When adversity hit, Missouri State Lady Bears basketball never doubted they'd make the NCAA Tournament
BATON ROUGE, La. — In the early minutes of a late November game, Missouri State forward Abby Hipp was helped to the sideline with her knee in pain.
Brice Calip, coming off a season that earned her the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year award and back for a sixth season, looked at her teammate's pain. Calip told Hipp the Lady Bears would win the game for her and she came through with her best game of the season.
Hipp was ruled out for the season with a torn ACL. Calip, to this day, says she would trade places with her.
It was an emotional month as the team saw its positive leader go down. The Lady Bears still put together key wins over Virginia Tech, South Dakota State and Mizzou until another loss came during a win to conclude non-conference.
More: What to know about Florida State, the Lady Bears' First Four opponent in the NCAA Tournament
Jasmine Franklin, whom head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton thought was on her way to an All-American season, awkwardly fell to the ground while holding her knee. The team's best player was suddenly done for the season.
What was supposed to be a magical season for a group that had made two-straight trips to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament appeared uncertain.
But as Missouri State prepare to take the court on Thursday in its third-straight NCAA Tournament, the Lady Bears said they never doubted they'd make it this far for a second.
"I think that's just part of basketball in general," senior guard Mya Bhinhar said. "I think our team did a really good job at coming together and fighting through that. I think that's another reason why we think we're going to make a run because we had that adversity and we showed that we can regroup every single time and push through. I think a lot of teams haven't had to go through that but I think it makes teams stronger."
More: How to watch, stream, listen to Missouri State Lady Bears vs. Florida State in NCAA Tournament
Eleven seeds Missouri State and Florida State will open the 2022 NCAA Tournament on Thursday. The game is at 8 p.m. at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The winner will remain at LSU to play Ohio State on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
Whenever the season ends, it will mark the final games for both Calip and Bhinhar who have both been leaders for the Lady Bears over a historic stretch of seasons that included a pair of Sweet 16 appearances and MVC regular-season titles. A fourth NCAA Tournament would have happened if one took place in 2020 when the postseason was canceled by the pandemic — MSU was 26-4 that year and finished ranked 19th in the country.
The two have led the team in their own ways and they had to step up more than ever during the adversity their final season brought — including season-ending injuries to standout teammates, COVID-19 protocols complicating them getting into a flow and a few more setbacks on the court than they became accustomed to.
More: NCAA Tournament: Missouri State Lady Bears head to Baton Rouge to play Florida State in First Four
"We just had to weather the storm," Agugua-Hamilton said. "I always told them that no matter who we were playing in our conference that we were the better team and I truly believed that. I was just working on their confidence and just trying to put them in the right direction. Players stepped up and we were able to win games."
Last season, Agugua-Hamilton noticed Calip starting to talk more and how to motivate each individual. She'd walk over to teammates and have conversations with them and catered to the type of motivation each required.
After the adversity of this season struck, Calip used that ability more than ever. With young players and newcomers needing to take on bigger roles, Calip built them up and made sure they felt like they belonged.
"I told them that they make a big difference," Calip said. "I told them 'I know you're not in the media a lot but your presence makes a big difference' and that I love and appreciate them. I think that talk definitely made them understand that they're welcomed here and respected here."
Bhinhar's voice on the court started to get louder as she took on the starting point guard spot but she's taken it to another level this season.
Bhinhar has become a vocal leader on and off the court. Agugua-Hamilton, sitting to the side listening to her players' press conference, laughed about how much she heard herself in her point guard. Oftentimes, Bhinhar can be seen in Agugua-Hamilton's seat during a timeout coaching the team up and telling it what it needs to do.
"I felt like I needed to step up my vocal leadership with the injuries," Bhinhar said. "It's just picking up the little things like with other players having to step up. Even if they miss a layup, I tell them it's OK and to go get that rebound. When we play our best, it's when we don't focus on our mistakes and we just keep playing."
Going into the tournament, the two Lady Bears laughed noting their success as an 11-seed in the past. Although they'd have to win an extra game to make it as far as they have the last two tournaments, the Lady Bears were an 11-seed when they went to the Sweet 16 three years ago.
The Lady Bears never quit and they found a way to get into the tournament when at one point the odds looked to be against them.
They never doubted themselves and they aren't doubting the possibility of another magical postseason run.
"Everyone's fighting to keep playing and to eventually win a national championship," Calip said. "We're just going to keep saying it's March Madness and we're going to take it one game at a time and not really overlook anybody at this point."
NCAA Tournament: How to watch Missouri State vs. Florida State
When: Thursday, March 17
Game time: Approx. 8 p.m. CST
Where: Pete Maravich Assembly Center; Baton Rouge, Louisiana
TV channel: ESPN2
Online live stream: Watch ESPN
Radio broadcast: KWTO-FM 101.3
Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or Twitter at @WyattWheeler_NL. He's also the co-host of Sports Talk on Jock Radio weekdays from 4-6 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri State women's basketball to take on Florida State
