Lady Bears Open Final Home Stand on Sunday

Sunday, February 25

Springfield, Mo.

2:00 p.m.

Missouri State University

Southern Illinois

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Women’s basketball beat UNI on December 30, 2023. Jesse Scheve/Missouri State University

Lady Bears Open Final Home Stand on Sunday

February 23, 2024 | Women's Basketball

Game Notes (PDF)Watch Listen Live Stats Tickets

Missouri State Lady Bears (17-7, 11-4 MVC) vs. Southern Illinois Salukis (8-17, 3-12 MVC)
Date and Time	Sunday, February 25 \| 2:00 p.m.
Location	Great Southern Bank Arena \| Springfield, Mo.
Tickets	Tickets
TV	ESPN+ (Mike McClure, Carly Stubblefield) \| Watch
Radio	KWTO 93.3 FM (Tom Ladd, Lynne Miller) \| Listen Live \| Varsity Network
Live Stats	Live Stats
Promotions	Kids Day \| Rebound Challenge Game \| SAAC Canned Food Drive 2023-24 Promo Calendar
Missouri State	Game Notes \| Women's Basketball Home Page
Southern Illinois	Women's Basketball Home Page
Bears Mobile App	App Store (Apple Devices) \| Google Play Store (Android Devices)
Up Next	Thursday, February 29 vs. Bradley \| 6:30 p.m. \| Tickets

Accessibility
Missouri State University is committed to providing an accessible and supportive environment for those with disabilities. To request reasonable disability accommodations, contact the Deputy Compliance Officer at (417) 836-6755 or DeputyComplianceOfficer@MissouriState.edu.

The Lady Bear Necessities

Missouri State women's basketball begins its final home stand with a visit from Southern Illinois for a Sunday afternoon (2 p.m.) Missouri Valley Conference contest. MSU owns a 62-30 all-time record against SIU, a 35-11 record in Springfield and the Lady Bears have won the last four matchups.
Point guard Lacy Stokes (Jr., Mount Vernon, Mo.) was named MVC Newcomer of the Week for the seventh time this season on Tuesday. Stokes averaged a team-leading 16.0 points/game while also adding 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 2.5 assists per game in road wins at Indiana State and Evansville. She shot .435 from the field and .857 from the free throw line.
MSU is 11-1 at home this season and ranks 3rd in The Valley in average home attendance (2,372). At Great Southern Bank Arena, the Lady Bears are scoring 71.2 points/game and are holding opponents to just 61.5 points/game. MSU is also limiting its foes to 9.9 assists/game while forcing 18.4 turnovers/ game in front of its home crowd.
In the Beth Cunningham era, the Lady Bears are 23-3 when scoring 70+ points. Under Cunningham, Missouri State is 27-0 when allowing 65 points or less and 34-4 when holding opponents to 70 points or less.
Defense and rebounding have been vital to the Lady Bears' success this season. Missouri State ranks second in The Valley in scoring defense, holding opponents to 64.7 points/game. The Lady Bears rank first in the MVC in rebounding defense (30.7) and second in rebounding margin (+5.5), which trails only first-place Drake.
MSU is 14-1 this season when winning the battle on the boards, 15-2 when owning more assists than its opponents and is undefeated at 8-0 when knocking down more free throws than its competition.
After finishing last season ranked 251st nationally in three-point percentage (.292), the Lady Bears have found success from behind the arc this season. Missouri State currently ranks 47th nationally and second in The Valley, shooting at a .349 (126-361) clip from three-point range.
Three Lady Bears average double-figure points this season for MSU - Lacy Stokes (11.1), Kennedy Taylor (10.7) and Indya Green (10.0). Stokes also leads MSU with 109 assists and 49 steals on the year, while Taylor leads the team in double-figure point games (15), double-figure rebound games (5) and double-doubles (5) this season. In conference games, Taylor is 3rd in the MVC in FG% (.545). Green leads MSU with 101 defensive rebounds and is one of two Lady Bears to start every game this season.

The Series
   Missouri State leads the all-time series against Southern Illinois, 62-30, including a 35-11 record in Springfield. MSU has won four straight in the series and owns victories in eight of the last nine matchups. The Lady Bears' last home loss to the Salukis was back on Dec. 30, 2006.
   In last season's meeting in Springfield, Missouri State had to come from behind in the second half, outscoring the Salukis by 20 points in the third to retake the lead for good. Aniya Thomas had 25 points and 10 assists, while Kennedy Taylor (13 pts., 15 reb.) and Jade Masogayo (13 pts., 11 reb.) also turned in double-doubles. MSU pulled down 62 rebounds in the matchup, for a plus-28 rebound margin.
   In the meeting earlier this season (2/3/24) in Carbondale, the Lady Bears earned a gritty road victory. After leading by just two headed into the fourth quarter, the Missouri State defense locked it down and held SIU to seven points on 20 percent (3-15) shooting from the field to secure a 10-point win. Masogayo and Lacy Stokes each led MSU with 14 points, while freshman Kyrah Daniels added 10 points, six boards and three steals in the contest.

A Lady Bear Win Would...