5 numbers to know after the Missouri State Lady Bears' win over Saint Louis

Beth Cunningham walked into her postgame news conference drenched. After her first win as the Lady Bears' head coach, her team showered her in the locker room with water bottles in celebration.

"It feels good to win and I thought our kids had a great focus coming back after the Missouri game," Cunningham said after a 71-55 win over Saint Louis. "We worked a ton on our defense and I thought our defense and intensity were pretty good tonight."

A 20-6 start to the basketball game set the tone for the remainder of the night. Saint Louis didn't come closer than eight while it was held to 35.5% shooting from the field.

The Lady Bears had a few standout nights from returners and newcomers as the team begins to come together. They will stay at home for a Thursday 6 p.m. battle with Oklahoma State.

Here are a few numbers to know after the game.

18 - The career-high number of points Isabelle Delarue scored

The development of sophomore guard Isabelle Delarue was a welcomed sign for the Lady Bears as she knocked down 5-of-8 shots from deep en route to a career night with 18 points.

It topped her eight-point night against Mizzou last week while leading a better offensive charge. The team shot 46.6% overall after Cunningham felt like there was a lid on the basket following their season-opening loss.

"I think she was a lot more comfortable," Cunningham said. "She came out and hit two big 3's early and got us going and I think that really settled us down."

Cunningham said that when she first watched clips of the players she was taking over, she noticed that Delarue was a "gunslinger" and someone she wanted to see develop on the defensive end.

"I think she can be great for us," Cunningham said. "With the more experienced she gets with understanding good shots and taking good shots, as long as they're good shots, she has the green light."

100 - The number of wins Sydney Wilson has over her Lady Bears career

Wilson made her return to the Lady Bears' lineup after sitting out the first game due to an undisclosed leg injury. She was limited to 20 minutes, as planned, and will be good to go when MSU plays again Thursday night.

In her return, Wilson won her 100th game and now sits alone in fifth place among the winningest Lady Bears in school history. She had nine points, three assists and two rebounds in her season debut.

"Syd changes everything for us," Cunningham said. "It's just the calm she brings to the team with her leadership. She's directive out there and you can't substitute the experience that she has. Obviously, she's a great defensive player and I think that helped us on the defensive end of the floor in the way she's able to communicate and guard the other team's best player."

15 - The number of rebounds Indya Green had in her second Division I game

Before recruiting Green to Missouri State, Cunningham looked at the former Kickapoo standout's numbers at the high school and junior college level and saw they looked identical. The double-double machine could do it against anybody and she wanted to bring it to the Division I level.

In her second game with the Lady Bears, Green had her first double-double by scoring 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting to go along with 15 boards.

"It was really special being out there with my team and having Sydney back," Green said. "It was a really big and special game."

Wilson promised more double-doubles in Green's future. Cunningham was happy with Green's efforts on the offensive boards with seven of her 15 coming at that end.

"That's something she's capable of consistently doing," Cunningham said. "She really ignited us for some easy points and I think she really settled in. I think that's something that hopefully she can consistently do for us because we're going to need it."

52 - The total number of rebounds the Lady Bears had to double up SLU on the boards

A 52-26 advantage on the boards usually turns into winning basketball. The Lady Bears did that against the Billikens while turning 24 offensive boards into 23 second-chance points.

Green led the way with her 15, but the Lady Bears also got 10 from Kennedy Taylor and seven from Aniya Thomas.

"I think we have a team that can rebound and we did a little bit better of a job at finishing tonight which was a focus this week," Cunningham said. "We had a ton of offensive rebounds against Missouri and we didn't collect ourselves and finish. That was a point of focus for us this week, as well."

27 - The concerning number of turnovers the Lady Bears gave up

While the Lady Bears showered Cunningham with water, they didn't give her an opportunity to talk about the 27 turnovers they had in the game. They allowed SLU to come back within eight at one point and it won't be something that can continue heading into the game against Oklahoma State on Thursday.

The Lady Bears have 42 turnovers over the last two games combined.

"Way, way too many, way too many turnovers," Cunningham said. "I just thought we were sloppy with the ball and we knew they were gonna pressure and we knew they were going to over play. We worked on it in practice but it's hard to simulate. We'll be able to use this as a learning tool, watch film and see where we can improve. But we definitely need to get the assist-to-turnover ratio down."

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 Lady Bears beat Saint Louis in women's basketball