Awaiting test results on her foot, Missouri State women’s basketball star Lacy Stokes sat in fear, wondering if her basketball career was about to end.
The 5-foot-4 point guard can be described as “fearless” on the court. She drives to the basket, makes tough layups and plays with a defensive tenacity that’s made her the heart of the team that sits atop the Missouri Valley Conference standings.
But this had her “terrified.” For all the winning Stokes has done in southwest Missouri — whether it was as a Lady Bear, at Mount Vernon High or Missouri Southern — it wouldn’t have been fair if that’s how her career ended.
“I don’t think my senior year had hit me yet until that moment,” Stokes said. “It makes you realize how grateful you should be for each second you get to play this game.”
Thankfully, Stokes is OK. Two days later, she was in the starting lineup and hasn’t missed a game since. She said, excitingly, that her foot feels good, and she’ll be the one to lead the Lady Bears’ championship push.
“Every moment matters, not that it didn’t before,” Stokes said. “But you get one of those life-changing moments where you take a step back and realize that not every day, practice or game is promised. I’ve really tried to enjoy what I have left.”
At Missouri State’s “Mount Vernon Day,” in front of many friends and family, Stokes led the team with 22 points while grabbing four rebounds and stealing the ball five times in a 79-63 win over Valparaiso. The win put the Lady Bears one game above the two teams that are tied for second in the Valley standings.
Missouri State will now have a five-game stretch of playing the teams directly below it, starting with a four-game road trip. The Lady Bears play at Northern Iowa and Drake on Thursday and Saturday before going to Murray State and Belmont the following week. The Lady Bears return home on March 6 to play Illinois State, the lone team of the five to beat them so far.
Without Stokes, the odds of the Lady Bears winning the regular-season title would have been slim. Instead, they get their best player, who brings composure to the team seemingly every second she’s on the court. If Stokes is on the floor, the Lady Bears always know they have a chance.
“She just seems so much more relaxed,” Lady Bears coach Beth Cunningham said. “‘Relaxed’ is such an odd word because Lacy is never relaxed. But she’s trusting her work, trusting her preparation and trusting everything she can do. Then she and the rest of the girls go out and play the game and have fun and then let the end results take care of themselves and see what happens.”
A regular-season championship would be the program’s first since 2020-21, the program’s second year under former coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton when the Lady Bears went undefeated in league play. They’ve had chances during the first two Cunningham seasons but have never been in control of their destiny late in the year in the way they are now.
But Stokes isn’t looking ahead to the possibility of cutting down nets or celebrating under the confetti with her teammates. She’s looking at the next game, echoing her coach as she often does, trying not to put any additional pressure on a five-game stretch rather than focusing on Thursday night’s game at Northern Iowa.
Thankfully, she’ll be the one leading the Lady Bears throughout it all.
“She’s the head of the snake, and she’s got a great group around her,” Cunningham said. “I don’t know if I’ve been around a more mature, hungry group. I’m excited.”
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri State women’s basketball ready for MVC title run with Stokes
