSU with 21 points (6-10 FG, 2-3 3FG, 7-12 FT).
The last time the Lady Bears traveled to Wichita State was Nov. 10, 2018 in their season opener. Missouri State grabbed the lead with less than three minutes to play, but in the final 20 seconds Wichita State hit a deep triple to send the game to overtime. WSU went on to outscore MSU 10-7 in overtime to emerge victorious, 63-60. Alexa Willard paced the Lady Bears with 21 points and was joined in double figures by Shameka Ealy (11 pts.) and Jasmine Franklin (10 pts.).
