Missouri State (16-14, 12-6 Missouri Valley Conference) will make its third consecutive postseason appearance and 21st overall in 35 Division I seasons when it visits Iowa (17-13, 8-8 Big Ten) on Thursday at 7 p.m. for a first round WNIT matchup.
   The Lady Bears earned the automatic bid from the MVC as the highest-finishing league school not to receive an NCAA Tournament invite.
   Missouri State is 10-5 all-time in in six trips to the WNIT, but Thursday's game will be only the second played away from Springfield, the first coming in a 2012 loss at eventual champion Oklahoma State. The Lady Bears and Hawkeyes have played once in WNIT, an 89-80 MSU win in the 2005 semifinals at Hammons Student Center.
   Iowa is making its 10th consecutive trip to the postseason, and Thursday's winner advances to play the South Dakota/North Dakota winner, with date and location to be determined.
   MSU's
Kellie Harper is making her 10th postseason appearance in 13 seasons as a head coach, and has directed her teams to a collective 28-18 record in NCAA, WNIT and conference tournaments.
Series History
Missouri State and Iowa have split eight previous meetings, with the Hawkeyes owning a 3-1 advantage in Iowa City. The teams have played once in the WNIT, an 89-80 MSU win in the 2005 semifinals in Springfield.Â
   The series also boasts one of the top moments in Lady Bear history, when Secelia Winkfield's shot with 1.5 seconds left propelled MSU to a 61-60 overtime win in the second round of the 1992 NCAA Tournament at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Missouri State advanced its first Final Four that season.
Scouting Iowa
Iowa is 17-13 overall and finished tied for eighth in the Big Ten with an 8-8 league mark. Megan Gustafson leads a trio of all-conference players with 18.3 points and 9.9 rebounds per game as she nears the school's single-season rebounding record, while Ally Disheroft (16.6 ppg) and Kathleen Doyle (8.9 ppg, 4.2 apg) also earned postseason conference honors. Disheroft is also the CoSIDA Academic All-America of the Year. As a team, the Hawkeyes average 75.6 points and allow 68.5 while shooting 46.7 percent overall, 31.3 percent from beyond the arc and 73.4 percent from the foul line.Â
WNIT History
The Lady Bears are making their seventh WNIT appearance, and own a 10-5 record in the event, with 14 of those games taking place in Springfield. MSU dropped an overtime decision to Eastern Kentucky in the opening round of the 2002 meet, then swept the WNIT field with five straight victories in 2005 to claim their first national tournament title.Â
   In 2010, the Lady Bears knocked off Oral Roberts and Samford before falling to Illinois in the third round at JQH Arena, and defeated Rice before losing to Arkansas in the second round in 2011. In 2012, MSU defeated UMKC and Memphis at JQH Arena before losing at eventual champion Oklahoma State in the third round. Missouri State lost to Tulsa in the 2015 first round in their last appearance.
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