Starting Five - Storylines for the Boise State Game
1) Missouri State is off to a 2-0 start after victories against No. 23 Minnesota and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and hits the road for a high-profile matchup at Boise State at 3 p.m. Sunday in the second round of the Preseason WNIT. This is MSU's fifth Preseason WNIT appearance (1994, 1998, 2002, 2010 and 2019), and the Lady Bears own a 6-4 record in the event. Nine of those game have been at home, with a 2010 victory at Toledo representing the lone road contest.
2) Missouri State brings a school-record 11-game road win streak to Boise State. The Lady Bears last lost a true road game on Dec. 9, 2018 at Indiana, and since then are 17-1 away from home including neutral-site contests.
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). Coach Mox was named MSU's eighth head women's basketball coach in April.
4) Friday's game with Texas A&M-Corpus Christi ended a stretch of five consecutive games against top-25 competition for Missouri State. The Lady Bears defeated four of those ranked teams, and now face a Boise State club that is receiving votes in both major polls.
5) The Lady Bears return 12 players from last season's roster with one newcomer, freshman
Trinity Knapp. MSU closed last year with 24 wins in 27 games, and returns at least 73 percent of its production in every statistical category.
Preseason WNIT Format
Missouri State remains in the winner's bracket of the WNIT, and the winner of the MSU/Boise State game advances to play the Oklahoma/UAB winner in the semifinal round. All games are hosted by participating schools at their home facility, determined on a round-by-round basis, and the event features a three-game guarantee format.
   The four second-round losers will pair off for a third and final game at separate campus sites. The teams may be re-shuffled from their original sides of the bracket. Only the two finalists will play four games in the tournament.
Series History
Missouri State has not played Boise State in women's basketball. The Lady Bears are 3-2 against current Mountain West Conference members, but have not faced a school from that league since a second round NCAA Tournament loss at seventh-ranked Colorado State in 1999.
Scouting Boise State
Boise State is 2-0 after defeating Lewis-Clark State and Portland State at home to open the year. The Broncos are receiving votes in both major polls, and went 28-5 last season with a Mountain West Conference regular season title and NCAA Tournament first round loss at Oregon State in overtime. BSU is a near unanimous favorite to repeat as MWC champs, and feature league preseason player of the year Braydey Hodgins and newcomer of the year Mallory McGwire.
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