Missouri State Lady Bears
(3-1) at Eastern Michigan (4-1)

Game Overview
The Missouri State Lady Bears (3-1) look to continue their winning ways Sunday when they take on the Eastern Michigan Eagles (4-1) in the second of four straight games on the road.

Missouri State will be aiming for its fourth consecutive victory after an eight-point victory at Arkansas State Friday to kick off the road swing. Eastern Michigan will be trying to rebound from its first defeat of the season Tuesday at Temple. Sunday's game will be just the second home tilt of the season for the Eagles, who have won three of their four road games so far in 2009-10.

Next up, the Lady Bears will wrap up their extended road trip next weekend when they travel to Manhattan, Kan., for the Commerce Bank Wildcat Classic. MSU will match-up against UTEP at 4 p.m., on Dec. 4, to open the two-day tourney, then take on either Kansas State or Grambling the following afternoon.

Quick Hits
► Missouri State leads the Missouri Valley Conference in steals per game (12.5) and ranks second in rebounding margin (+6.2) through the first four games of the season

► With its win at Arkansas State, MSU ended a 17-game road losing streak in the month of November; prior to Friday's victory, the Lady Bears' last win in a true road game in November came on Nov. 26, 1983 at UMSL

► The Lady Bears will be shooting for their first 4-1 start to a season since 2003-04

► Sophomore guard Casey Garrison is coming off a career game in which she scored 35 points and grabbed 17 rebounds at ASU Friday; the nation's leading true freshman scorer (476 points) a year ago, Garrison will square off against another super soph. in EMU's Tavelyn James, who finished last year with the fourth-highest point total among all Division I true freshmen

Last Time Out
Behind a career game from Casey Garrison, the Lady Bears snapped a 17-game road losing streak in the month of November with a 73-65 victory over Arkansas State Friday evening. Garrison posted career highs of 35 points and 17 rebounds and came up big when it mattered most, scoring 21 points in the second half and 16 of MSU's final 24 points of the contest.

The win was the first for Missouri State on an opponent's home floor in November since an 85-47 victory over UMSL on Nov. 26, 1983.

It did not come without a battle from the Red Wolves, however. MSU overcame a 14-0 Arkansas State scoring run to take a 39-32 lead into the halftime locker room, shooting 50 percent (17-of-34) from the floor in the first half. The Lady Bears scored 11 of the last 13 points of the period to erase a two-point deficit and take the seven-point advantage into the break.

MSU pushed its lead to nine on several occasions in the opening minutes of the second half, but could never completely shake the Red Wolves. ASU trimmed the gap to 49-45 on an Ebonie Jefferson three-point play with 12:19 to go, only to see Garrison score the next 11 Lady Bear points over the ensuing six minutes, stretching the margin back to nine.

Arkansas State made one last push, drawing to within 70-65 on a Shania Hurst three with just over one minute to play.

However, the Lady Bears converted three of four attempts from the charity stripe in the final 29 seconds to put away the victory.

The hard-fought win for MSU was made possible in part by a strong start that saw the Lady Bears jump on top with a 15-4 scoring run over three-minute span to turn a two-point game into a 22-9 advantage with just under 13 minutes to play in the opening half.

Arkansas State, however, reeled off 14 straight points to erase the double-digit deficit. Linsay Henke's three-point play at the 5:16 mark capped the run and gave the Red Wolves a 30-28 lead, their first of the game.

But Regan Soldner knocked down a pair of free throws with 4:51 to go to start the late run, and Jasmine Malone's jumper with 3:18 to go put MSU on top. Whitney Edie converted a three-point play, and Garrison hit a pair of shots in the last 18 seconds to push the MSU lead back to seven.

Garrison, who went 13-of-25 from the field and 9-of-14 from the foul line, topped her previous career scoring best of 33, which she recorded Dec. 7 of last year against Western Kentucky. Her 35 points rates as No. 23 on the MSU single-game scoring chart, matching three performances by two different Lady Bears. Additionally, her 17 rebounds also marked a new personal best and tied four other performances as the sixth-highest total in Lady Bear history.

