2011-12 Season Review
Lady Bears Return to Top of The Valley
MSU finishes 24-9, wins conference title for best season in nearly a decade
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The Lady Bears opened the season with seven teams that posted winning records the year prior, including six postseason clubs from 2010-11. Additionally, the first three squads on the ledger rated 46th or better in the final 2011 RPI and played in the NCAA Tournament. The Lady Bears began the year Nov. 11 at
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Tough Schedule to Start
Louisiana Tech, where opponents had lost more than 90-percent of the time over the previous 30 seasons, and grabbed a 78-65 victory behind 25 points and nine rebounds from Christiana Shorter to lead four players in double figures. A showdown with No. 9 Louisville at JQH Arena followed two days later and the Lady Bears acquitted themselves very well, even taking a 33-32 lead into halftime before the Cardinals’ size helped the visitors claim a 7364 win. Casey Garrison grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds against the physical Big East club, and the MSU defense held U of L to 37.5-percent shooting. A slow first half cost MSU in its next game, a Nov. 18 visit to Kansas State. The Lady Bears trailed by 14 at the break and were still down 13 points with five minutes remaining before a furious rally made the score 65-63 KSU with Missouri State in possession of the ball in the final seconds. The Lady Bears had several looks at the basket, but none fell in the twopoint setback. After Thanksgiving break, Missouri State
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he 2011-12 Missouri State women’s basketball season began with the expectation of a Missouri Valley Conference championship. The preseason favorites for a second consecutive year, the Lady Bears had their fair share of ups and downs, but played their best with their backs against wall, producing a remarkable winning streak during league play to hoist the MVC trophy at season’s end. While their NCAA dreams eluded them thanks to an off shooting night at the MVC Tournament, the Lady Bears still completed Missouri State’s best season since 2005, going 24-9 overall and playing in the WNIT for a third consecutive season.
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2012-13 Women’s Basketball Guide
www.missouristatebears.com
trekked to Tulsa and came away with an 85-79 victory over Oral Roberts thanks to a careerhigh 27 points from Shorter in her hometown. Three days later, the Lady Bears blew out eventual Sun Belt Conference Tournament champion Arkansas-Little Rock by a 73-50 final at JQH with the help of a 17-for-19 showing at the free throw line. Missouri State pushed its winning streak to three games and its overall record to 4-2 with an 81-70 over East Tennessee State on Dec. 6 at the Q. Garrison poured in 26 points and added seven assists to help MSU top the 43-percent shooting mark for the thrd straight game. The Lady Bears faced a two-day turnaround for what turned out to be the first of two trips to Stillwater to face Oklahoma State. Despite 21 points on seven treys from Jasmine Malone, Missouri State was out-matched by the Big 12’s Cowgirls, making just over 30-precent of its shots from the floor, including 8-for-32 from beyond the arc, while OSU made half of its field goal attempts.