# 2021–22 Missouri State Lady Bears basketball team

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.
They finished the season 25–8 and 14–4 in conference play to finish in second place. As the second seed in the Missouri Valley tournament, they defeated Drake in the quarterfinals before losing to Northern Iowa in the semifinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and were one of the eleven seeds in the Spokane Regional. They defeated fellow eleven seed Florida State in the First Four before falling to the sixth seed Ohio State in the first round.

## Previous season

The Lady Bears finished the season 23–3 and 16–0 in conference play to finish as Missouri Valley Conference champions. As the first seed in the Missouri Valley tournament, they defeated Southern Illinois in the quarterfinals before having to forfeit their semifinal game. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and were the fifth seed in the Alamo Regional. They defeated twelve seed UC Davis and thirteen seed Wright State before falling to the first seed Stanford in the Sweet Sixteen.

## Schedule

Source:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 1, 2021* 6:00 p.m. | | Missouri Baptist | W 107–33 | – | JQH Arena (1,447) Springfield, MO |
| November 5, 2021* 6:00 p.m. | | Lincoln | W 100–44 | – | JQH Arena (1,524) Springfield, MO |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 9, 2021* 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Little Rock | W 76–62 | 1–0 | Jack Stephens Center (1,743) Little Rock, AR |
| November 14, 2021* 1:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | North Texas | W 56–50 | 2–0 | JQH Arena (2,575) Springfield, MO |
| November 17, 2021* 6:30 p.m. | | at Oklahoma State | L 40–44 | 2–1 | Gallagher-Iba Arena (1,577) Stillwater, OK |
| November 20, 2021* 4:00 p.m. | | at USC | W 67–41 | 3–1 | Galen Center (372) Los Angeles, CA |
| November 26, 2021* 9:00 a.m., FloHoops | | vs. No. 24 Virginia Tech San Juan Shootout | W 76–68 | 4–1 | Roberto Clemente Coliseum (200) San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| November 27, 2021* 11:15 a.m., FloHoops | | vs. LSU San Juan Shootout | L 58–66 | 4–2 | Roberto Clemente Coliseum (200) San Juan, Puerto Rico |
| December 3, 2021* 7:00 p.m. | | William Jewell | W 81–26 | 5–2 | JQH Arena (1,803) Springfield, MO |
| December 6, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at South Dakota State | W 55–52 | 6–2 | Frost Arena (1,149) Brookings, SD |
| December 10, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Missouri | W 79–51 | 7–2 | JQH Arena (5,288) Springfield, MO |
| December 18, 2021* 2:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Southern | W 72–43 | 8–2 | JQH Arena (2,047) Springfield, MO |
| December 21, 2021* 11:00 a.m., ESPN+ | | Toledo | W 60–46 | 9–2 | JQH Arena (2,139) Springfield, MO |
| Missouri Valley Conference Season ||||||
| December 31, 2021 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Loyola Chicago | W 55–38 | 10–2 (1–0) | JQH Arena (1,877) Springfield, MO |
| January 2, 2022 1:00 p.m., ESPN3 | | Valparaiso | W 74–62 | 11–2 (2–0) | JQH Arena (1,534) Springfield, MO |
| January 13, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Northern Iowa | L 65–74 | 11–3 (2–1) | McLeod Center (739) Cedar Falls, IA |
| January 15, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Drake | W 69–53 | 12–3 (3–1) | Knapp Center (1,903) Des Moines, IA |
| January 20, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Bradley | W 66–46 | 13–3 (4–1) | JQH Arena (1,662) Springfield, MO |
| January 22, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Illinois State | L 51–52 | 13–4 (4–2) | JQH Arena (2,036) Springfield, MO |
| January 27, 2022 6:00 p.m. | | at Evansville | W 82–35 | 14–4 (5–2) | Meeks Family Fieldhouse (325) Evansville, IN |
| January 29, 2022 Noon, ESPN+ | | at Indiana State | W 62–58 | 15–4 (6–2) | Hulman Center (1,139) Terre Haute, IN |
| February 4, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Southern Illinois | L 49–65 | 15–5 (6–3) | SIU Arena (332) Carbondale, IL |
| February 6, 2022 5:00 p.m. | | Southern Illinois | W 53–52 | 16–5 (7–3) | JQH Arena (1,802) Springfield, MO |
| February 11, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Drake | W 63–59 | 17–5 (8–3) | JQH Arena (2,156) Springfield, MO |
| February 13, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Northern Iowa | W 66–57 | 18–5 (9–3) | JQH Arena (1,870) Springfield, MO |
| February 18, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Illinois State | W 75–69 | 19–5 (10–3) | Redbird Arena (735) Normal, IL |
| February 20, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Bradley | W 72–56 | 20–5 (11–3) | Renaissance Coliseum (328) Peoria, IL |
| February 24, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Evansville | W 99–57 | 21–5 (12–3) | JQH Arena (1,672) Springfield, MO |
| February 26, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Indiana State | W 72–65 | 22–5 (13–3) | JQH Arena (3,551) Springfield, MO |
| March 3, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Valparaiso | W 66–46 | 23–5 (14–3) | Athletics–Recreation Center (278) Valparaiso, IN |
| March 5, 2022 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Loyola Chicago | L 42–60 | 23–6 (14–4) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (301) Chicago, IL |
| Missouri Valley tournament ||||||
| March 11, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (2) | vs. (7) Drake Quarterfinals | W 63–49 | 24–6 | TaxSlayer Center (0) Moline, IL |
| March 12, 2022 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (2) | vs. (3) Northern Iowa Semifinals | L 57–63 | 24–7 | TaxSlayer Center (1,456) Moline, IL |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 17, 2022 8:00 p.m., ESPN2 | (11 S) | vs. (11 S) Florida State First Four | W 61–50 | 25–7 | Maravich Center (366) Baton Rouge, LA |
| March 19, 2022 1:30 p.m., ESPNU | (11 S) | vs. (6 S) No. 14 Ohio State First Round | L 56–63 | 25–8 | Maravich Center Baton Rouge, LA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=Spokane. All times are in Central Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Final |
| AP | RV | — | RV | — | RV | — | — | RV | RV | — | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Coaches | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | Not ranked previous week |
| (RV) | Received Votes |
| (NR) | Not Ranked and Did not receive votes |
The Coaches Poll did not release a Week 2 poll and the AP Poll did not release a poll after the NCAA Tournament.