Lacey Boshe also finished in double figures for MSU, totaling 13 points to go along with three assists and three steals.

The Red Wolves (2-5) got 27 points from Jefferson, but could not overcome a Lady Bear club that shot .435 (27-of-62) for the game.

Scouting the Lady Bears
Missouri State entered the season looking for its first winning campaign in four years. Last year's edition of the Lady Bears went 10-20 overall and finished seventh in the Missouri Valley Conference behind a deep freshman class that accounted for 68 percent of the club's offensive production.

Sophomore Casey Garrison has picked up right where she left off a year ago when she led all Division I true freshman in total scoring. So far the Bolivar, Mo., native ranks second in the Valley with her 22.3 ppg. average, third in rebounding (9.8 rpg.), first in assists (5.3 apg.) and second in steals (3.3 spg.). Her backcourt mate Jasmine Malone came through with a career game in the win over Saint Louis, totaling 19 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two blocks, and is contributing 8.8 points per game. Sophomore Lacey Boshe is second on the squad with a 10.8 ppg., average while shooting a team-high .577 from the floor. Freshman Christiana Shorter has made significant contributions in her first four games as a Lady Bear and comes into Sunday's action with a 7.5 ppg., average.

As a team, MSU is outscoring the opposition by 6.5 points per contest, while its defense has forced 90 turnovers in four games this season. The Lady Bears have also been dominant on the glass, outrebounding their four opponents by an average of 6.2 boards per game.

Scouting the Eagles
Like the Lady Bears, Eastern Michigan is coming off a difficult, yet promising season in which its youth provided plenty to be optimistic about. The Eagles went just 8-21 a year ago under AnnMarie Gilbert, but Tavelyn James paced the EMU attack with one of the top freshman campaigns in school history. The 5-7 guard averaged 14.7 points per outing to rank, along with MSU's Garrison, as one of the top freshman scorers in the country. So far this season she's been even better, averaging a team-high 16.8 points per game through five contests. She's received plenty of help, as three other Eagles are scoring nine points per game or more. Junior guard Cassie Schrock is the club's top ball distributor and No. 2 scorer and rebounder, entering the weekend averaging 10.8 points, 7.0 boards and a remarkable 8.4 assists. Junior guard Sydney Huntley gives the Eagles a potent weapon off the bench with her 10.2 ppg. average, and freshman Chenise Miller has also been invaluable in her first five collegiate games, contributing 9.0 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.

As a team, EMU has posted an impressive scoring margin of +14.6 in its five contests, outrebounding the opposition by five boards per game. The Eagles defense has also been solid, forcing 23.8 turnovers in allowing just 56.2 points per outing.

Series History
Sunday's meeting will be the first ever between the Lady Bears and Eagles. It will also mark the first time that MSU takes the court in the state of Michigan.

The Lady Bears are 2-2 all-time versus the current membership of the Mid-American Conference.                                

The Coaches
Nyla Milleson (Kansas State, '85) is in her third season as the head coach at Missouri State with a 24-40 mark as the Lady Bears' mentor and an overall record of 209-76 in 10 years as a collegiate head coach. Prior to taking the reins of the MSU program, the Goodland, Kan., native guided Drury University to a 185-36 record in seven seasons, highlighted by a national runner-up finish in 2003-04. In all, the Lady Panthers made five NCAA Division II Tournament appearances, advancing to the Sweet 16 in four of those years. Milleson was honored as Heartland Conference Coach of the Year four times, as Drury won five conference titles in all.       

AnnMarie Gilbert (Oberlin, '91) is in her third year as head coach of the Eagles, entering Sunday's game with a record of 29-34 at EMU and 87-140 overall in 11 seasons as a collegiate coach. Gilbert led the Eagles to a 17-12 record and a share of the MAC West Division crown in her debut season of 2007-08. Prior to taking over in Ypsilanti, Gilbert spent five years as an assistant coach at Michigan State, helping guide the Spartans to NCAA Tournament appearances each year, as well as the national championship game in 2005. Gilbert also spent eight years as head coach at Oberlin, where she ranks as her alma mater's all-time winningest coach.

