SPRINGFIELD — Missouri State University has selected Amaka Agugua-Hamilton (Uh-mah-kuh Uh-goo-gwa) to be its eighth head women’s basketball coach. Agugua-Hamilton will be formally introduced at a 3 p.m. press conference on Wednesday, April 17, in the Prime Overtime Club inside JQH Arena, and was unanimously approved by the Missouri State University Board of Governors early Wednesday morning after and an extensive national search.

The first African-American female head coach for any sport at Missouri State, Agugua-Hamilton, 36, is an 18-year veteran of Division I women’s basketball, including four seasons as a player at Hofstra and four coaching stops, most recently on the staff Michigan State for the past six seasons, the last four as Associate Head Coach.

“I am excited to welcome Coach Mox to Missouri State University and know she will build on the good work that has gone on before to create an even stronger women’s basketball program at the University,” said Missouri State President Clif Smart. “I commend Kyle Moats and the search committee for their good work.”

During an impressive six-year stint at Michigan State, Coach Mox helped the Spartans to four seasons with at least 21 wins, four NCAA Tournaments, one WNIT bid, and the 2014 Big Ten regular season title. She was integral in signing four consecutive top-35 recruiting classes, most recently the seventh-ranked group in the nation, and recruited and coached 26 all-conference players and a pair of top-10 WNBA draft choices. She also earned four victories as interim head coach in 2017, and aided the Spartans to an overall 125-72 record and 58-44 Big Ten mark in six years.

“Coach Mox has everything we were looking for in a coach,” said Kyle Moats, MSU’s director of athletics. “She is a player’s coach, detailed-oriented, disciplined, high integrity, community-oriented, and is completely invested in the student-athlete – wanting to make them great people first and great basketball players second.”

A native of Herndon, Va., Agugua-Hamilton is a 2005 graduate of Hofstra University, where she averaged 10.2 points and 6.0 rebounds over a 95-game career. She is the Pride’s career field goal percentage leader at .551, and graduated with the top three single-season field goal percentage marks in school history. A four-year team captain, she was a second-team all-Colonial Athletic Association pick in 2004, and helped Hofstra to a WNIT berth in 2006, the school’s first ever postseason appearance.

Prior to Michigan State, Agugua-Hamilton was the top assistant and recruiting coordinator at Old Dominion for two seasons, helping the Monarchs to an eight-win improvement and WNIT berth her second year in 2012-13. She recruited and coached eight all-CAA selections and one WNBA draft pick while at ODU.

Before her time at ODU, Agugua-Hamilton worked at Indiana for two seasons (2009-11) as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, and at Virginia Commonwealth for three years, as a graduate assistant (2006-07) and assistant coach (2007-09). She earned her bachelor’s degree in business management from Hofstra in 2005 and received her master’s degree in sports leadership and administration from VCU in 2007.

Agugua-Hamilton married Billy Hamilton in 2017. The couple has a son, Eze, born in April 2018. She replaces Kellie Harper, who was hired as the head coach at her alma mater, Tennessee, following the 2018-19 season.

The Lady Bears lose only one senior from a 2018-19 squad that finished 25-10 overall, ranked 24th in the USA Today Coaches Poll, won the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, and advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen for the fourth time in program history.

Agugua-Hamilton’s contract, which was also approved by the Board of Governors, is a five-year agreement through April 16, 2024, with a base salary of $240,000. Additional achievement incentives for NCAA and WNIT appearances, conference championships, coaching honors, attendance average and APR standards are also included in the agreement.

— MSU Athletics —

AMES, Iowa (AP) — Alexa Willard scored 17 points to help 11th-seeded Missouri State stun third-seeded Iowa State 69-60 on Monday, becoming the only double-digit seed to reach this year’s Sweet 16.

Abby Hipp had 11 points and Danielle Gitzen scored 10 for the Lady Bears (25-9), who will compete in an NCAA Tournament regional semifinal for the first time since the Jackie Stiles-led team in 2001. They’ll face either Stanford or BYU in Chicago after becoming the ninth team in 10 years to reach the Sweet 16 as a double-digit seed.

Iowa State (26-9) played much of the fourth quarter within a possession of the lead, only to let Missouri State answer time and time again. Sydney Manning extended the Lady Bears’ lead to 60-54 on a 3, her only field goal of the game, and Willard followed with a jumper.

