2017–18 Missouri State Lady Bears basketball team

2017–18 Missouri State Lady Bears basketball
WNIT, Second Round
ConferenceMissouri Valley Conference
Record21–12 (15–3 The Valley)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaJQH Arena
Seasons
2017–18 Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Drake † 18 – 0   1.000 26 – 8   .765
Missouri State 15 – 3   .833 21 – 12   .636
Northern Iowa 13 – 5   .722 19 – 14   .576
Southern Illinois 11 – 7   .611 17 – 14   .548
Indiana State 9 – 9   .500 11 – 19   .367
Illinois State 8 – 10   .444 14 – 16   .467
Bradley 6 – 12   .333 13 – 18   .419
Valparaiso 5 – 13   .278 13 – 18   .419
Loyola–Chicago 5 – 13   .278 7 – 23   .233
Evansville 0 – 18   .000 3 – 27   .100
† 2018 MVC tournament winner
As of March 17, 2018

The 2017–18 Missouri State Lady Bears basketball team represented Missouri State University during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Lady Bears, led by fifth year head coach Kellie Harper, played their home games at JQH Arena and were members of the Missouri Valley Conference.[1][2][3] They finished the season 21–12, 15–3 in MVC play to finish in second place. They advanced to the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Tournament where they lost to Northern Iowa. They received an automatic bid to the Women's National Invitation Tournament, where they defeated Louisiana Tech in the first round before losing to TCU in the second round.

Previous season

They finished the season 16–15, 12–4 in MVC play to finish in third place. They lost in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Tournament to Evansville. They received an automatic bid to the Women's National Invitation Tournament where they lost to Iowa in the first round.

Roster

2017–18 Missouri State Bears women's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown
G 1 Danielle Gitzen 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Jr Chanhassen High Victoria, MN
G 2 Elle Ruffridge 5 ft 3 in (1.6 m) Fr Pocahontas Area High Pocahontas, IA
G 3 Lee Ann Polowy 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Sr Blair Oaks High Jefferson City, MO
F 4 Abby Hipp 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Fr St. Pius X High Kansas City, MO
G 5 Liza Fruendt 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Sr Batavia High Batavia, IL
G 11 Brice Calip 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) RS Fr Sapulpa High Sapulpa, OK
F 12 Sydney Schultz 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Fr Oswego East High Aurora, IL
F 13 Audrey Holt 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Sr Rock Bridge High Columbia, MO
F 21 Aubrey Buckley 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Sr Parkview High Springfield, MO
G 22 Alexia Willard 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) So Stoutland High Lebanon, MO
F 30 Shameka Ealy 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) So Russellville High Russellville, AR
G 34 Bri Ellis 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) RS Fr Rock Bridge High Columbia, MO
C 50 Emily Gartner 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) RS Fr Hiawatha High Hiawatha, KS
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: January 4, 2018

Schedule

[4]

