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 Championship Subdivision, but started 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", competes in Conference USA (CUSA), having moved from the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association after the spring 2023 season. 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. Missouri State will become a full member of CUSA on July 1, 2025.
Kellie Jolly Harper is an American basketball coach. She has served as head coach of Western Carolina, NC State, Missouri State, and Tennessee.
The Maggie Dixon Division I Rookie Coach of the Year Award is an award given annually since 2007 to the head coach in women's college basketball in the NCAA Division I competition who achieves great success in their first year as a Division I head coach. Given by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, the award is named for former women's head coach Maggie Dixon, who coached at Army for the 2005–06 season before suddenly dying due to valve complications from an enlarged heart. Dixon had been named head coach just 11 days before the start of the season but led the Black Knights to a 20–11 record and won the Patriot League tournament championship. It was Army's first basketball team, men or women, to play in the NCAA Tournament. Although Army would lose in the first round to Tennessee, Dixon was named the Patriot League Coach of the Year and received much praise from the college basketball community for her coaching job in just her first season. On April 6, 2006, Dixon died at the age of 28 of what her brother Jamie Dixon, then head men's basketball coach at Pittsburgh, described as an "arrhythmic episode to her heart."
Frances Hollingsworth "Holly" Warlick is an American college basketball coach who was head coach for the Tennessee Lady Volunteers. She replaced head coach Pat Summitt prior to the 2012–13 season and held the position until the end of the 2018–19 season. Warlick was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001.
The Virginia Cavaliers women's basketball team represents the University of Virginia in women's basketball. The school competes in the Atlantic Coast Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Cavaliers play home basketball games at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are currently coached by Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, who was hired on March 21, 2022.
The 2014–15 Missouri State Lady Bears basketball team represented Missouri State University during the 2014–15 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Lady Bears, led by second year head coach Kellie Harper, played their home games at JQH Arena and were members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 18–15, 13–5 in MVC play to finish in third place. They advanced to the championship game of the Missouri Valley Tournament where they lost to Wichita State. They were invited to the Women's National Invitation Tournament where they lost to Tulsa in the first round.
The 2015–16 Missouri State Lady Bears basketball team represented Missouri State University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Lady Bears, led by third year head coach Kellie Harper, played their home games at JQH Arena and were members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 24–10, 14–4 in MVC play to finish in a tie for second place. They won the Missouri Valley women's tournament to earn an automatic trip to the NCAA Women's Basketball where they lost to Texas A&M in the first round.
The Missouri State Lady Bears basketball team represents Missouri State University in NCAA Division I women's basketball. The team has a storied history making 2 NCAA Final Fours, reaching 17 NCAA Tournaments, and claiming 13 conference regular season titles. The Lady Bears compete in the Missouri Valley Conference.
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. 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 they defeated Louisiana Tech in the first round before losing to TCU in the second round.
The 2018–19 Missouri State Lady Bears basketball team represented Missouri State University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Lady Bears, led by sixth year head coach Kellie Harper, played their home games at JQH Arena and were members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 25–10, 16–2 in MVC play to finish in second place. They won the Missouri Valley women's tournament to earn an automatic trip to the NCAA Women's Basketball where upset DePaul and Iowa State in the first and second rounds to advance to the sweet sixteen for the first time 2001 where they lost to Stanford.
The 2019–20 NCAA Division I women's basketball season began in November 2019 and concluded prematurely on March 12, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament was scheduled to end at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana on April 5, 2020, but was ultimately canceled. All other postseason tournaments were canceled as well. It was the first cancellation in the history of the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament. Practices officially began in late September 2019.
The 2019–20 Missouri State Lady Bears basketball team represented Missouri State University during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Lady Bears, led by first year head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, played their home games at JQH Arena and were members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 26–4, 16–2 in MVC play to finish in first place.
The 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season began on November 9, 2021. The regular season ended on March 6, 2022, with the 2022 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament beginning on March 18, and ending with the championship game at the Target Center in Minneapolis on April 3.
The 2020–21 Missouri State Lady Bears basketball team represented Missouri State University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Lady Bears, led by second year head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, played their home games at JQH Arena and were members of the Missouri Valley Conference.
The 2021–22 Missouri State Lady Bears basketball team represented Missouri State University during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Lady Bears, led by third year head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, played their home games at JQH Arena and were members of the Missouri Valley Conference.
The 2022–23 Atlantic Coast Conference women's basketball season began with practices in October 2022, followed by the start of the 2022–23 NCAA Division I women's basketball season in November. Conference play started in November 2022 and concluded on February 26, 2023. After the regular season, the 2023 ACC women's basketball tournament was held at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC for the 23rd time in 24 years.
The 2022–23 Virginia Cavaliers women's basketball team represented the University of Virginia during the 2022–23 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Cavaliers were led by first-year head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, and played their home games at John Paul Jones Arena as members the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Kim Caldwell (née Stephens) is an American college basketball coach who is currently the head coach of the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers. She previously served in the same role at Marshall for one season, where she was named the Sun Belt Conference (SBC) Coach of the Year and received the Maggie Dixon Award as the top Division I rookie head coach in 2024. Prior to Marshall, Caldwell made a name for herself as coach of the Glenville State Pioneers. During her seven-year tenure there, the team won six regular season conference championships, four conference tournament championships, made six NCAA Division II Tournament appearances, and won the 2022 NCAA Division II National Championship.
The 2023–24 Virginia Cavaliers women's basketball team represented the University of Virginia during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Cavaliers were led by second-year head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, and played their home games at John Paul Jones Arena as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The 2024–25 Virginia Cavaliers women's basketball team will represent the University of Virginia during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Cavaliers will be led by third-year head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton, and will play their home games at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
