The Lady Bear Necessities
- Missouri State women's basketball officially tips off the 2025-26 regular season with a Monday night (6:30 p.m.) matchup against in-state foe Saint Louis in Springfield. The Lady Bears' regular season schedule features 15 home games at Great Southern Bank Arena.
- Missouri State leads the all-time series against Saint Louis, 15-4, includng an 8-1 record at home. This marks the fourth consecutive season the Lady Bears and Billikens will face off, with MoState owning a 2-1 advantage in the last three years. Beth Cunningham's first career victory at the helm of the Lady Bears came against Saint Louis on Nov. 15, 2022.
- Last season, Missouri State posted a 26-9 overall record and earned a share of the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title after going 16-4 in league play in its last run through The Valley. The Lady Bears made their 10th straight postseason appearance, advancing to the second round of the WBIT before falling to eventual champion Minnesota.
- The 2025-26 Lady Bear squad will have a new look this season, as Missouri State replaces all five of its starters from a year ago. MoState returns seven players from last season, highlighted by Kaemyn Bekemeier (Jr., Republic, Mo.) and Lainie Douglas (So., Overland Park, Kan.). The Lady Bears also welcome seven new players - a group that consists of four transfers and three freshmen.
- The Lady Bears were picked to finish fourth in their first season as a member of Conference USA in the league's preseason poll. MoState slotted in behind Louisiana Tech, Liberty and Middle Tennessee. Little Rock transfer Faith Lee (Sr., Monroe, La.) was selected to the CUSA Preseason All-Conference Team. Lee was an All-OVC first-team member a season ago after averaging 14.2 points per game for the Trojans, and she averaged 19.7 points in three career games against Missouri State.
- Missouri State owns an incredible record inside Great Southern Bank Arena. Since the beginning of the 2017-18 season, the Lady Bears boast a 97-14 record at home in Springfield. Under the leadership of Beth Cunningham, MoState has gone 40-6 at home.
- Last season, the Lady Bears secured their eighth consecutive 20-win season (streak began in 2017-18). Missouri State is one of just 13 Division I programs to accomplish that feat. MSU is the only one of the 13 programs to do so under the leadership of three different head coaches (Kellie Harper, Amaka Agugua-Hamilton and Beth Cunningham).
- In the Cunningham era, Missouri State is 47-5 when scoring 70+ points, 49-1 when holding opponents to 65 points or less and 37-0 when opponents score less than 60 points.
The Series
Missouri State leads the all-time series against Saint Louis, 15-4, which includes an 8-1 record at home. This marks the fourth consecutive season the Lady Bears and Billikens have faced off, with MoState owning a 2-1 record over the last three seasons against SLU.
In last year's meeting, the Lady Bears earned a 23-point, 91-68, victory over SLU. Five different players scored in double figures for MoState, led by former Lady Bears
Kyrah Daniels and
Lacy Stokes with 26 and 21 points, respectively. Missouri State forced 21 turnovers in the matchup and knocked down 11 triples, their second-most of the 2024-25 season, in the win.
The Lady Bears and Billikens renewed their in-state rivalry in the 2022-23 season, which marked the first meeting between the squads in 12 years at the time. Missouri State's 71-55 victory in Springfield on Nov. 15, 2022 marked the first win of the
Beth Cunningham era.
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