Springfield Standard

Missouri State University's women's basketball team will travel to face the University of Texas at Arlington Lady Mavericks on Friday, November 7, at 6:30 p.m. The game will take place at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas. This matchup is only the second meeting between the two programs, with their first contest dating back to November 27, 1987.

The Lady Bears come into the game after a close season-opening win against Saint Louis, finishing 70-66. Head coach Beth Cunningham achieved her 70th victory with Missouri State in that match. Junior Kaemyn Bekemeier led the team with a career-high 23 points and nine rebounds, while freshman Maiesha Washington contributed 13 points and eight rebounds in her debut.

Reflecting on last season, Missouri State posted a record of 26-9 and shared the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title by going 16-4 in conference play. The team reached its tenth consecutive postseason appearance but was eliminated in the second round of the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament by Minnesota.

This year’s squad has undergone significant changes, as all five starters from last season have departed. The Lady Bears lost over two-thirds of their scoring and more than half of their rebounding from last year. Seven players return from last season's roster, including Bekemeier and sophomore Lainie Douglas. They are joined by seven newcomers—four transfers and three freshmen.

In preseason polling for Conference USA, where Missouri State is competing for the first time this year, they were picked to finish fourth behind Louisiana Tech, Liberty, and Middle Tennessee. Senior Faith Lee—a transfer from Little Rock—was named to the CUSA Preseason All-Conference Team after averaging 14.2 points per game last season for her previous school.

The Lady Bears have achieved eight straight seasons with at least 20 wins since 2017–18—a distinction shared by only twelve other Division I programs nationwide. Missouri State stands out as the only one among these to reach this mark under three different head coaches: Kellie Harper, Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, and Beth Cunningham.

Since Cunningham took over as head coach, statistics show that “Missouri State is 48-5 when scoring 70+ points,” “49-1 when holding opponents to 65 points or less,” and “37-0 when opponents score less than 60 points.”

Following Friday’s game at UT Arlington, Missouri State will play Southeast Missouri on Tuesday, November 11.