DALLAS – Missouri State women's basketball forward Faith Lee was named to the Conference USA Women's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team, and the Lady Bears were picked to finish fourth in their first season in CUSA, the league announced today (Oct. 9).
 
The annual survey of the league's head coaches selected 11 preseason all-conference team members, with Louisiana Tech's Paris Bradley named Preseason Player of the Year.
 
Lee is in her first year as a Lady Bear after transferring from Little Rock. Last season for the Trojans, Lee appeared in 29 games, averaging a team-high 14.2 points per game and tallying 43 assists and 31 steals. She was named to the All-OVC first team last season and has played against the Lady Bears three times in her career. In those games, she averaged 19.7 points and was Little Rock's leading scorer.
 
As a team, Missouri State was picked to finish fourth in the league in the Lady Bears' first run through CUSA with 107 points.
 
Louisiana Tech was narrowly selected as the preseason favorite with five first-place votes (128 points), followed closely by Liberty with five first-place votes (125 points) and Middle Tennessee with two first-place votes (123 points). MoState was slotted in at number four, ahead of Western Kentucky (96 points) and FIU (74 points) to round out the top half of the poll. The remainder of the poll features Sam Houston in seventh, UTEP and Kennesaw State tied for eighth, New Mexico State in 10^th, Delaware in 11^th and Jacksonville State in 12^th.
 
Head coach Beth Cunningham enters her fourth season at the helm of the Lady Bears program after leading Missouri State to a 26-9 record and a share of the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title with a 16-4 league record last season. MoState secured its eighth consecutive 20-win season and 10^th straight postseason appearance with a bid to the WBIT, where the Lady Bears advanced to the second round before falling to eventual champion Minnesota.
 
Missouri State returns seven players from last season's squad while adding a group of seven newcomers that consists of four transfers and three freshmen.
 
The Lady Bears host an exhibition on Tuesday, Oct. 28 against Northeastern State, before opening the regular season at home against Saint Louis on Monday, Nov. 3 at Great Southern Bank Arena.
 
Season tickets are on sale now by calling (417) 836-7678 or visiting MissouriStateBears.com.
 
 
CUSA Preseason Poll

1. Louisiana Tech (5)        128 points
2. Liberty (5)                     125 points
3. Middle Tennessee (2)    123 points
4. Missouri State             107 points
5. Western Kentucky         96 points
6. FIU                               74 points
7. Sam Houston                59 points
T-8 UTEP                           57 points
T-8 Kennesaw State    57 points
10. New Mexico State         51 points
11. Delaware                      36 points
12. Jacksonville State         23 points

 
Preseason All-Conference Team
Parris Atkins, FIU
Mya Barnes, Jacksonville State
Keyarah Berry, Kennesaw State
Avery Mills, Liberty
Emmy Stout, Liberty
Paris Bradley, Louisiana Tech*
Jordan Marshall, Louisiana Tech
Alyana Contreras, Middle Tennessee
Faith Lee, Missouri State
Deborah Ogayemi, Sam Houston
Ivane Tensaie, UTEP
*Preseason Player of the Year