Starting Five - Storylines for the Kansas City Game
1) After navigating one of the nation's toughest November schedules with a 6-1 record, the 19th-ranked Missouri State Lady Bears will play four of their five December games at JQH Arena, beginning with a 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 1 contest with Kansas City. The Lady Bears rank in the top 10 in several RPI models (the NCAA's first ranking has not been released), and moved to No. 1 in ESPNW's Mid-Major poll this week.
2) The Lady Bears have shot 40 percent or better from the field in all seven games this season, the team's longest such streak since 16 consecutive games from Jan. 6-March 5, 2005. Through Nov. 29, the Lady Bears ranked sixth nationally in 3-point percentage at .433 and 29th overall at 46.7 percent. Additionally, senior
Alexa Willard led the nation at 61.5 percent from 3-point range and ranked sixth with 56 made field goals. MSU has also led in paint points in all but one game this season.
3) Head Coach
Amaka Agugua-Hamilton became the third MSU coach to win her first game on the sideline on Nov. 5 at 23rd-ranked Minnesota, and has MSU off to its best seven-game start since 2003. Coach Mox was named MSU's eighth head women's basketball coach in April.
4) Missouri State's last 11 games have included six top-25 teams and two more that were receiving votes in both major polls. The Lady Bears completed that stretch with a 9-2 record, falling only to No. 6 Stanford in the 2019 Sweet 16 and at seventh-ranked Oregon State in the Preseason WNIT championship on Nov. 17.
5) Kansas City head coach Jacie Hoyt will be the first person to play in JQH Arena and later return as a head coach. Hoyt scored two points and dished out five assists for Wichita State on Feb. 21, 2009, a 75-65 MSU win. Additionally, former MSU guard Liza Fruendt returns to The Q as a graduate manager on Hoyt's staff.
Series History
Missouri State is 6-1 all-time and 5-0 at home against Kansas City, winning the last five meetings. The teams have played only once since 1999, an 81-79 Lady Bears win in the first round of the 2012 WNIT at JQH Arena.
Scouting Kansas City
Kansas City is 4-3 overall and has played five home games already. The Roos are picked to finish third in the Western Athletic Conference, with Preseason WAC Player of the Year Ericka Mattingly leading the way. Mattingly averages 17.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game, Kansas City scores 71.9 points per contest and allows 71.6, shooting 42.6 percent overall, 34.2 percent on 3-pointers and 78.8 percent at the foul line.
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