# 1991–92 Southwest Missouri State Lady Bears basketball team

The 1991–92 Southwest Missouri State Lady Bears basketball team represented Southwest Missouri State University during the 1991–92 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Lady Bears, led by fifth-year head coach Cheryl Burnett, played their home games at Hammons Student Center and were members of the Gateway Collegiate Athletic Conference.
They finished the season 31–3 and 17–1 in conference play to win the regular season title. As the top seed in the conference tournament, they defeated Bradley in the semifinals of Southern Illinois in the championship game. They received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and, despite being the No. 10 ranked team in the country, were assigned the No. 8 seed in the Midwest region. They defeated No. 9 seed Kansas, No. 1 seed Iowa, No. 5 seed UCLA, and No. 2 seed Ole Miss to reach the first Final Four in program history. The Lady Bears were defeated by Western Kentucky in the National semifinals.
As part of their 21-game winning streak (part of 31 wins in a 32-game span), Southwest Missouri State spent the final thirteen weeks of the season ranked in both major polls. The team was ranked in the top 10 for the final month, and had a final ranking in the Coach's poll of No. 4.

## Schedule

Source:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 11, 1991* | | German National | W 78–68 | – | Hammons Student Center Springfield, Missouri |
| November 15, 1991* | | Athletes in Action | L 75–82 | – | Hammons Student Center Springfield, Missouri |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 23, 1991* | | at No. 12 Texas | L 64–76 | 0–1 | Frank Erwin Center Austin, Texas |
| November 29, 1991* | | Idaho State St. John’s/Quality Inn Classic | W 92–45 | 1–1 | Hammons Student Center Springfield, Missouri |
| November 30, 1991* | | Texas A&M St. John’s/Quality Inn Classic | W 83–78 | 2–1 | Hammons Student Center Springfield, Missouri |
| December 3, 1991* | | Iowa State | W 77–43 | 3–1 | Hammons Student Center Springfield, Missouri |
| December 11, 1991* | | at Kansas State | W 66–49 | 4–1 | Bramlage Coliseum Manhattan, Kansas |
| December 13, 1991* | | Idaho | W 97–46 | 5–1 | Hammons Student Center Springfield, Missouri |
| December 20, 1991* | No. 25 | at UNLV UNLV Showboat Shootout | W 80–77 | 6–1 | Thomas & Mack Center Las Vegas, Nevada |
| December 21, 1991* | No. 25 | vs. Pepperdine UNLV Showboat Shootout | W 75–58 | 7–1 | Thomas & Mack Center Las Vegas, Nevada |
| December 30, 1991* | No. 24 | at No. 25 Arkansas | W 67–52 | 8–1 | Barnhill Arena Fayetteville, Arkansas |
| Conference regular season ||||||
| January 2, 1992 | No. 24 | Eastern Illinois | W 80–32 | 9–1 (1–0) | Hammons Student Center Springfield, Missouri |
| January 4, 1992 | No. 24 | Southern Illinois | W 90–63 | 10–1 (2–0) | Hammons Student Center (9,108) Springfield, Missouri |
| January 9, 1992 | No. 20 | at Illinois State | L 73–79 | 10–2 (2–1) | Redbird Arena Normal, Illinois |
| January 11, 1992 | No. 20 | at Indiana State | W 77–53 | 11–2 (3–1) | Hulman Center Terre Haute, Indiana |
| January 15, 1992 | No. 23 | Bradley | W 65–33 | 12–2 (4–1) | Hammons Student Center Springfield, Missouri |
| January 18, 1992 | No. 23 | Western Illinois | W 97–74 | 13–2 (5–1) | Hammons Student Center Springfield, Missouri |
| January 25, 1992 | No. 19 | Wichita State | W 98–64 | 14–2 (6–1) | Hammons Student Center Springfield, Missouri |
| January 30, 1992 | No. 18 | at Drake | W 64–60 | 15–2 (7–1) | Veterans Memorial Auditorium Des Moines, Iowa |
| February 1, 1992 | No. 18 | at Northern Iowa | W 89–44 | 16–2 (8–1) | UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, Iowa |
| February 6, 1992 | No. 16 | Indiana State | W 91–57 | 17–2 (9–1) | Hammons Student Center Springfield, Missouri |
| February 8, 1992 | No. 16 | Illinois State | W 67–47 | 18–2 (10–1) | Hammons Student Center Springfield, Missouri |
| February 13, 1992 | No. 12 | at Western Illinois | W 109–45 | 19–2 (11–1) | Western Hall Macomb, Illinois |
| February 15, 1992 | No. 12 | at Bradley | W 92–63 | 20–2 (12–1) | Robertson Memorial Field House Peoria, Illinois |
| February 22, 1992 | No. 12 | Wichita State | W 84–53 | 21–2 (13–1) | Hammons Student Center Springfield, Missouri |
| February 27, 1992 | No. 10 | Northern Iowa | W 86–45 | 22–2 (14–1) | Hammons Student Center Springfield, Missouri |
| February 29, 1992 | No. 10 | Drake | W 77–60 | 23–2 (15–1) | Hammons Student Center Springfield, Missouri |
| March 5, 1992 | No. 10 | at Southern Illinois | W 73–63 | 24–2 (16–1) | SIU Arena Carbondale, Illinois |
| March 7, 1992 | No. 10 | at Eastern Illinois | W 73–61 | 25–2 (17–1) | Lantz Arena Charleston, Illinois |
| GCAC tournament ||||||
| March 11, 1992* | (1) No. 10 | (4) Bradley Semifinal | W 88–59 | 26–2 | Hammons Student Center Springfield, Missouri |
| March 14, 1992* | (1) No. 10 | (2) Southern Illinois Championship game | W 86–69 | 27–2 | Hammons Student Center Springfield, Missouri |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 18, 1992* | (8 MW) No. 10 | (9 NW) No. 17 Kansas First round | W 75–59 | 28–2 | Hammons Student Center (7,652) Springfield, Missouri |
| Mar 22, 1992* | (8 MW) No. 10 | at (1 MW) No. 7 Iowa Second round | W 61–60 | 29–2 | Carver-Hawkeye Arena (8,693) Iowa City, Iowa |
| Mar 26, 1992* | (8 MW) No. 10 | vs. (5 MW) UCLA Regional Semifinal – Elite Eight | W 83–57 | 30–2 | Coors Events/Conference Center (3,532) Boulder, Colorado |
| Mar 28, 1992* | (8 MW) No. 10 | vs. (2 MW) No. 5 Ole Miss Regional final – Elite Eight | W 94–71 | 31–2 | Coors Events/Conference Center (3,566) Boulder, Colorado |
| April 4, 1992* | (8 MW) No. 10 | vs. (4 ME) No. 15 Western Kentucky National semifinal – Final Four | L 72–84 | 31–3 | Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena (12,421) Los Angeles California |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Central Time. ||||||