The Lady Bear Necessities
- Missouri State women's basketball is back on the road for a two-game road swing through Illinois, beginning with a Friday night (6 p.m.) contest at Bradley. The Lady Bears lead the all-time series against Bradley 67-25, including a 26-14 record on the road. MoState has won the last 16 meetings in the series.
- The Lady Bears are one of three Missouri Valley Conference teams with one conference loss, as they sit just a half game out of a tie for first in the league standings, behind Murray State and Belmont.
- In seven true road games this season, Kyrah Daniels (So., Highlands Ranch, Colo.) leads the Lady Bears with 17.0 points/game. On the road, Missouri State is shooting .461 from the field and .362 from beyond the arc.
- Lainie Douglas (Fr., Overland Park, Kan.) was named MVC Freshman of the Week for the first time in her career on Monday for her performance in wins against Drake and Northern Iowa. The 6-3 forward averaged 11.5 points/game, 4.5 rebounds/game and shot .600 (9-15) from the field in 14.8 minutes/game.
- Sarah Linthacum (Sr., Jefferson City, Mo.) has been incredibly efficient for the Lady Bears this season in the post. Her .563 field goal percentage (99-176) leads the team and ranks 29th nationally. She is MoState's third-leading scorer at 11.4 points/game and leads the team with 48 offensive rebounds.
- Lacy Stokes (Sr., Mount Vernon, Mo.) continues to do it all for Missouri State from the point guard position. Stokes leads the team in scoring (13.0 ppg), assists (73), steals (42), free throw percentage (.780) and minutes (34.0 mpg).
- Spectacular Sophomores - Sophomores Kaemyn Bekemeier (10.9 ppg) and Kyrah Daniels (11.7 ppg) are two of four Lady Bears averaging double-figure points this season, and they rank first and third on the team in rebounding with 109 and 101 boards, respectively. Bekemeier is tied for first in FT% (.780) and ranks second in 3FG% (.407), while Daniels leads the team in 3FGM (38) and blocks (16).
- A couple of keys to success for Missouri State this season have been:
- Getting off to a quick start: 14-1 when leading at the half and are 1-3 when trailing at the break.
- Bench production: 11-0 this season when leading in bench scoring.
- In the Cunningham era, Missouri State is 37-4 when scoring 70+ points, 42-1 when holding opponents to 65 points or less and 33-0 when opponents score less than 60 points.
- Missouri State is ranked No. 23 in this week's CollegeInsider.com Women's Mid Major Top 25 poll. MoState joins fellow MVC members Belmont (No. 21) and Murray State (No. 22) in this week's poll.
- Missouri State was picked to finish fifth in the MVC preseason poll for the second consecutive year. MSU finished third in the regular season last year with a 15-5 league record.
The Series
Missouri State leads the all-time series 67-25 against Bradley, including a 26-14 record on the road in Peoria. The Lady Bears have won the last 16 meetings in the series. MoState's last loss in the series was on the road on 2/17/17, a 56-62 game in favor of the Braves.
In last year's meeting in Peoria, the Lady Bears cruised to a 28-point road victory. After an early tie at 3-3, Missouri State grabbed the lead and never surrendered it. Twelve diffrerent Lady Bears scored in the game, with four reaching double-figure points.
Kyrah Daniels paced current Lady Bears with 15 points, followed by
Paige Rocca with 13.
Lacy Stokes had six assists. Missouri State turned the ball over just four times in the contest, while dishing out 22 assists and collecting 15 steals.
In the return trip to Springfield last season, the Lady Bears dominated the matchup, outscoring the Braves 25-5 in the first quarter on their way to a 26-point victory. Ten different Lady Bears tallied points in a balanced attack that was led by Stokes (12 pts) and
Kaemyn Bekemeier (11 pts). MoState won the battle on the glass, 41-28, and took advantage of its second-chance opportunities, outscoring the Braves 16-2 in the category.
