The Lady Bear Necessities
- Missouri State women's basketball continues its six-game road stretch with a trip to Martin, Tenn., to face the UT Martin Skyhawks on Tuesday (11:00 a.m.) at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center. The Education Day matchup will mark just the second all-time meeting between the Lady Bears and Skyhawks, and the first-ever contest in Martin.
- Missouri State is off to a 2-0 start to the season for the first time under head coach Beth Cunningham.
- In its last outing, Missouri State had six Lady Bears score in double figures - led by Kyrah Daniels (So., Highlands Ranch, Colo.) with 16 points. The MoState offense has been a balanced attack in the first two games, as five Lady Bears are averaging at least 10.0 points/game on the young season.
- Missouri State has been getting to the free throw line frequently in the early part of the season. The Lady Bears rank 9th nationally in FTA per game (28.5) and 61st in FTM per game (15.5).
- 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 highlighted by Sarah Linthacum (Sr., Jefferson City, Mo.) and Kiley Bess (Sr., Poplar Bluff, Mo.) who were featured in MoState's starting five in each of the first two games.
- 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 45-22 record. In the Cunningham era, Missouri State is 28-4 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 UT Martin, 1-0. Tuesday's meeting will mark just the second meeting all time between the Lady Bears and Skyhawks, and the first matchup in Martin, Tenn.
The first meeting in the programs' histories was a couple of years ago on Dec. 17, 2022 in Springfield with Missouri State winning the contest, 68-59. UTM cut MoState's lead down to a single basket with 3:40 remaining in the third period in the contest, but a crucial 7-0 run by the Lady Bears stretched the margin back out to nine points and they didn't allow the Skyhawks to get back within four points of the lead for the remainder of the game.
Coming into Tuesday's matchup, the Lady Bears' personnel will look a lot different than it did in the previous meeting, as
Paige Rocca is the only remaining MSU player that was on the roster when the teams last faced off.
