In her final home game, Sydney Wilson showed the heart she's given the MSU Lady Bears

Saturday was going to be a long day for Sydney Wilson.

The kind-hearted, versatile player that had given everything to the Missouri State women's basketball program over her five-year career was playing in her final home game in front of the Lady Bears' faithful.

Over her incredibly successful five-year career, Wilson had seen friends, teammates and coaches come and go but she's always helped lead the Lady Bears at a high level. Even when her best friend transferred to play for another program at the end of her senior year, Wilson never questioned where she wanted to play in her final year of eligibility.

After all, in Wilson's words, Missouri State "is home."

"It meant everything," Wilson said, wiping away tears following a 77-66 senior day win over Indiana State. "It meant everything."

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Wilson scored 11 points and played just about every position on the floor, as she's done throughout her Missouri State career, in her final game at Great Southern Bank Arena.

Over Wilson's career, the Lady Bears have made three NCAA Tournaments which included a pair of Sweet 16 appearances. The only year in which the Lady Bears didn't make it was because it was canceled by the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

During that span, Wilson took in countless memorable wins while becoming the second-winningest player in the program's proud history. She did so with her best friends and with three different head coaches who have helped maintain the excellence of Lady Bears basketball.

"Just doing it all with my best friends, honestly," Wilson said of what she'll remember of her career. "Just making memories with my best friends."

The emotional day began with a surprise in the minutes before the game when her brother arrived to celebrate the day. As she walked out to an ovation from the Lady Bears' crowd, she hugged her teary-eyed teammates before receiving one from first-year head coach Beth Cunningham at the end of the line.

On the video board played clips of her teammates looking into the camera and saying how much she meant to them. The video also featured a cameo from Jasmine Franklin, a former Lady Bears standout who transferred to Tennessee after four years as Wilson's teammate, which brought Wilson to tears.

"I kind of lost it," Wilson laughed. "That's my best friend and that was super cool."

Franklin might have transferred away but Wilson never wavered. A soft-spoken player who led by example during her first four years was now the team's veteran who felt the need to guide a younger roster heading into a new regime.

Wilson was the one who talked to her teammates and then sit down with Cunningham to talk about the direction of the program. She was on board for her new coach as she was for Kellie Harper and Amaka Agugua-Hamilton.

"Syd has meant everything to this program for five years," Cunningham said. "She's put her heart and soul in everything that we've done this year and you know how much she's impacted them the previous four years. She's just poured her heart and soul into this program. She loves the community and the fans and they obviously love her and what she has done. She's a class act in everything she's done and I'm just really proud of her and what she's been able to do."

Wilson's career isn't done quite yet as she'll play a pair of road games before the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. The Lady Bears are still in the mix for a conference title and will have a shot at winning the conference tournament in Moline.

There's no doubt that Wilson will leave it all out on the floor in every second she plays for the remainder of her Lady Bears career. It's what she's done every second she's worn the uniform.

"This community is something different," Wilson said. "We have the best fanbase, in my opinion, with the best arena, best coaches, best teammates and best coaches. Just having all that just makes it special and I can't believe my time's almost up."

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: Sydney Wilson reflects on Missouri State Lady Bears career