Starting Five - Storylines for the Oregon State Game
1) Missouri State is off to a 4-0 start for the first time since 1997 after victories against No. 23 Minnesota, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Boise State and Oklahoma, and hits the road again for Sunday's Preseason WNIT final at No. 7 Oregon State. This is MSU's fifth Preseason WNIT appearance, and the Lady Bears own an 8-4 record in the event, including 3-0 on the road. Missouri State is looking to become the third school (Kansas State, Ohio State) to win both the Preseason and Postseason WNITs (2005).
2) Missouri State brings a school-record 13-game road win streak to Oregon State, the longest active streak in NCAA Division I. The Lady Bears last lost a true road game on Dec. 9, 2018 at Indiana, and since then are 19-1 away from home including neutral-site contests. After running the table in Valley road games last year, MSU has picked up wins at No. 13 Iowa State, 23rd-ranked Minnesota, Boise State and Oklahoma.
3) Head Coach
Amaka Agugua-Hamilton became the third MSU coach to win her first game on the sideline, joining Reba Sims (1969) and Cheryl Burnett (1987), and is the first coach on record to win her first four games. Coach Mox was named MSU's eighth head women's basketball coach in April.
4) Missouri State's last eight games have included five top-25 teams and another that was receiving votes in both major polls. The lone loss during that stretch was to No. 6 Stanford in the 2019 Sweet 16.
5) The Lady Bears return 12 players from last season's roster with one newcomer, freshman
Trinity Knapp. MSU is now 28-3 in its last 31 games, and returns at least 73 percent of its production in every statistical category.
Series History
Missouri State is 1-1 against Oregon State, as the teams split a home-and-home series in 2002 and 2003 with each winning on the other's home floor. The most recent meeting was a 71-69 Lady Bears victory in Corvallis on Dec. 6, 2003.
Scouting Oregon State
Oregon State is 3-0 on the year and ranked sixth in the coaches poll and seventh in the AP standings. The Beavers return four starters from last season's 26-8 club that advanced to the Sweet 16, have four players on the roster standing 6-foot-6 or taller, and four starters averaging at least 15 points per game this season. Through three games, OSU averages 84.3 points and allows 63.7, shooting 54.8 percent overall, 43.3 percent from 3-point range and 63.5 percent at the foul line with a plus-14.0 rebound margin.
MSU Versus the Top 25
Missouri State has had relatively good success all-time against ranked opponents, going 23-50 versus AP top-25 foes with an 8-24 mark in true road games. MSU has won its last two road games against ranked teams, at No. 13 Iowa State in last season's NCAA Second Round, and at No. 23 Minnesota in the 2019 season opener.
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