Former Mount Vernon star Lacy Stokes to transfer to Missouri State
Former Mount Vernon star Lacy Stokes announced on her Instagram that she is transferring to Missouri State.
The former Lady Mountaineer spent her last two seasons as a standout guard at Missouri Southern where she was a two-time All-American honorable mention selection averaging 18.4 points per game.
Stokes was a four-year starter at Mount Vernon where she scored 2,132 points over her career. As a senior, she scored 825 total points and holds the top two scoring seasons in the school's history. She ended her career as an all-state selection and as the Big 8 East's player of the year while leading Mount Vernon to a state runner-up finish in 2021.
As a freshman at the Joplin-based Division II program, the 5-foot-4 guard averaged 19.7 points, 5.6 assists and 3.3 steals per game. She broke 18 freshmen records at the school and is the only player in Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association history to be named both the league's freshman and player of the year.
Stokes followed in her sophomore year by averaging 17.3 points, 5.2 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 2.4 steals. She was a 26.1% shooter from 3 over her two seasons at Missouri Southern.
Stokes' addition to the Lady Bears' roster gives them six total newcomers for this upcoming season with five being incoming freshmen. Inexperienced at the Division I level, seven of the Lady Bears' 12 players on the roster have minimal to no experience at the highest level of women's college basketball.
Heading into Beth Cunningham's second season, the Lady Bears are still expected to pursue veteran guards to fill the voids left by Aniya Thomas and Sydney Wilson while also having a need for depth at the post.
Stokes gives the Lady Bears a fourth player from southwest Missouri on the roster. She joins Kickapoo's Indya Green, Ash Grove's Khloe Moad and Republic's Kaemyn Bekemeier.
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.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Former Missouri Southern star Lacy Stokes moving to Missouri State
