Missouri State Lady Bears (2-1) at Saint Louis Billikens (2-3)
Date and Time	Saturday, November 23 | 1:00 p.m.
Location	Chaifetz Arena (10,600) | St. Louis, Mo.
Tickets	Tickets
TV	ESPN+ (Colin Suhre) | Watch
Radio	KWTO 93.3 FM (Tom Ladd, Lynne Miller) | Listen Live | Varsity Network
Live Stats	Live Stats
Missouri State	Game Notes | Women's Basketball Home Page | Media Guide
Saint Louis	Women's Basketball Home Page
Follow the Lady Bears	Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | #LadyBears | #MoState
Bears Mobile App	App Store (Apple Devices) | Google Play Store (Android Devices)
Up Next	November 28-30 at Paradise Jam | St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

The Lady Bear Necessities 

• Missouri State women's basketball continues its six-game road swing with an in-state rivalry game. The Lady Bears will make the trip to Saint Louis for a Saturday afternoon (1:00 p.m.) showdown against the Billikens. MSU leads the all-time series against SLU, 14-4, which includes a 6-3 record on the road in St. Louis.
• Both the Lady Bears and Billikens will be looking to bounce back from losses when the game tips on Saturday. MSU is coming off its first loss of the season, a 66-74 setback on the road at UT Martin. 
• Three Lady Bears are averaging double figure points per game on the season - Kyrah Daniels (14.0 ppg), Sarah Linthacum (13.3 ppg) and Lacy Stokes (11.7 ppg). Daniels also leads the team in three-point field goals (7) and Stokes paces MSU with 13 assists. 
• Linthacum (Sr., Jefferson City, Mo.) is making a major impact in a Lady Bear uniform, leading the team with 9.0 rebounds/game and a .594 shooting percentage. She ranks inside the top 100 nationally in offensive rebounds/game (22nd - 4.3), FG% (47th) and rebounds/game (84th). Those marks rank 3rd, 4th and 7th in the Missouri Valley Conference, respectively. 
• 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 (26.3) and 51st in FTM per game (15.3). MSU is 2-0 this season and 24-2 under Cunningham when making more free throws than its opponent. 
• Beth Cunningham is in her third season at the helm of the Lady Bears program, owning a 45-23 overall record. In the Cunningham era, Missouri State is 28-4 when scoring 70+ points, 32-1 when holding opponents to 65 points or less and 24-0 when opponents score less than 60 points. 
• This year's Lady Bear roster features six returners, including three starters, from a year ago. MoState added eight newcomers - two freshmen and six transfers from four-year institutions - to round out its squad.
• Missouri State was picked to finish fifth in the MVC 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.  
• 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 Saint Louis, 14-4, which includes a 6-3 record on the road. The Billikens own the most recent win in the series, defeating MSU 79-67 in St. Louis last season (11/15/23). 
    In last year's road loss, the Lady Bears let the game slip away in the fourth quarter. With a five-point cushion at the end of the third period, Missouri State allowed SLU to go up by two points with 5:09 remaining in the game and then the Lady Bears went cold from the field as they attempted to rally. The Billikens were able to pull away with a flurry of trips to the free throw line down the stretch, going 18-for-20 from the charity stripe in the final 3:19. Paige Rocca poured in a career-high 21 points (7-for-15 FG) along with five steals and five rebounds in the loss last season, while Kyrah Daniels had 13 points and dished out four assists off the bench. 
    Two years ago, the Lady Bears and Billikens renewed their in-state rivalry for the first time since the 2010-11 season with a matchup in Springfield on 11/15/22. In that one, it was all Missouri State as the Lady Bears never surrendered the lead and pushed their lead to a game-high 20 points at the 4:15 mark of the fourth quarter. MoState dominated on the glass with 52 boards and a +26 rebound margin, while former Lady Bear Isabelle Delarue paced MSU with 18 points, including five triples. The victory marked Beth Cunningham's first win as head coach of the Lady Bears and Sydney Wilson's 100th career victory in the maroon and white.