Joplin, Mo. – The Missouri Southern women's basketball team hits the road for a pair of contests versus competitors from the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) beginning tomorrow against the Illinois-Springfield Prairie Stars at 7:30 pm and finishing the weekend versus the McKendree Bearcats at 3:00 pm on Sunday.
 
Game Information
Date:  Saturday, November 16 - Sunday, November 17
Tip-Off: 7:30 pm - 3:00 pm
 Location: Springfield, Ill. - Lebanon, Ill.
Site: The Recreation and Athletic Center - Melvin Price Convocation Center  

Media Coverage
MSSU Radio: N/A
Audio: N/A
Webcast:  https://www.glvcsn.com/uis/ (UIS)
                  https://www.glvcsn.com/mckendree/ (McK)
Live Stats: https://uisprairiestars.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary (UIS)
                   https://mckbearcats.com/sidearmstats/wbball/media (McK)
                       
Picking Up the Scent: Five Components on Opponents 
Illinois-Springfield (2-0)

• Picked to finish 15th in the GLVC
• Top-50 nationally:
  • 35th – steals per game (12.0)
  • 41st – personal fouls per game (15.0)
  • 45th – blocked shots per game (4.0)
• Post-season Award Returnees
  • So., G Lauren Ladowski: All-GLVC Freshman Team
    • Averages 14.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and steals, and 2.5 assist per game after averaging 12. 6 points, 3.4 assists, and 1.6 steal per contest last as a freshman
• Began the women's basketball program during the 1995-96 season and is in search of the program's first winning season since recording back-to-back season with 20-plus victories (1997-98 & 1998-99)
• Is 1-2 all-time against the Lions, including a four-point loss last year in Joplin, but captured the one win in Springfield during the 2016-17 season

 McKendree Bearcats(3-0)

• Picked Eighth in the GLVC
• Top-50 nationally:
  • 7th – free-throws made (60)
  • 8th – free-throws attempted (91)
  • 25th – three-point field-goal defense (19.7)
  • 39th – rebounds (128)
  • 49th – assists (45) and defensive rebounds per game (30.3)
• Post-season Award Returnees
  • Jr., G Sydney Diekhoff: All-GLVC (2nd team)
    • Ranked sixth and led the Bearcats in scoring with 15 points per contest, including a career-high 27 points last season
    • Led the team with a 84.7 percent clip from the free-throw line to land in the top-40 nationally
    • Named to the GLVC All-Freshman team during the 2017-18 season
    • Has yet to play a game thus far to begin the 2018-19 campaign
  • Sr., G Jordan Heberg: All-GLVC (3rd team)
    • Became the tenth player in program history to hit100 three-pointers in career and stands at 133 as of right now
    • Also scored a career-high 27 points in a game last season
    • Currently leads the team in points per contest (14.7) as she led the team in points as a freshman and sophomore
• Added a 5-8 transfer named Madison Jones from Lincoln Land Community College
  • Currently averages a double-double with 11.3 points and 11.0 rebounds per game
  • Averaged 14.4 points and shot nearly 50 percent from the field toward first-team All-Conference and All-Region honors as a sophomore after averaging 17.7 points per game as a freshman at LLCC
• First meeting between the two programs in the NCAA Division II era

Bring on the Polls
The Lions tip off the 2019-20 season and were picked ninth in the MIAA after capping off a 14-16 overall record and 6-13 in the MIAA along with a berth into the MIAA tournament where they eventually fell to Central Oklahoma in the first round. Defending Conference champions Fort Hays State was picked to win the conference again with ten first-place votes as well as earn a ranking of seventh by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). Central Missouri followed in second of the MIAA coaches' poll while landing eleventh in the national poll. Washburn (3), Pittsburg State (4), and Emporia State (5) rounded out the top five. ESU received 28 votes towards cracking the top-25 as seen below:
 

