Starting Five - Storylines for the USC Game
1) The Missouri State Lady Bears currently own the second-best three-point defense in the nation with a .094 percentage, while also ranking in the top 60 in scoring defense (52.0) and in the top 35 in blocks per game (6.0). MSU will be tested on the perimeter against a USC team that shoots .406 from long range.Â
2)
Jasmine Franklin enters Saturday's contest against the Trojans just 3 points shy of 1,000 career points, as she currently sits at No. 30 on the career scoring list with 997 points in her MSU career. Franklin also leads the way on the defensive end for the Lady Bears with 15.7 rebounds per game which is No. 1 in the nation and 47 total rebounds that ranks 2nd in the country.Â
3) The Lady Bears are 33-5 in their last 38 true road games and 43-8 in the last 51 games away from home. Missouri State just came off of a program record-tying 13-game road win streak which began on March 1, 2020 and ended November, 17, 2021.
4) Sixth-year senior
Brice Calip has won 99 games as a Lady Bear and would reach the century mark with MSU's next victory, which would move her into fourth place in program history. Fifth-year senior
Abby Hipp is also on the list with 95 victories in her career. The record is held by Melody Howard (1991-94) who garnered 104 wins in her career.
5) Missouri State is 75-11 overall since Dec. 20, 2018, ranking seventh nationally in total wins since that date and fourth in win percentage (.872), trailing only Baylor, UConn and FGCU. Five teams ahead of the Lady Bears on the wins list have been ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll over that span.
The Opponent
USC currently has three players (Rayah Marshall, Jordan Sanders and Tera Reed) averaging over 10 ppg, with Marshall and Sanders both eclipsing the 15.0 ppg mark. Marshall also leads the Trojans with an average of 9 rebounds off the bench, while averaging the fourth-most minutes on the team with 22 per game. The Trojans also feature junior Alissa Pili, who was tabbed for the Pac-12 Preseason All-Conference team and has been named to the Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy watch lists.Â
   USC is 2-0 to begin the 2021-22 season, averaging 77.5 ppg and shooting .435 from the field. The Trojans are shooting .406 from behind the arc, while also averaging 17.5 apg and 11.0 spg.
Series History
The Missouri State-USC all-time series record is knotted at one win each. Both previous meetings have occurred at neutral site locations. This will be the first meeting between the two schools since Nov. 22, 2016, which saw the Trojans come away with an 89-67 victory.
   The trip marks the Lady Bears' first trip to Los Angeles since the 1992 Final Four.Â
