Lady Bears Host Tulane to Begin December Slate

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The Lady Bear Necessities 

• Missouri State women’s basketball (2-2) opens the month of December by welcoming Tulane (3-3) to Springfield for a Friday night (6:30 p.m.) matchup at Great Southern Bank Arena. The all-time series between the Lady Bears and Green Wave is tied 1-1. 
• The Lady Bears are 73-12 in their last 85 home games, beginning Feb. 10, 2017. Since then, MSU has averaged 72.5 points with a plus-14.8 scoring margin and plus-10.4 rebounding margin at home. 
• Newcomer Lacy Stokes (Jr., Mount Vernon, Mo.) has made an immediate impact at the point guard position. A transfer from NCAA DII Missouri Southern, Stokes leads the Lady Bears with 11.3 points per game, 15 assists and eight steals on the season. She ranks seventh in The Valley in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.7) and eighth in assists per game (3.8) and steals per game (2.0). 
• In the Beth Cunningham era, the Lady Bears are 15-1 when scoring 70+ points and are 12-0 when holding opponents to under 60 points. 
• The Lady Bears rank 14th nationally and 2nd in the Missouri Valley Conference in free throw attempts per game at 24.3. MSU makes an average of 14.8 free throws per game and is shooting 60.8 percent from the charity stripe. 
• Missouri State’s junior class (Green, Scott, Stokes, Taylor) is accounting for 62% of the Lady Bears’ scoring this season. The combination of two returners and two transfers has scored 152 of MSU’s 244 points on the year. 
• Jade Masogayo (So., Fort Worth, Texas) has won all four opening tipoffs this season and is a perfect 7-for-7 in winning opening tips for her career. 
• Continuing its tradition of dominance on the glass, MSU ranks 55th in the country and 2nd in the MVC in rebound margin at +7.5. MSU returns 61% of its rebounding from a year ago, including its top three rebounders in Kennedy Taylor (Jr., Shawnee Mission, Kan.), Indya Green (Jr., Springfield, Mo.) and Masogayo. Those three Lady Bears have pulled down 75 of MSU’s 155 rebounds this year (.484). 
• Missouri State was picked to finish 5th in this year’s MVC Preseason Poll, with Masogayo and Taylor earning preseason All-MVC second team nods.
• MSU returns six players this season, while welcoming in a group of eight newcomers consisting of three transfers and five freshmen. Missouri State’s five-member freshman class is its largest since the 2018-19 season.

The Series
    The all-time series between Missouri State and Tulane is tied, 1-1, with MSU owning an 0-1 record at home against the Green Wave. The first meeting in the series took place on Dec. 4, 2000 with the Lady Bears earning a 67-61 victory, and the last contest between the two teams on Dec. 5, 2001 saw Tulane emerge victorious, 49-46. 
    In the first-ever matchup between the two squads, Missouri State had three Lady Bears in double figures – led by Tara Mitchem with 22 points. Jackie Stiles added 16 points, while Carly Deer recorded 11 points, led the team with six rebounds and tied for the game high with five assists as the Lady Bears picked up a road victory. 
    In the most recent meeting, Jenni Lingor paced the Lady Bears with a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double, while Erica Vicente added 12 points and a game-high seven assists and four steals as MSU fell to 3-3. Tulane was led by Delacey Joseph, who had 19 points, as Tulane knocked down a couple of more shots from behind the arc to secure a win and move to 7-1. 
    
A Lady Bear Win Would…
• Mark MSU’s first home win in series history against Tulane.
• Give Missouri State the series lead over Tulane.
• Secure the Lady Bears’ first win over Tulane since the inaugural meeting on Dec. 4, 2000.