2025–26 Missouri State Lady Bears basketball team

2025–26 Missouri State Lady Bears basketball
ConferenceConference USA
Record15–8 (7–3 C-USA)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaGreat Southern Bank Arena
2025–26 Conference USA women's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Louisiana Tech 13 1   .929 20 5   .800
Sam Houston 9 4   .692 16 8   .667
Middle Tennessee 9 4   .692 14 11   .560
FIU 9 5   .643 16 9   .640
Liberty 8 6   .571 14 11   .560
Missouri State 7 6   .538 15 11   .577
Delaware 6 8   .429 12 14   .462
Jacksonville State 6 8   .429 12 14   .462
Kennesaw State 5 9   .357 12 13   .480
New Mexico State 4 9   .308 8 17   .320
UTEP 3 10   .231 11 13   .458
Western Kentucky 2 11   .154 6 18   .250
2026 CUSA tournament winner
As of February 19, 2026

The 2025–26 Missouri State Lady Bears basketball team represents Missouri State University during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Lady Bears, led by fourth-year head coach Beth Cunningham, play their home games at the Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield, Missouri as first-year members of Conference USA.

Previous season

The Lady Bears finished the 2024–25 season 26–9, 16–4 in MVC play, to finish as MVC regular season co-champions, alongside Murray State.[1] They defeated UIC,[2] before falling to Belmont in the semifinals of the MVC tournament.[3] They received an at-large bid to the WBIT,[4] where they would defeat Oral Roberts in the first round,[5] before falling to eventual tournament champions Minnesota in the second round.[6]

Preseason

On October 9, 2025, Conference USA released their preseason poll. Missouri State was picked to finish fourth in the conference.[7]

Preseason rankings

Conference USA Preseason Poll
Place Team Votes
1 Louisiana Tech 128 (5)
2 Liberty 125 (5)
3 Middle Tennessee 123 (2)
4 Missouri State 107
5 Western Kentucky 96
6 FIU 74
7 Sam Houston 59
T-8 UTEP 57
Kennesaw State
10 New Mexico State 51
11 Delaware 36
12 Jacksonville State 23
(#) first-place votes

Source:[7]

Preseason All-CUSA Team

Preseason All-CUSA Team
Player Position Year
Faith Lee Forward Senior

Source:[7]

Roster

2025–26 Missouri State Lady Bears women's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 Victoria Dixon 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) Sr Houston Christian Grand Prairie, Texas
G 1 JaNyla Bush 5 ft 3 in (1.6 m) RS Fr Link Academy St. Louis, Missouri
F 2 Lainie Douglas 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) So Blue Valley Northwest High School Overland Park, Kansas
G 3 Kendal Brueggen 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Fr Hesston High School Hesston, Kansas
G 5 Zoe Canfield 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) So Kansas Topeka, Kansas
F 11 Faith Lee 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Sr Little Rock Monroe, Louisiana
F 12 Tyra Robinson 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Jr Western Carolina Little Rock, Arkansas
G 13 Maycee James 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Sr Pittsburg State Goddard, Kansas
F 15 Maiesha Washington 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Fr Legion Prep Academy Fayetteville, Arkansas
G 20 Angel Scott 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) RS Sr Stephen F. Austin Edmond, Oklahoma
G 24 Kaemyn Bekemeier 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Jr Republic High School Republic, Missouri
G 31 Audrey Hopkins 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Fr Lincoln Christian School Tulsa, Oklahoma
G 32 Cady Pauley 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) Sr Virginia Milan, Missouri
F 33 Blake O'Grady 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Jr Dexter Southfield School Brookline, Massachusetts
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: February 6, 2026

