Lady Bears and Purple Aces Square Off on Saturday

The Lady Bear Necessities 

• Missouri State women’s basketball continues its three-game road stint with a Saturday afternoon (2 p.m.) Missouri Valley Conference matchup at Evansville. MSU has won 13 consecutive games against the Purple Aces, including a 90-55 win for MSU earlier this season.
• After finishing last season ranked 251st nationally in three-point percentage (.292), the Lady Bears have found success from behind the arc this season. Missouri State currently ranks 42nd nationally and second in The Valley, shooting at a .354 (121-342) clip from three-point range.
• Point guard Lacy Stokes (Jr., Mount Vernon, Mo.) has won MVC Newcomer of the Week six times this season. Stokes owns 11 games this season with at least five assists, and ranks 26th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.54) and 57th in assists/game (4.7).
• Kyrah Daniels (Fr., Highlands Ranch, Colo.) continues to impress in her freshman campaign. She leads Missouri State with 32 three-point field goals on the season and is the team’s leading scorer in MVC action at 11.7 points/game. She has posted double figure points in all but three conference games and is shooting 50% from the field, 49% from three and 80% from the line in Valley games. 
• In the Beth Cunningham era, the Lady Bears are 22-3 when scoring 70+ points. Under Cunningham, Missouri State is 26-0 when allowing 65 points or less and 33-4 when holding opponents to 70 points or less. 
• Defense and rebounding have been vital to the Lady Bears’ success this season. Missouri State ranks second in The Valley in scoring defense, holding opponents to 64.6 points/game. The Lady Bears rank first in the MVC in rebounding defense (30.9) and second in rebounding margin (+5.1), which trails only first-place Drake.
• MSU is 13-1 this season when winning the battle on the boards, 14-2 when owning more assists than its opponents and is undefeated at 8-0 when knocking down more free throws than its competition. 
• Two Lady Bears average double-figure points this season for MSU – Lacy Stokes (10.9) and Kennedy Taylor (10.8). Stokes also leads MSU with 104 assists and 43 steals on the year, while Taylor is tied for the team lead with 21 blocked shots and leads the team in double-figure point games (14), double-figure rebound games (5) and double-doubles (5) this season. 
• Missouri State is 5-0 this season in games decided by five points or less. The Lady Bears have won those five games by a combined 10 points. 

The Series
    Missouri State leads the all-time series against Evansville, 51-13, including a 22-9 record on the road. The Lady Bears have won the last 13 matchups in the series, with their last loss occurring on March 10, 2017 in Moline, Ill. at the MVC Tournament. 
    In this year’s previous meeting in Springfield, Missouri State cruised to its largest victory of the season with a 35-point, 90-55, win against the Purple Aces. All 14 player’s on MSU’s roster recorded a rebound in the contest, as MSU racked up 21 assists, dominated on the boards (52-33) and shot 47 percent for the game. Five Lady Bears recorded double-figure scoring performances, led by Paige Rocca and Kennedy Taylor with 11 points each. 
    In last year’s meeting in Evansville,the Lady Bears owned the middle quarters to secure a 73-61 road victory. Aniya Thomas led the way with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 6 steals while Sydney Wilson added 17 points and 7 boards. Kennedy Taylor also collected a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
        
A Lady Bear Win Would…

• Mark MSU’s 14th consecutive win over Evansville.
• Keep Missouri State inside the top three in the MVC standings. 
• Improve the Lady Bears to 5-0 in games played on Saturday this season.