Springfield Standard

Missouri State University's women's basketball team will continue its road games with a matchup against the Southeast Missouri State (SEMO) Redhawks on Tuesday, November 11 at 6:30 p.m. in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The game will take place at the Show Me Center and is available for viewing on ESPN+ and for listening on KBFL 96.9 FM.

This contest marks the third consecutive year that Missouri State and SEMO have faced each other. Missouri State has dominated the series, winning the last five meetings and holding a 14-2 all-time advantage over SEMO.

The Lady Bears are currently undefeated this season with a 2-0 record, following a recent win against UT Arlington. Senior Faith Lee led scoring in that game with 20 points. Junior Kaemyn Bekemeier has been consistent in the opening week, averaging 21 points and nine rebounds per game while shooting over 60 percent from the field. The team is ranked among national leaders with an average of 29 free throw attempts per game.

Last season, Missouri State finished with a 26-9 overall record and shared the regular-season title in the Missouri Valley Conference after posting a 16-4 league mark. The Lady Bears reached their tenth straight postseason appearance, advancing to the second round of the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament before being eliminated by Minnesota.

The current roster features significant changes as all five starters from last season have departed, resulting in a loss of nearly 70 percent of scoring and over 60 percent of rebounding production from last year’s squad. Seven players return this season, including Bekemeier and sophomore Lainie Douglas. They are joined by seven newcomers—four transfers and three freshmen.

In their first season as members of Conference USA, Missouri State was predicted to finish fourth in the league's preseason poll behind Louisiana Tech, Liberty, and Middle Tennessee. Transfer Faith Lee was named to the CUSA Preseason All-Conference Team after her standout performance last year at Little Rock.

Missouri State has achieved eight consecutive seasons with at least twenty wins since 2017–18—a distinction shared by only twelve other Division I programs nationwide. It is also unique among those programs for accomplishing this under three different head coaches: Kellie Harper, Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, and Beth Cunningham.

Under Coach Cunningham’s leadership, Missouri State holds a record of 48-5 when scoring at least seventy points; they are also unbeaten when opponents score less than sixty points.

The Lady Bears' next scheduled game is against Wichita State on Saturday, November 15 in Kansas City.