The Missouri State Lady Bears tip off their 48th season of varsity competition on the road Friday with a 7 p.m. game at Memphis before heading to Lawrence, Kan., for a Sunday matinee with the Kansas Jayhawks. Missouri State is coming off a 24-10 season that ended in the school's 14th NCAA Tournament appearance, and is picked to finish third in the Missouri Valley Conference this year.
   The Lady Bears won their two exhibition contests at JQH Arena by an average score of 79.5-54, and will spend plenty of time on the road in November, with visits to Northwestern (Nov. 16) and the Great Alaska Shootout (Nov. 22-23) following the opening road trip before the home opener against Little Rock on Nov. 28.
Series Histories
Missouri State is 1-2 against Memphis, with two meetings in the last five seasons and another in 1980. The Lady Bears defeated the Tigers by an 82-65 final in the first round of the 2012 WNIT at JQH Arena, and Memphis grabbed a 79-63 victory in the 2014-15 season opener in Memphis.
 Kansas owns a 9-5 series lead, though the teams have not played in nearly a quarter century. The Jayhawks won the two most recent meetings, both occuring in December 1992, just nine months after the Lady Bears defeated KU in the first round of the 1992 NCAA Tournament in Springfield.
Scouting Memphis
Memphis is predicted to finish seventh in the American Athletic Conference this season after going 18-13 overall last year and finished fourth in the AAC on the way to a WNIT appearance. The Tigers lost their lone exhibition contest, 52-44 to Lee University. Cheyenne Creighton is the Memphis' top returning scorer at 6.6 points per game on .592 shooting. Ninth-year head coach Melissa McFerrin is a native of Cassville, Mo.
Scouting Kansas
MSU serves as the season opener for Kansas after the Jayhawks picked up exhibition wins against Fort Hays State and Washburn. KU is picked to finish 10th in the Big 12 after going 6-25 last season, and sophomore guard Kylee Kopatich is the Jayhawks' leading returning scorer at 9.5 points per game. Kansas also replenished its roster with graduate transfers Lisa Blair and Sydney Umeri from Ohio State and Virginia, respectively.
Scouting the Lady Bears
Missouri State has a new look in 2016-17, but still boasts plenty of talent on a seasoned roster with championship experience. Junior guard
Liza Fruendt is MSU's leading returning scorer after averaging 11.0 points and knocking down 59 3-pointers last season, and senior
Lexi Hughes has made 120 treys in her career and led the Missouri Valley Conference in 3-point accuracy in 2014. MSU's four returning post players have combined for 285 career games and 72 starts entering the year, while the team's lone sophomore,
Danielle Gitzen, made 19 starts as a true freshman. Missouri State also features a talented freshman class that includes
Brice Calip,
Shameka Ealy,
Emily Gartner and
Alexa Willard.
Exhibition Recap
Missouri State picked up a pair of exhibitions wins, defeating Truman State by a 72-62 score and Northeastern State by an 87-46 margin at JQH Arena. The Lady Bears shot 51.3 percent from long range in the two games, led by
Lee Ann Polowy's 8-for-10 performance, and owned a 49-24 average rebounding margin. Polowy averaged 13 points per game, and junior
Liza Fruendt led MSU in scoring with a 15.5 average. Â Seven different players scored at least 5.5 points per game, and
Rachel Swartz averaged a team-high 9.5 rebounds.
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