OPINION |
Missouri State’s Lady Bears conclude an abnormally long six-game homestand on Saturday, Jan. 6, when Illinois-Chicago visits Great Southern Bank Arena, a place where opponents have yet to withdraw a victory this season.
Protecting the home court is a priority for any team that fancies itself a contender. The Lady Bears made it a perfect seven-for-seven on the big Bear head with Thursday night’s 67-47 domination of Valparaiso.
“We have our list of goals that we want to hit and one of them is winning our conference,” junior forward Kennedy Taylor said. “Just staying true to our goals is what is driving us to make sure that we protect our home floor.”
MO State got off to a better start in blowout
There are different ways to win at home. This time, it was a relatively stress-free ride to the finish line. That was a welcomed change of pace for coach Beth Cunningham after the previous three victories by a combined four points. Prior to that was a come-from-behind win over Wichita State kicking off the extended stay.
In each of those games, Missouri State had to overcome dreadfully slow starts. They allowed opponents to score 17, 21, 15 and 18 first-quarter points.
It didn’t hurt that Valparaiso was the weakest opponent during the winning streak, but the Lady Bears took care of their business with a defensive masterpiece. They led 20-5 after one quarter and 30-14 at halftime.
The early separation allowed Cunningham to sub freely, which hasn’t been the case of late. Nine players logged at least 13 minutes.
“I was pleased with the way we started the game,” Cunningham said. “It was certainly a point of emphasis and a point of focus. To come out and defensively get the stops we needed to and to get rolling on offense was great to see.
“I don’t think we’ve started a game with a lead since, I can’t remember when. It was great to get off to a good start. To hold them to five points and nine points (in the first two quarters) was big. We had talked about 10 and under in each quarter.”
Cunningham said the margin of victory was nice, for a change.
“We’ve had some close ones lately, but a win’s a win, however we end up getting them,” she said. “But it was nice to get more breathing room.”
Players feel team has grown during homestand
Those close home-court wins are bound to help the confidence once the Lady Bears (8-3 overall, 2-0 Missouri Valley Conference) go on the conference road next week.
“Any time you’re in close games you find out a lot about your team,” Cunningham said after a two-point win over Northern Iowa on Dec. 30. “You can’t simulate these situations. To be in these last few situations and be able to capitalize and find a way to win, it’s huge for a young group.”
Taylor said the team’s growth during the homestand has been notable.
“We’re just doing the little things and by doing the little things, it helps us grow,” Taylor said. “We’re a scrappy team. We don’t want to give up. Even if we find ourselves down by 10 or five points, we’re gonna get that back.
“I feel like we’re scrappy and a really tough team. Once we’ve got our heads in the game, we’re really hard to beat.”
Newcomers continuing to grow into roles
This is a team that continues to believe in itself more and more with each victory and as newcomers, such as transfers Lacy Stokes and Kyrah Daniels plus freshman Angel Scott, log more minutes. This homestand could be looked back upon as a key ingredient to any March success the Lady Bears eventually find.
“We had a stretch early in the year where we were playing and it was a week, sometimes 10 days before we would play again,” Cunningham said. “I think just getting the routine of having more games under our belt … there’s no substitute for that game experience.
“As a coach you want to practice and focus on the things you need to work on to get better, but I think the opportunity for our kids to be in game experience and figuring out how to play together in game situations, close-game situations especially, I think we’ve shown a lot of improvement.”
The Lady Bears play host to Illinois-Chicago at 1 p.m. Saturday before hitting the road Jan. 11 at Bradley and Jan. 14 at Illinois State.
Bears face key stretch, with three of the next four on the road
The Missouri State men’s basketball team saw its home-court dominance end with Wednesday night’s 56-54 loss to Northern Iowa. It dropped the Bears to 5-1 at home and the loss is magnified by what’s ahead.
Coach Dana Ford’s team has three of the next four on the road, starting with a trip to Bradley on Saturday. Missouri State is home on Jan. 10 against Murray State prior to road games Jan. 13 at Evansville and Jan. 16 at early Valley co-leader Indiana State.
The Bears’ 20-game league journey probably won’t be as much about contending for a regular-season league championship as finishing in the top four, thus avoiding an extra layer of Arch Madness.
The top four seeds get a first-day bye in St. Louis, needing three wins over three days rather than a physically draining four-in-four that awaits seeds five and below.
It’s probably going to take no worse than a 14-6 league record to be in the hunt for a top-four. Losing at home is like making a bogey in golf for the Bears, who at 1-2 in the Valley will need to make a couple of birdies on the road to climb back into contention.
Cardinals Caravan coming to Springfield
The annual St. Louis Cardinals Caravan returns to Hammons Field on Jan. 12, with 2022 Gold Glove winner Brendan Donovan headlining the event. The Caravan will be held indoors at the Bill Rowe Training Facility, starting at 12:30 p.m., with doors opening at noon.
In addition to Donovan, current Cardinals catcher and former Springfield Cardinal Ivan Herrera will be on hand, along with recently signed free agent pitcher Nick Robertson and pitcher Max Rajcic who made his Double-A debut with Springfield during the Texas League playoffs.
Former Cardinals Rick Ankiel and Ryan Ludwick will also be on the trip. Cardinals radio broadcasters Rick Horton and Mike Claiborne will emcee the program.
Spectator admission is $5 for adults and $3 for ages 3-12, with proceeds going to Mercy Health Foundation Springfield.
The first 400 kids (15 and under) will receive a free autograph ticket which guarantees one autograph from each current and former player. Due to high demand, autographs will only be for ages 15 and under.
