Missouri State University Women's Basketball

Jordan Chavis joined the Missouri State Lady Bears coaching staff in June 2025.  Chavis spent the last three seasons as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Columbia College in Columbia, Mo. During her tenure at Columbia, the Cougars owned an 81-13 record, made three appearances in the NAIA National Tournament, won three American Midwest Conference tournament titles and were two-time AMC regular-season champions. She also previously served as an assistant coach for the AAU squad Kingdom Hoops out of Columbia for three years. The Lexington, N.C., native played college basketball at the University of Missouri from 2016-2020. Chavis played in 130 career games for the Tigers, averaging 4.7 points and 1.8 rebounds per game while owning a .363 three-point field goal percentage for her career. She left Columbia with the fifth-most three-pointers made (149) and the eighth-highest three-point field goal percentage in program history. She also shot .424 from beyond the arc during her senior season, which was the seventh-highest for a single-season in program history at the time. Chavis was a two-time member of the Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll, served on the SEC Leadership Council in 2019 and participated in various community service projects during her career.   Following her collegiate career, Chavis played professional basketball overseas for two seasons. She first joined St. Mary’s Basketball Club in Ireland for the 2020 season, but the season ended before the first game due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, she played the 2021 season with Eintracht Braunschweig Lion Pride out of Germany, where she helped lead the squad to an 18-10 record and to the second round of the playoffs. Coach Cunningham on Chavis: “I am excited to add Jordan to our Lady Bears coaching staff. She brings an important familiarity of women’s basketball in the state of Missouri with her, having played at Mizzou for four years and having coached in the state for the last three years. Jordan was a great scorer during her playing career, which also featured playing two seasons professionally overseas, and she comes to us from a successful program at Columbia College. Her experiences will certainly help in the development of our guards, and we are thrilled to welcome her to Springfield.”

Abby (Hipp) Emmert returned to her alma mater as an assistant coach in the summer of 2024.   Emmert spent the previous two seasons serving as the Director of Scouting and Player Development at the University of Virginia under her former Lady Bears head coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton. She was responsible for coding games and keeping statistical information for the coaches, producing scouting reports of opposing teams and assisting with post player development while at UVA.   She also gained valuable experience at Virginia while serving as co-director of basketball camps, as an FCA liaison and as the team’s community service coordinator.   Emmert, who was a member of the women’s basketball team for five seasons, graduated from Missouri State with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administrative Management in 2021 and a master’s degree in Business Administration in 2022.   On the court, Emmert collected 97 career wins which ranks eighth in program history. Across her career, Emmert scored 720 points, grabbed 439 rebounds and shot .511 from the field in 125 games, and earned All-Missouri Valley Conference honorable mention honors in 2021. During her five-year tenure, the Lady Bears made three NCAA Tournament appearances, including two trips to the Sweet 16. Emmert owned a .515 field goal percentage in NCAA Tournament games which ranks sixth in program history, while her .714 field goal percentage in the 2019 NCAA Tournament ranks fourth in Lady Bears history for a single tournament.   Also a star in the classroom, Emmert was a five-time member of the MVC Academic Honor Roll, a four-time recipient of the MVC Commissioner’s Academic Excellence Award, and was given the MVC President’s Council Academic Excellence Award and earned a MVC Scholar-Athlete honorable mention selection in 2021 among other academic honors.   A native of Kansas City, Mo., Emmert graduated from St. Pius X where she was named Missouri Class 4 Player of the Year as a senior. She also earned all-conference and all-district honors in all four years of her high school career, was a three-time all-state selection and led her team to a state runner-up finish in 2017.   Emmert, and her husband Brandon, who played basketball at Drury University, were married in May 2023. They welcomed their first child, Wade, in November 2024.  

Olivia Applewhite was introduced as a member of the Lady Bears coaching staff in May 2022. Applewhite spent the previous season as an assistant coach for the Atlantic 10 regular season champion, Dayton Flyers. While there, she was responsible for the skill development of post players and scouted opponents.   Prior to her stint at Dayton, Applewhite served in multiple roles at Saint Louis University. She started out as a graduate assistant at SLU, before working her way up to director of basketball operations and then becoming an assistant coach. On the coaching staff, Applewhite assisted with all aspects of recruiting, worked with post players, served as the athletic training and sport performance liaison and scouted opponents.   Applewhite was named to the 2020 WBCA 30 Under 30 Honoree list.   Before beginning her coaching career, Applewhite played at Dayton from 2009-2013 and played three seasons of professional basketball overseas in Denmark, Ireland and France. While at Dayton, she was named the 2012-13 A10 Sixth Woman of the Year and helped lead the Flyers to a NCAA Tournament berth every season she was there.   Applewhite graduated from Dayton with a bachelor's degree in Public Relations and a minor in Marketing in 2013, before graduating with a master's in Student Personnel Administration from SLU in 2018.   Cunningham on Applewhite: "I am excited to put the final piece of the puzzle together in terms of our Lady Bears coaching staff. Olivia Applewhite is a tremendous addition to our program – and a rising star in our profession. I actually recruited Olivia out of high school when I was at VCU, and have always been drawn to the energy and passion she brought to her playing style and now her coaching style. From her experience as a player and a coach at Dayton, she knows what it takes to compete and win in the NCAA tournament. She also knows our recruiting area and has developed great contacts from her time at Saint Louis University. Olivia will be an integral coach on and off the floor for all of our young ladies."

Blake Richter started his full-time role as the Missouri State women’s basketball video coordinator on July 1, 2023. He previously served as a graduate assistant for the Lady Bears during the 2022-23 season. Prior to his arrival in Springfield, Richter was the head student manager for the Kansas State women’s basketball program. His duties at KSU included leading a team of six managers, assisting coaches with individual player workouts and helping with scouting reports and implementing plays with the scout team. He has also worked as a ShotTracker specialist and as a director and camp coach for summer youth camps. Richter earned his bachelor’s degree in Educational Studies with a minor in Business from Kansas State in 2022, and he is currently working towards his master’s degree in Professional Studies at MSU.