2017–18 Missouri State Lady Bears basketball team

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 defeated Louisiana Tech in the first round before losing to TCU in the second round.

2017–18 Missouri State Lady Bears basketball
WNIT, Second Round
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Record	21–12 (15–3 The Valley)
Head coach	Kellie Harper (5th season)
Assistant coaches	Jon Harper Jennifer Sullivan Jackie Stiles
Home arena	JQH Arena
Seasons ← 2016–17 2018–19 →

2017–18 Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball standings

v t e	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

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 Kellie Harper (Tennessee) Assistant coach(es) Jon Harper (Auburn) Jennifer Sullivan (Memphis) Jackie Stiles (Missouri State) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt 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

• 2017–18 Missouri State Bears basketball team

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.