Starting Five - Storylines for the Santa Clara Game
1) Missouri State (4-1) entered the national rankings at No. 22 in the USA Today Coaches Poll this week, and returns home after traveling nearly 8,500 miles over the season's first two weeks to host Santa Clara (3-1) at 6 p.m. Friday at JQH Arena. The Lady Bears have now been ranked 110 weeks in program history (57 Coaches, 53 AP).
2) The Lady Bears rank highly in several national categories through Nov. 19, sitting fifth in 3-point percentage at .446 and eighth in free throw accuracy at 82 percent. Additionally, senior
Alexa Willard ranks second nationally with 44 made field goals and fourth with 106 total points.
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 nine games have included six top-25 teams and another that was receiving votes in both major polls. The Lady Bears navigated that stretch with a 7-2 record, falling only to No. 6 Stanford in the 2019 Sweet 16 and at seventh-ranked Oregon State in Sunday's Preseason WNIT championship.
5) The Lady Bears return 12 players from last season's roster with one newcomer, freshman
Trinity Knapp. MSU is now 28-4 in its last 32 games, and returns at least 73 percent of its production in every statistical category.
Series History
MSU lost the only meeting in the series, 77-73 at Santa Clara on Nov. 24 of last season. The Lady Bears are 5-4 against current West Coast Conference membership and 11-5 versus schools from California.
Scouting Santa Clara
Santa Clara is 3-1 overall with its only loss a 65-52 setback at an Arizona club that is ranked 27th or higher in both major polls. All five Bronco starters average at least 9.3 points per game, with no one scoring more than 11.8 points in a balanced attack. SCU is picked to finish fifth in the West Coast Conference, averages 78 points per game against 64.5 points allowed, shooting 46.3 percent overall, 28 percent on 3-pointers and 78.8 percent at the foul line with a plus-3.8 rebound margin.
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