The Lady Bear Necessities
- Missouri State women's basketball continues its four-game road swing on Saturday afternoon (2 p.m.) with a trip to Des Moines, Iowa to take on Drake. MoState leads the all-time series, 52-48, which includes a 15-27 record on the road. The Lady Bears won this season's earlier meeting in overtime, 72-68.
- In 11 true road games this season, Kyrah Daniels (So., Highlands Ranch, Colo.) leads the way for Missouri State with 16.4 points per game. On the road, Daniels is shooting 43% from the field and 38% from beyond the arc.
- Lainie Douglas (Fr., Overland Park, Kan.) has come on strong in the post. The freshman has scored in double figures in seven of the last nine outings. Douglas leads the team with a .565 field goal percentage and 21 blocks, and in MVC games her FG% is .592 (58-98). She has earned MVC Freshman of the Week three times this season.
- The duo of Sarah Linthacum (Sr., Jefferson City, Mo.) and Douglas in the post is shooting a combined .549 (212-386) from the field this season. Linthacum's .540 field goal percentage ranks 37th nationally with a minimum of 5 FGM/game.
- Stokes (Sr., Mount Vernon, Mo.) continues to do it all for Missouri State from the point guard position. Stokes leads the team in scoring (12.8 ppg), assists (108), steals (68) and minutes (33.3 mpg). She ranks 1st in the MVC in steals per game (2.6) and ranks 20th nationally in steals and 21st in steals per game.
- Spectacular Sophomores - Sophomores Kaemyn Bekemeier (10.8 ppg) and Kyrah Daniels (11.8 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 155 and 134 boards, respectively. Bekemeier leads the team in FT% (.797) and is 3rd in 3FG% (.372), while Daniels leads the team in 3FGM (51) and 2nd in BLK (20).
- A couple of keys to success for Missouri State this season have been:
- Getting off to a quick start: 19-1 when leading at the half and are 1-4 when trailing at the break.
- Bench production: 16-1 this season when leading in bench scoring.
- Balanced offense: 13-1 this season when four or more players score in double figures.
- Missouri State ranks 45th nationally in bench points per game with 23.7. The duo of Bekemeier and Douglas has accounted for 75.8 percent (466 out of 615) of MoState's bench points this season.
- In the Cunningham era, Missouri State is 43-4 when scoring 70+ points, 47-1 when holding opponents to 65 points or less and 35-0 when opponents score less than 60 points.
The Series
Missouri State leads the all-time series 52-48 against Drake, which includes a 15-27 record on the road in Des Moines.
In this season's first matchup featuring the Lady Bears and Bulldogs, the two squads delivered another instant classic in the series. With 0.9 seconds on the clock and MoState trailing by three, Iowa native
Paige Rocca launched a three after catching the inbounds pass and drained it to send the game to OT. The Lady Bears outscored the Bulldogs 11-7 in the overtime period to earn a 72-69 victory. Five MoState players scored in double figures, led by
Lacy Stokes with 15 points.
The last time the two teams met in Des Moines was on Feb. 22, 2024 in the only regular-season meeting between the squads in 2023-24. Despite leading near the midway point of the third quarter, a 16-2 run gave Drake a five-point leading heading to the final period. The Lady Bears didn't go away quietly as they cut the Bulldog lead to two points on three occasions, but they just couldn't get back to the lead as they ultimatley fell 76-65 on the road.