Rank	School (2018-19 record)	Points	First-place votes	2018-19 final rank
1	Drury (35-1)	550	8	3
2	Lubbock Christian (31-6)	538	14	1
3	Grand Valley State (29-4)	458	0	8
4	Azusa Pacific (28-6)	436	0	9
5	Virginia Union (28-3)	404	0	13
6	UC San Diego (30-1)	394	0	6
7	Fort Hays State (32-2)	368	0	5
8	Ashland (29-3)	333	0	11
9	Indiana (PA) (30-4)	330	0	4
10	Saint Anselm (22-10)	328	0	14
11	Central Missouri (25-7)	295	1	NR
12	West Texas A&M (29-4)	264	0	23
13	Anderson (SC) (30-3)	251	0	22
14	Lee (TN) (25-7)	247	0	NR
15	Nova Southeastern (21-12)	228	0	16
16	Alaska Anchorage (30-3)	225	0	7
17	University of the Sciences (30-3)	174	0	12
18	Minnesota State Moorhead (27-7)	172	0	NR
19	Le Moyne (NY) (26-6)	151	0	NR
20	Southwestern Oklahoma State (36-1)	150	0	2
21	Lander (23-9)	139	0	NR
22	Glenville State (30-3)	133	0	25
23	North Georgia (30-5)	132	0	15
24	Angelo State (26-6)	98	0	19
25	Benedict (20-7)	73	0	NR

 
Others receiving votes on at least two ballots: Union (TN) (27-4) 61; California (PA) (26-6) 53; Northwest Nazarene (29-3) 53; Lewis (27-5) 50; Harding (21-9) 39; Tampa (22-9) 34; Thomas Jefferson (29-3) 30; Bentley (28-4) 29; Emporia State (22-9) 28; Stonehill (20-10) 23; LeMoyne-Owen (14-12) 19; Colorado Mesa (27-4) 18; Florida Southern (30-4) 17; Carson-Newman (22-8) 16; Michigan Tech (21-9) 10; Central Washington (18-11) 9; Sioux Falls (23-8) 9; Westminster (UT) (21-9) 9; Walsh (25-7) 6; Bowie State (22-6) 2.

2019-20 and MIAA opponents in BOLD and regional teams italicized

Send It Back
One goal that coach Ressel set for the Lions heading into the season was to improve on defense. Thus far as opponents try to shoot from the paint, the Lions have been preventing many shots from even reaching the rim with 22 combined blocks through three games for first in the MIAA and eight blocks up on second-ranked Pittsburg State and Central Missouri (15). Junior Zoe Campbell has 13 of them on her way to breaking the school record for most blocks in a game with seven against Harding University and then adding a block against Graceland to slot her in a tie for fifth in career blocks with 64.

Take the Long Way Home
Another dimension on the defense that MSSU wanted to sure up was around the perimeter and the team has certainly done its job by limiting opponents to 29.4-clip on 51 attempts from three-point range, which ranks fifth in the MIAA  at three-point field-goal defense. The Lions defense is also ranked third in total field-goal defense by holding opponents to 33.5 percent shooting from the field on 203 attempts.
 
Last Time the Lions …
Scored 100 points                               12/30/17 (vs. Graceland, W 100-44)
Allowed 100 points                            2/12/00 (vs. Emporia State, L 102-60)
Scored 100 points & lost                    11/23/91 (vs. Arkansas-Monticello, L 104-100)
Lost at home                                       2/9/19 (vs. Fort Hays State, L 72-57)
Played an overtime game                   1/17/19 (at. Northeastern State, L 66-64)
Played multiple overtimes                  12/7/17 (2 OT vs. Lincoln, W 94-90)
Had a player with 30 points                1/5/19 (at Lincoln, Chelsey Henry, 35 pts.)
Had a player with 15 rebounds           11/8/19 (vs. Henderson State, Zoe Campbell, 16)
Had a double-double              11/13/19 (Skiles, 12 points & 10 rebounds, vs. Graceland)
Did not make a three-pointer              11/20/99 (vs. So. Arkansas, L 73-62)
 
Up Next
The Lions continue onto Claremore, Oklahoma for a non-conference match up with fellow MIAA member Rogers State on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 2:00 pm in the third game of a four-game road tilt.