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The Lady Bear NecessitiesÂ
- Missouri State women's basketball welcomes Valparaiso for a Sunday afternoon (2:00 p.m.) matinee at Great Southern Bank Arena. MoState is 12-1 all time against the Beacons, which includes a 5-0 record at home in Springfield. This will mark the only meeting between the two squads in the regular season.
- MoState is one of 31 NCAA Division I schools that are undefeated at home this season, and the only team remaining in the MVC with no home losses. The Lady Bears' current 14-game home win streak is tied for the 15th longest nationally. At home this season, MoState owns a +18.6 scoring margin, +7.0 rebounding margin and is holding opponents to 55.5 points per game.Â
- Lainie Douglas (Fr., Overland Park, Kan.) was named MVC Freshman of the Week for the third consecutive week. In wins against Indiana State and Evansville, Douglas averaged 18.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game while shooting .682 (15-22) from the field. In her first-career start against the Sycamores, she posted a career-high 20 points and tied her career-best with nine rebounds.Â
- Linthacum (Sr., Jefferson City, Mo.) and Douglas are developing into a strong one-two punch for the Lady Bears in the post. The duo ranks first and second on the team in FG% with Douglas at .561 and Linthacum at .536. Linthacum's field goal percentage ranks 42nd nationally (5 FGM/game), while Douglas owns a team-leading 20 blocks.Â
- Stokes (Sr., Mount Vernon, Mo.) continues to do it all for Missouri State from the point guard position. Stokes leads the team in scoring (12.1 ppg), assists (99), steals (60) and minutes (33.3 mpg). She ranks 3rd in the MVC in steals per game (2.5) and 38th nationally in both steals and steals per game.
- Fifth-year senior Paige Rocca (Sr., Iowa City, Iowa) became just the 6th Lady Bear in program history to win 100 career games on Thursday night at Southern Illinois. She ranks 3rd in program history with 133 total games played.Â
- Spectacular Sophomores - Sophomores Kaemyn Bekemeier (10.8 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 142 and 125 boards, respectively. Bekemeier leads the team in FT% (.800) and is 3rd in 3FG% (.368), while Daniels leads the team in 3FGM (47) and 2nd in BLK (17).
- A couple of keys to success for Missouri State this season have been:
- Getting off to a quick start: 18-1 when leading at the half and are 1-4 when trailing at the break.
- Bench production: 14-1 this season when leading in bench scoring.Â
- In the Cunningham era, Missouri State is 41-4 when scoring 70+ points, 46-1 when holding opponents to 65 points or less and 35-0 when opponents score less than 60 points.Â
The SeriesÂ
Missouri State leads the all-time series against Valparaiso, 12-1, including a 5-0 record at home in Springfield. This matchup marks the first and only meeting in the regular season between the Lady Bears and Beacons. Â
   In last season's meeting in Springfield, a dominant first half propelled the Lady Bears to a 20-point victory. MoState held the Beacons to just 14 points on 25 percent (5-20) from the field while shutting Valpo out from behind the arc (0-6) in the opening half. Of the current Lady Bears, both
Lacy Stokes and
Paige Rocca scored 11 points.
   In the most recent meeting between the two squads, the Lady Bears closed out the 2023-24 regular season with a 77-66 road victory. MoState used an important third quarter surge to push its lead to a game-high 15 points, which proved to be vital as Valpo continued to climb back into the game, but could never get to the lead. Stokes posted 22 points, 7 assists and 4 steals.
