Missouri State Lady Bears (20-8, 14-5 MVC) at Valparaiso Beacons (5-23, 4-15 MVC)
Date and Time	Saturday, March 9 | 1:00 p.m.
Location	Athletics-Recreation Center | Valparaiso, Ind.
Tickets	Tickets
TV	ESPN+ | 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
Valparaiso	Women's Basketball Home Page
Bears Mobile App	App Store (Apple Devices) | Google Play Store (Android Devices)
Up Next	Thursday-Sunday, March 14-17 at MVC Tournament | Moline, Ill. | Tickets

The Lady Bear Necessities 

• Missouri State women's basketball closes out the regular season with a Sunday afternoon (1 p.m.) matinee at Valparaiso. The Lady Bears are 11-1 all-time against Valparaiso, but lost last season's meeting on the road at Valpo, 68-77. 
• With a victory, Missouri State would secure the No. 3 seed in the MVC Tournament.  
• MSU secured its seventh consecutive 20-win season with its victory against Illinois State last weekend. The Lady Bears have accomplished the feat under three different head coaches (Kellie Harper, Amaka Agugua-Hamilton and Beth Cunningham).
• Point guard Lacy Stokes was named MVC Newcomer of the Week for the eighth time this season on Tuesday. Stokes averaged 19.0 points, 5.0 assists and 5.0 steals per game, while shooting .733 (11-15) from the field and .750 (15-20) from the charity stripe in victories over Bradley and Illinois State. She also became one of three players in NCAA Division I this season to post 26 points, 7 assists and 7 steals in a game with her performance against the Redbirds, joining Caitlin Clark and Ashley Austin on that list. 
• In the Beth Cunningham era, the Lady Bears are 25-3 when scoring 70+ points. Under Cunningham, Missouri State is 30-1 when allowing 65 points or less and 37-5 when holding opponents to 70 points or less. This season, the Lady Bears have held 16 opponents to 65 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 63.0 points/game. The Lady Bears rank first in the MVC in rebounding defense (30.2) and second in rebounding margin (+6.1), which trails only first-place Drake.
• The Lady Bears are 6-1 in games decided by five points or less and are 3-0 in one-point games this season. Those six victories have come by a total of 15 points.
• MSU is 16-2 this season when winning the battle on the boards, 18-2 when owning more assists than its opponents and is undefeated at 9-0 when knocking down more free throws than its competition. 
• In Missouri Valley Conference action this season, Kennedy Taylor is MSU's second-leading scorer at 11.2 points per game and she leads the Lady Bears on the glass with 7.5 rebounds per game. The junior is shooting .535 (85-159) from the field, which ranks third in the league, and has blocked 16 shots against Valley foes in just 18.9 minutes per game.

The Series
        Missouri State leads the all-time series against Valparaiso, 11-2, with a 6-1 record on the road against the Beacons. After a 10-0 start to the series, Missouri State lost its first-ever matchup to Valparaiso last season on the road. 
    In last season's only matchup against the Beacons on the road, Missouri State fell by a score of 77-68. MSU led by four at the half in the contest, but Valpo outscored the Lady Bears 42-29 in the second half, taking the lead for good in the fourth quarter of a close game to seal the victory. Sydney Wilson led the way in that matchup with a career-high 22 points, followed by Kennedy Taylor with 15 points. 
    In the contest earlier this season in Springfield, MSU used a huge first half to set the tone - outscoring Valpo 30-14 and holding the Beacons to just 25% (5-20) from the field and scoreless from three-point range. The Beacons couldn't overcome the deficit as MSU cruised to a 67-47 win. Four Lady Bears were in double figures, led by Indya Green with 12 points. 
        
A Lady Bear Win Would...

• Secure the No. 3 seed for MSU in the MVC Tournament. 
• Mark Missouri State's first win on the road at Valparaiso since March 3, 2022.