Date
time, TV 		Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
11/05/2017*
2:00 pm 		Lindenwood W 75–48 
JQH Arena (1,780)
Springfield, MO
Non-conference regular season
11/13/2017*
6:00 pm, ESPN3 		at Ball State L 58–70  0–1
 Worthen Arena (1,040)
Muncie, IN
11/15/2017*
8:00 pm, ESPN3 		Central Missouri W 62–36  1–1
 JQH Arena (3,001)
Springfield, MO
11/19/2017*
2:00 pm, KOZL 		No. 23 Missouri L 59–69  1–2
 JQH Arena (4,251)
Springfield, MO
11/23/2017*
7:00 pm 		vs. No. 8 Baylor
Junkanoo Jam Junkanoo Division semifinals 		L 58–100  1–3
 Gateway Christian Academy 
Bimini, Bahamas
11/24/2017*
6:45 pm 		vs. Penn
Junkanoo Jam Junkanoo Division 3rd place game 		L 60–65  1–4
 Gateway Christian Academy 
Bimini, Bahamas
11/29/2017*
7:00 pm, KOZL 		at Wichita State L 58–72  1–5
 Charles Koch Arena (1,988)
Wichita, KS
12/04/2017*
6:30 pm 		at Little Rock L 51–63  1–6
 Jack Stephens Center (1,037)
Little Rock, AR
12/07/2017*
7:00 pm, ESPN3 		Wichita State W 78–65  2–6
 JQH Arena (1,821)
Springfield, MO
12/10/2017*
2:00 pm, 0ESPN3 		Oral Roberts W 76–66  3–6
 JQH Arena (2,034)
Springfield, MO
12/16/2017*
2:00 pm, ESPN3 		Northwestern W 90–59  4–6
 JQH Arena (2,121)
Springfield, MO
12/19/2017*
12:00 pm 		at Alabama L 61–65  4–7
 Coleman Coliseum (1,971)
Tuscaloosa, AL
Missouri Valley regular season
12/29/2017
6:00 pm, ESPN3 		at Indiana State W 77–63  5–7
(1–0) 		Hulman Center (1,272)
Terre Haute, IN
12/31/2017
1:00 pm, ESPN3 		at Evansville W 95–65  6–7
(2–0) 		Meeks Family Fieldhouse (332)
Evansville, IN
01/05/2018
7:00 pm, KOZL 		Drake L 68–80  6–8
(2–1) 		JQH Arena (2,204)
Springfield, MO
01/07/2018
2:00 pm, ESPN3 		Northern Iowa W 62–52  7–8
(3–1) 		JQH Arena (1,871)
Springfield, MO
01/12/2018
7:00 pm, KOZL 		at Illinois State W 56–50  8–8
(4–1) 		Redbird Arena (718)
Normal, IL
01/14/2018
2:00 pm, ESPN3 		at Bradley W 71–65  9–8
(5–1) 		Renaissance Coliseum (918)
Peoria, IL
01/19/2018
7:00 pm, ESPN3 		Valparaiso W 83–60  10–8
(6–1) 		JQH Arena (2,486)
Springfield, MO
01/21/2018
2:00 pm, ESPN3 		Loyola–Chicago W 75–36  11–8
(7–1) 		JQH Arena (2,326)
Springfield, MO
01/26/2018
2:00 pm, ESPN3 		at Southern Illinois L 69–71 OT 11–9
(7–2) 		SIU Arena (703)
Carbondale, IL
02/02/2018
7:00 pm, ESPN3 		at Northern Iowa W 57–52  12–9
(8–2) 		McLeod Center (1,406)
Cedar Falls, IA
02/04/2018
2:00 pm, ESPN3 		at Drake L 65–84  12–10
(8–3) 		Knapp Center (3,784)
Des Moines, IA
02/09/2018
7:00 pm, ESPN3 		Bradley W 74–54  13–10
(9–3) 		JQH Arena (2,417)
Springfield, MO
02/11/2018
2:00 pm, ESPN3 		Illinois State W 75–58  14–10
(10–3) 		JQH Arena (1,246)
Springfield, MO
02/16/2018
7:00 pm, ESPN3 		at Loyola–Chicago W 69–58  15–10
(11–3) 		Joseph J. Gentile Arena (502)
Chicago, IL
02/18/2018
3:00 pm, KOZL 		at Valparaiso W 66–60  16–10
(12–3) 		Athletics–Recreation Center (349)
Valparaiso, IN
02/23/2018
7:00 pm, ESPN3 		Southern Illinois W 79–61  17–10
(13–3) 		JQH Arena (2,383)
Springfield, MO
03/01/2018
7:00 pm, KOZL 		Evansville W 97–51  18–10
(14–3) 		JQH Arena (1,875)
Springfield, MO
03/03/2018
2:00 pm, ESPN3 		Indiana State W 69–56  19–10
(15–3) 		JQH Arena (2,412)
Springfield, MO
Missouri Valley Women's Tournament
03/09/2018
6:00 pm, ESPN3 		(2) vs. (7) Bradley
Quarterfinals 		W 76–68  20–10
 TaxSlayer Center 
Moline, IL
03/10/2018
4:00 pm, ESPN3 		(2) vs. (3) Northern Iowa
Semifinals 		L 58–70  20–11
 TaxSlayer Center (2,129)
Moline, IL
WNIT
03/15/2018*
6:30 pm 		at Louisiana Tech
First Round 		W 63–59  21–11
 Thomas Assembly Center (1,734)
Ruston, LA
03/17/2018*
12:00 pm 		at TCU
Second Round 		L 51–86  21–12
 Schollmaier Arena (1,069)
Fort Worth, TX
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Missouri State University Official Athletic Site" (PDF). missouristatebears.com.
  2. ^ "Missouri State Lady Bears Women's Basketball - Lady Bears News, Scores, Stats, Rumors & More - ESPN".
  3. ^ "Missouri State Bears on Yahoo! Sports - News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games". Yahoo Sports.
  4. ^ "Missouri State University Official Athletic Site". www.missouristatebears.com.