Editor, GoDucks.com
The spring of 2001 was a heady time for Southwest Missouri State women’s basketball.
Legendary Bears guard Jackie Stiles was on her way to becoming the first Division I women’s basketball player to reach 1,000 points in a season. Behind Stiles’ elite scoring, the school now known as Missouri State reached the Final Four of the 2001 NCAA Tournament.
That postseason run by the Bears remains memorable all these years later, and for more than Stiles’ prolific scoring. More than a decade later, the 2001 Southwest Missouri State team remained the last from a mid-major conference to reach the Final Four.