November Blues No More
Although the Lady Bears have still dropped nine of their last 13 games in the month of November, MSU secured its first .500 finish in November since 2005-06 with Friday's win at Arkansas State. MSU has won just 12 of its 32 games in November since the start of the 2002-03 season and is 48-46 overall in the first month of the season since making the move to Division I in 1982.

The Lady Bears' fortunes on the road in the first month of the season have been even direr. Prior to the win over Arkansas State, MSU had lost 17 consecutive road contests in November dating back to the 1983-84 campaign.

Happy Days Are Here Again
With three straight victories under their belts, the Lady Bears find themselves above the .500-mark for the first time since closing the 2005-06 season with a 17-15 record. MSU's 75-59 win over SLU on Nov. 18 stopped a string of three consecutive 0-2 starts, as well as a two-game skid in the series with the Billikens.

Free and Easy
As was their calling card in 2008-09, the Lady Bears are once again gaining a measurable advantage at the free throw line through their first four games of the new season. MSU has outscored the opposition by a 75-45 margin at the foul line, connecting on 69.4 percent of their tries. The Lady Bears have attempted 48 more charity tosses, or an average of +12.0 per outing so far this season. All five starters are shooting 71 percent or better from the foul line over MSU's 3-1 start.

Board Games
Through the first four games of the season, the Lady Bears are outrebounding their opponents by an average of 6.2 boards per contest, finishing with the edge in total rebounds in each contest. While it may be too early to draw any conclusions, those figures lie in stark contrast to last season when MSU was outperformed on the boards by an average of 2.5 rebounds per game. Furthermore, the Lady Bears finished with an advantage in total rebounds in just nine of their 30 games last year.

Fab Frosh to Super Sophs
In 27 of MSU's 30 games last season, a freshman led the Lady Bears in scoring. Four of the Lady Bears' top six scorers were freshmen and six Missouri State rookies accounted for just under 68 percent of MSU's offense overall and 69.3 percent of the Lady Bears' offense in their 14 home dates. Casey Garrison paced the Missouri State offense, scoring at a 17.2 ppg. clip in JQH Arena, while Lacey Boshe nearly posted a double-digit scoring mark at home, finishing with a 9.5 ppg. average. In all Lady Bear freshmen recorded 73.7 percent of the team's assists, 78.5 percent of its blocks, 68.3 percent of its steals and 55.2 percent of its total rebounds.

Garrison, Boshe and Jaleshia Roberson all ranked among the top 20 freshman scorers in the program's Division I history, and including Boshe, the MSU freshmen class compiled four of the top seven blocked shot totals among all Lady Bear freshmen.

Hall of Fame Happenings
Former Missouri State head coach Cheryl Burnett (women's basketball, 1987-2002) was named to the Missouri Valley Conference's 2010 Hall of Fame induction class and will be enshrined next March in St. Louis.

The all-time winningest coach in Lady Bear history, Burnett guided MSU to ten 20-win seasons and NCAA Tournament berths in her 15 seasons as head coach. Missouri State advanced beyond the first round in seven of those 10 NCAA years, with a Sweet 16 appearance in 1993 and trips to the Final Four in 1993 and 2001.

She will join former SIU men's basketball coach Rich Herrin and Creighton men's hoops standout Kyle Korver in the 13th MVC Hall of Fame class.

Buzz Cracks Century Mark
Senior guard Melissa Busby enters Sunday's game 10th on the school's all-time three-point field goals list with 102. MSU's active leader in games played (76), Busby also has a chance to climb further on the three-point attempts chart, coming into the contest ninth all-time with 314 tries from beyond the arc.

The Edmond, Okla., native only needs 18 more triples to catch Jamie Bartlett in the ninth spot and just three more tries to tie Tina Robbins for the eighth position on the career attempts chart.