Beth Cunningham is headed into her second season as the head coach of the Missouri State Lady Bears basketball team and she has a promising core and a new batch of recruits on their way in.
Cunningham led MSU to a 20-12 season in 2022-23 which ended in the quarterfinal round of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
Local stars have been added to the roster and a potentially-dominant young frontcourt has been the talk of the offseason. Here's what Cunningham said during Thursday's summer Valley coaches teleconference.
It sounds like Lacy Stokes is going to have a major role for the Lady Bears
After years as a standout at Mount Vernon High and as a Division II All-American at Missouri Southern, Stokes will step onto the biggest stage southwest Missouri women's basketball has to offer as she puts on a Missouri State uniform.