Missouri State Bears and Lady Bears

Missouri State Bears and Lady Bears
Missouri State Bears and Lady Bears
University	Missouri State University
Conference	Missouri Valley (primary); MVFC (football); CUSA (beach volleyball; ; primary on July 1, 2025)
NCAA	Division I (FCS)
Athletic director	Kyle Moats
Location	Springfield, Missouri
Varsity teams	19
Football stadium	Robert W. Plaster Stadium
Basketball arena	Great Southern Bank Arena
Baseball stadium	Hammons Field
Soccer stadium	Allison South Stadium
Mascot	Boomer the Bear and Growl the Bear
Nickname	Bears and Lady Bears; Beach Bears (beach volleyball)
Fight song	The Scotsman
Colors	Maroon and white;
Website	missouristatebears.com

The Missouri State Bears and Lady Bears are the athletic teams representing Missouri State University (formerly Southwest Missouri State University). Missouri State's athletics programs date back to 1908. Missouri State competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision, but will start a transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision on July 1, 2024. The majority of sports play in the Division I Missouri Valley Conference. Missouri State football competes in the Missouri Valley Football Conference and the women's beach volleyball team, nicknamed Beach Bears instead of "Bears" or "Lady Bears",^[2] competes in Conference USA (CUSA), having moved from the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association after the spring 2023 season.^[3] Men's swimming & diving had competed in the Mid-American Conference through the 2023–24 season, but sponsorship of that sport transferred from that conference to the MVC in July 2024.^[4] Missouri State will become a full member of CUSA on July 1, 2025.^[5]

Missouri State athletics are frequently abbreviated as "MOST" when televised.

Sports sponsored

Men's sports	Women's sports
Baseball	Acrobatics & tumbling
Basketball	Basketball
Football	Beach volleyball
Golf	Cross country
Soccer	Golf
Swimming & diving	Soccer
	Softball
	Stunt
	Swimming & diving
	Tennis
	Track & field^†
	Volleyball
† – Track & field includes both indoor and outdoor

A member of the Missouri Valley Conference, Missouri State University sponsors six men's and 13 women's teams in NCAA sanctioned sports. The women's sports of acrobatics & tumbling and stunt, both included in the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program, were added in 2024–25.^[6]

National championships

Team

Association	Division	Sport	Year	Opponent/Runner-Up	Score
NAIA	n/a	Men's basketball	1952	Murray State	73–64
NAIA	n/a	Men's basketball	1953	Hamline	79–71
NCAA	Division II	Men's golf^[7]	1963	Aquinas	1,188–1,199
AIAW	n/a	Softball (Women's College World Series)	1974	Northern Colorado	14–7
AIAW	Division II	Field hockey	1979	Colgate	2–0

Women's basketball NCAA tournament results

NCAA Tournament appearances

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
1991	#8	First Round Second Round	#9 Tennessee Tech #1 Tennessee	W 94–64 L 47–55
1992	#8	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four	#9 Kansas #1 Iowa #5 UCLA #2 Ole Miss #4 Western Kentucky	W 75–59 W 61–60 W 83–57 W 94–71 L 72–84
1993	#7	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#10 Oklahoma State #2 Maryland #6 Louisiana Tech	W 86–71 W 86–82 L 43–59
1994	#6	First Round Second Round	#11 Northern Illinois #3 Virginia	W 75–56 L 63–67
1995	#9	First Round Second Round	#8 Utah #1 Colorado	W 49–47 L 34–78
1996	#12	First Round	#5 Texas	L 55–73
1998	#8	First Round	#9 Notre Dame	L 64–78
1999	#7	First Round Second Round	#10 UC Santa Barbara #2 Colorado State	W 72–70 L 70–86
2000	#10	First Round	#7 Auburn	L 74–78
2001	#5	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four	#12 Toledo #4 Rutgers #1 Duke #6 Washington #3 Purdue	W 89–71 W 60–53 W 81–71 W 104–87 L 64–81
2003	#15	First Round	#2 Texas Tech	L 59–67
2004	#12	First Round	#5 Notre Dame	L 65–69 (OT)
2006	#13	First Round	#4 Purdue	L 52–73
2016	#13	First Round	#4 Texas A&M	L 65–74
2019	#11	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#6 DePaul #3 Iowa State #2 Stanford	W 89–77 W 69–60 L 46–55
2021	#5	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#12 UC Davis #13 Wright State #1 Stanford	W 70–51 W 64–39 L 62–89
2022	#11	First Four First Round	#11 Florida State #6 Ohio State	W 61-50 L 63-56

