The Missouri State Bears and Lady Bears are the athletic teams representing Missouri State University. Missouri State's athletics programs date back to 1908. Missouri State competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The majority of sports play in the Division I Conference USA. Missouri State became a full member of CUSA on July 1, 2025.
Men's swimming and diving had competed in the Mid-American Conference through the 2023–24 season, but sponsorship of that sport transferred to the Missouri Valley Conference in July 2024. With CUSA sponsoring soccer only for women, the men's soccer team joined the American Conference.
Missouri State athletics are frequently abbreviated as "MOST".
Sports sponsored Baseball Acrobatics & tumbling Basketball Basketball Football Beach volleyball Golf Cross country Soccer Golf Swimming & diving SoccerSoftball Stunt Swimming & diving Tennis Track and field† Volleyball
A member of Conference USA, 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.
National championships
Team Assoc. Div. Tournament Sport / team Year Runner-up Score NAIA n/a NAIA Basketball championship Men's basketball 1952 Murray State 73–64 NAIA n/a NAIA Basketball championship Men's basketball 1953 Hamline 79–71 NCAA Division II NCAA Golf championship Men's golf 1963 Aquinas 1,188–1,199 AIAW n/a AIAW Softball championship Softball 1974 Northern Colorado 14–7 AIAW Division II AIAW Field hockey championship Field hockey 1979 Colgate 2–0 Notes
Women's basketball NCAA tournament results
NCAA Tournament appearances 1991 #8 First RoundSecond Round #9 Tennessee Tech#1 Tennessee W 94–64L 47–551992 #8 First RoundSecond RoundSweet SixteenElite EightFinal Four #9 Kansas#1 Iowa#5 UCLA#2 Ole Miss#4 Western Kentucky W 75–59W 61–60W 83–57W 94–71 L 72–841993 #7 First RoundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen #10 Oklahoma State #2 Maryland#6 Louisiana Tech W 86–71W 86–82L 43–591994 #6 First RoundSecond Round #11 Northern Illinois#3 Virginia W 75–56 L 63–671995 #9 First RoundSecond Round #8 Utah#1 Colorado W 49–47L 34–781996 #12 First Round #5 Texas L 55–731998 #8 First Round #9 Notre Dame L 64–781999 #7 First RoundSecond Round #10 UC Santa Barbara#2 Colorado State W 72–70 L 70–862000 #10 First Round #7 Auburn L 74–782001 #5 First RoundSecond RoundSweet SixteenElite EightFinal Four #12 Toledo#4 Rutgers#1 Duke#6 Washington#3 Purdue W 89–71W 60–53W 81–71W 104–87L 64–812003 #15 First Round #2 Texas Tech L 59–672004 #12 First Round #5 Notre Dame L 65–69 (OT)2006 #13 First Round #4 Purdue L 52–732016 #13 First Round #4 Texas A&M L 65–742019 #11 First RoundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen #6 DePaul#3 Iowa State#2 Stanford W 89–77W 69–60L 46–552021 #5 First RoundSecond RoundSweet Sixteen #12 UC Davis#13 Wright State#1 Stanford W 70–51W 64–39L 62–892022 #11 First FourFirst Round #11 Florida State#6 Ohio State W 61–50L 63–56
WBIT appearances 2024, 2025
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 (3 seasons, 68-30) 2022–present 2 WBIT appearances 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
Robert W. Plaster Stadium 1941 Football 17,500 Great Southern Bank Arena 2008 Basketball 11,000 Hammons Student Center 1976 VolleyballSwimming 8,846 Route 66 Stadium 2004 Baseball 7,986 Killian Sports Complex 2009 Softball 1,200 Betty and Bobby Allison Stadium 2014 SoccerTrack & fieldField hockeyLacrosse 1,500 Betty and Bobby Allison Courts 2014 Beach volleyball 150 Cooper Tennis Complex 1994 Tennis 2,500 Twin Oaks Country Club+ 4 Other local courses n/a Golf N/A
Notes
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 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). The teams play off-campus at the 2,000-seat Mediacom Ice Park.
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. The team won the MACHA DIII championship with a 5–3 win over Robert Morris University- Peoria.
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.
Head coach Year Record Daren Turner 2002–2008 24–21 Austin Holman 2009–2010 23–9 Pat Callaham 2011–2012 12-13Dustin Rich2013–201832-30Donnie Curran2019–present0-0
References
External links