Schedule and results

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
October 28, 2025*
6:30 pm
Northeastern State W 75–57 
 17  Lee   8  James   7  James  Great Southern Bank Arena (1,797)
Springfield, MO
Non-conference regular season
November 3, 2025*
6:30 pm, ESPN+
Saint Louis W 70–66  1–0
 23  Bekemeier   9  Bekemeier   2  Tied  Great Southern Bank Arena (2,030)
Springfield, MO
November 7, 2025*
6:30 pm, ESPN+
at UT Arlington W 69–53  2–0
 20  Lee   9  Bekemeier   6  James  College Park Center (586)
Arlington, TX
November 11, 2025*
6:30 pm, ESPN+
at Southeast Missouri State W 67–57  3–0
 22  Bekemeier   10  Bekemeier   5  James  Show Me Center (850)
Cape Girardeau, MO
November 15, 2025*
3:30 pm
vs. Wichita State W 66–57  4–0
 14  Lee   10  Bekemeier   3  Bush  T-Mobile Center 
Kansas City, MO
November 18, 2025*
6:30 pm, ESPN+
Georgia Southern W 69–58  5–0
 21  Douglas   13  Bekemeier   4  James  Great Southern Bank Arena (2,080)
Springfield, MO
November 22, 2025*
2:00 pm, ESPN+
at Tulsa L 57−73  5−1
 19  Bekemeier   7  Bekemeier   2  Washington  Reynolds Center (1,283)
Tulsa, OK
November 28, 2025*
3:00 pm, FloHoops
vs. Florida State
Coconut Hoops Great Egret Division semifinals
L 75−85  5−2
 16  Douglas   6  Tied   3  Tied  Alico Arena (952)
Fort Myers, FL
November 30, 2025*
3:00 pm, FloHoops
vs. Coppin State
Coconut Hoops Great Egret Division consolation
W 77–56  6–2
 23  Pauley   6  James   4  Bush  Alico Arena (868)
Fort Myers, FL
December 4, 2025*
6:30 pm, ESPN+
at Tulane W 72–66  7–2
 22  Bekemeier   7  Tied   5  Pauley  Devlin Fieldhouse (657)
New Orleans, LA
December 7, 2025*
2:00 pm, ESPN+
Kansas L 70–73 OT 7–3
 21  Bekemeier   9  Douglas   3  James  Great Southern Bank Arena (2,338)
Springfield, MO
December 13, 2025*
1:00 pm, ESPN+
Arkansas L 58–73  7–4
 18  Bekemeier   7  Brueggen   3  Washington  Great Southern Bank Arena (2,862)
Springfield, MO
December 19, 2025*
6:30 pm, ESPN+
Gonzaga L 49–68  7–5
 13  Pauley   7  Bekemeier   3  Washington  Great Southern Bank Arena (1,801)
Springfield, MO
December 22, 2025*
1:00 pm, ESPN+
Central Arkansas W 65−61  8−5
 24  Bekemeier   14  Bekemeier   5  Bekemeier  Great Southern Bank Arena (1,569)
Springfield, MO
C-USA regular season
January 4, 2026
12:00 pm, ESPN+
at FIU W 80–69  9–5
(1–0)
 19  Washington   11  Washington   7  Bekemeier  Ocean Bank Convocation Center (85)
Miami, FL
January 8, 2026
6:30 pm, ESPN+
Kennesaw State W 67–61  10–5
(2–0)
 26  Bekemeier   11  Bekemeier   3  Tied  Great Southern Bank Arena (1,863)
Springfield, MO
January 10, 2026
12:00 pm, ESPN+
Jacksonville State W 63–47  11–5
(3–0)
 31  Bekemeier   14  Bekemeier   4  James  Great Southern Bank Arena (2,190)
Springfield, MO
January 15, 2026
8:00 pm, ESPN+
at UTEP W 71–64  12–5
(4–0)
 21  Bekemeier   6  Douglas   3  Bekemeier  Don Haskins Center (821)
El Paso, TX
January 17, 2026
1:00 pm, ESPN+
at New Mexico State L 56–63  12–6
(4–1)
 17  Douglas   8  Washington   4  James  Pan American Center (959)
Las Cruces, NM
January 22, 2026
6:30 pm, ESPN+
Louisiana Tech L 51–60  12–7
(4–2)
 15  Tied   7  Bekemeier   3  James  Great Southern Bank Arena (2,326)
Springfield, MO
January 30, 2026
6:00 pm, ESPN+
at Delaware W 79–54  13–7
(5–2)
 17  Douglas   12  Bekemeier   5  Bush  Bob Carpenter Center (754)
Newark, DE
February 1, 2026
1:00 pm, ESPN+
at Liberty L 52–60  13–8
(5–3)
 24  Bekemeier   7  Bekemeier   3  Tied  Liberty Arena (1,060)
Lynchburg, VA
February 5, 2026
6:30 pm, ESPN+
Middle Tennessee W 60–54  14–8
(6–3)
 25  Bekemeier   8  Tied   3  James  Great Southern Bank Arena (2,088)
Springfield, MO
February 7, 2026
1:00 pm, ESPN+
Western Kentucky W 75–52  15–8
(7–3)
 21  Bekemeier   8  Douglas   6  Bush  Great Southern Bank Arena (2,641)
Springfield, MO
February 12, 2026
6:30 pm, ESPN+
at Sam Houston       Bernard Johnson Coliseum 
Huntsville, TX
February 14, 2026
1:00 pm, ESPN+
at Louisiana Tech       Thomas Assembly Center 
Ruston, LA
February 19, 2026
6:30 pm, ESPN+
Liberty       Great Southern Bank Arena 
Springfield, MO
February 21, 2026
1:00 pm, ESPN+
Delaware       Great Southern Bank Arena 
Springfield, MO
February 24, 2026
6:30 pm, ESPN+
Sam Houston       Great Southern Bank Arena 
Springfield, MO
February 26, 2026
6:30 pm, ESPN+
FIU       Great Southern Bank Arena 
Springfield, MO
March 5, 2026
6:30 pm, ESPN+
at Western Kentucky       E. A. Diddle Arena 
Bowling Green, KY
March 7, 2026
2:00 pm, ESPN+
at Middle Tennessee       Murphy Center 
Murfreesboro, TN
C-USA tournament
March 10–14, 2026
vs.        Propst Arena 
Huntsville, AL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central.

Sources:[8][9]

References

  1. ^ "2024–25 Women's Basketball Standings". Missouri Valley Conference. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
  2. ^ "Missouri State women's basketball holds off UIC in MVC Tournament quarterfinals". Springfield News-Leader. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
  3. ^ "Belmont bounces Missouri State in MVC semifinals, likely keeping the Lady Bears out of the NCAA Tournament". Springfield Daily Citizen. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
  4. ^ "WBIT 2025 schedule, bracket: Game times, TV, streaming for women's tournament". USA Today. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
  5. ^ "Historic Season for #ORUWBB Comes to a Close in First Round of WBIT". The Summit League. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
  6. ^ "Minnesota Women's Basketball: Gophers defeat Missouri State to Advance to WBIT Quarterfinals". The Daily Gopher. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
  7. ^ a b c "WBB: 2025-26 CUSA Preseason All-Conference Team and Poll Announced". Conference USA. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
  8. ^ "2025–26 Women's Basketball Schedule". Missouri State. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
  9. ^ "Missouri State Bears 2025–26 Regular Season NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved February 6, 2026.