WBIT appearances

2024

WNIT appearances

2002, 2005 (Champions), 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2023

AIAW tournament appearances

Missouri AIAW state tournament: 1970–1982 (won 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1981 tournaments)
AIAW Region VI tournament: 1974, 1975, 1981
AIAW Division II national tournament: 1981

Conference championships

Gateway Conference (1983–1992) 2
1991, 1992

Missouri Valley Conference (1992–present) 12
1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2012, 2020, 2021

Head coaches

Reba Sims (10 seasons, 129–116), 1969–1979
Marti Gasser (4 seasons, 62–60), 1979–1983
Valerie Goodwin-Colbert (4 seasons, 48–63), 1983–1987
Cheryl Burnett (15 seasons, 319–136), 1987–2002
- 10 NCAA Tournament Appearances
  - 2 Final Four Appearances
  - 3 Sweet 16 Appearances
- 1 WNIT Appearance
Katie Abrahamson-Henderson (5 seasons, 95–61), 2002–2007
- 3 NCAA Tournament Appearances
- WNIT Championship
Nyla Milleson (5 seasons, 105–87), 2007–2013
- 3 WNIT Appearances
Kellie Harper (6 seasons, 118–79), 2013–2019
- 2 NCAA Appearances
- 3 WNIT Appearances
Amaka Agugua-Hamilton (3 seasons, 73-15), 2019–2022
- 1 NCAA Appearance
  - 1 Sweet Sixteen Appearance

• Beth Cunningham (2 seasons, 43-20) 2022–Present

- 1 WBIT Appearance
- 1 WNIT Appearance

Retired numbers

10 Jackie Stiles, 1997–2001 (finished career as leading career scorer in NCAA Division I women's basketball with 3,393 points; now #5 on the list)
22 Kari Koch, 2002-2006
35 Melody Howard, 1990–1994
42 Jeanette Tendai, 1982–1986

Facilities

Facility	Opened	Renovated	Sport	Capacity
Robert W. Plaster Stadium	1941	1991, 2014	Football	17,500
Great Southern Bank Arena	2008	2013	Basketball	11,000
Hammons Student Center	1976		Volleyball Swimming	8,846 300
Hammons Field	2004		Baseball	7,986
Killian Sports Complex	2009		Softball	1,200
Betty and Bobby Allison South Stadium	2014		Soccer Track & field	1,500
Betty and Bobby Allison North Stadium	2014		Field hockey Lacrosse	250
Betty and Bobby Allison Sand Volleyball Courts	2014		Beach volleyball	150
Cooper Tennis Complex w/Mediacom Stadium	1994		Tennis	2,500
Twin Oaks Country Club + 4 Other local courses	n/a	MOST/TOCC Practice Facility 2016	Golf	N/A

Club sports

The university also sponsors several club sports teams, including ice hockey (ACHA), lacrosse (MCLA), and roller hockey (NCRHA).

Men's ice hockey

Missouri State ice hockey players celebrate a goal against University of Missouri.

Missouri State men's ice hockey, known as the Ice Bears, began in 2001 and despite not being a varsity NCAA sport receives much attention on and off-campus. The Ice Bears currently compete at the Division I level of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) in the Western Collegiate Hockey League (WCHL).^[8] The teams play off-campus at the 2,000-seat Mediacom Ice Park.^[9]^[10]^[11]

Men's varsity ice hockey finished the 2009–2010 season ranked 2nd in the MACHA DII with a record of 12–4–0 in 16 league games, the team lost in the MACHA Championship 1–5 to Southern Illinois University- Edwardsville. In addition to the ACHA DII team the University also fields a JV teams playing at the ACHA DIII level.^[12] The team won the MACHA DIII championship with a 5–3 win over Robert Morris University- Peoria.^[13]^[14]^[15]

Men's lacrosse

Missouri State also fields a highly successful club Lacrosse Team. Founded in 2003, it competes in the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA) Division II and was a member of the Great Rivers Lacrosse Conference (GRLC) through 2017 before it moved to Division II of the Lone Star Alliance (LSA) in 2018. The Bears have been conference champions five times in their history (2004, 2009, 2010, 2017, and 2018) and have qualified for the MCLA National Championships on four occasions (2009, 2010, 2017, and 2018). The Bears finished the 2018 season with a record of 12–3, including a perfect 6–0 conference record and victories over Creighton, Baylor, and in-state rival University of Missouri. Since 2003, Missouri State has fielded 11 All-Americans, over 80 All-Conference players, 3 GRLC Tournament MVP's, and 4 GRLC Division II Coach's of the Year.