Gitzen answered an empty Cyclones possession with two free throws, and Bridget Carleton threw the ball away at the 1:07 mark with Iowa State down 65-58. The Cyclones then inexplicably failed to foul Missouri State, allowing the Lady Bears to burn nearly 30 seconds off the clock.

Carleton had 31 points in her final game to lead Iowa State, which shot a ghastly 2 of 17 on 3s and 35.6 percent overall.

Missouri State controlled the first half, jumping ahead 33-30 at the break after Iowa State — which makes 8.9 3s a game — missed its first five tries from deep. A 10-2 run to open the second half gave the Lady Bears a 43-32 lead midway through the third quarter.

Finally faced with the idea that their Cyclones were in trouble, Iowa State’s fans got into the act. The Cyclones followed, reeling off nine quick points to make it a one-possession game. But a crucial 3 by Willard helped Missouri State push its lead to 49-45 entering the final quarter.

It might have seemed as though a game-deciding run was inevitable for the Cyclones. But it was the Lady Bears, fresh off a dominant win over sixth-seeded DePaul, who took control when it mattered.

The jubilant Bears ran into the crowd to celebrate with their band after the final horn, and a few of them picked up coach Kellie Harper’s son in celebration while screaming “We’re going to Chicago!”

THE BIG PICTURE

Iowa State: The Cyclones fell a game shy of matching the school record for wins in a season. This was a brutal way to end the year — but it was still a remarkable turnaround for a program that bottomed out at 14-17 a year ago.

Missouri State: The Lady Bears have beaten three straight ranked opponents — Drake, DePaul and Iowa State — in road or neutral games. They’ll be underdogs the rest of the way, but they’re much more dangerous than their mid-major backstory might suggest. Iowa State was just the fifth opponent in 34 tries to outrebound them, and even then it was just 38-37.

UP NEXT

Missouri State moves on to the Chicago Regional semifinals.

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Darrell Brown had 20 points as Bradley edged Missouri State 61-58 in the Missouri Valley Conference Tourney quarterfinals on Friday.

Brown, who converted all 10 of his foul shots, made two free throws with 8.3 seconds left for a four-point edge. Josh Webster scored to cut the lead to two with 2.1 seconds remaining but Elijah Childs added a free throw for Bradley then missed the second and the Bears could only heave the ball the length of the court as time ran out.

Elijah Childs had 12 points and seven rebounds for Bradley (18-14). Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye added 11 points.

Jarred Dixon had 17 points for the Bears (16-16). Josh Webster added 12 points. Ryan Kreklow had 12 points.

Tulio Da Silva, the Bears’ leading scorer heading into the matchup at 15 points per game, shot only 17 percent for the game (1 of 6).

— Associated Press —

ST. LOUIS – Led by two players on the All-Missouri Valley Conference Team and three on the MVC All-Newcomer Team, Missouri State was well represented Tuesday with the release of the league’s first round of postseason men’s basketball awards.

Earning All-MVC honors are first-team selection Tulio Da Silva (Jr., Formiga, Brazil) and third-team selection Keandre Cook (Jr., Baltimore, Md.). Missouri State also had three selections on the MVC All-Newcomer Team with Da Silva and Cook joining fellow transfer Josh Webster (Sr., St. Louis, Mo.) on the five-member team.

Da Silva led the Bears this season with 14.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game while converting 56.2 percent of his field goal attempts. He ranks among the league’s top 10 players in four statistical categories and is 40th nationally in field goal percentage. He led the Bears in scoring 10 games this season and in rebounding 18 times. He has also scored in double figures in 22 of 26 games at MSU.

Da Silva, a transfer from South Florida, is just the third Bear (Kyle Weems 2011 and 2012; and Alize Johnson 2017 and 2018) over the last 10 seasons to earn All-MVC first-team distinction. He and Loyola sophomore Cameron Krutwig are the only non-seniors on this year’s MVC first team. He is a two-time MVC Player of the Week (Jan. 14 and Feb. 18) and also won MVC Newcomer of the Week the same two weeks.

Cook is averaging 13.0 points and 4.2 rebounds per game and is second on the club with 48 3-pointers this season. He has also converted 39.2 percent of his 3-point attempts in Valley play. He has been MSU’s top scorer 11 times in 2018-19 with five 20-point efforts.

The transfer from Odessa (Texas) College has scored in double figures 23 times this year and earned MVC Player of the Week honors once (Jan. 28) and MVC Newcomer of the Week distinction twice (Nov. 12 and Jan. 28).

Webster leads the Missouri Valley Conference in assists per game (5.2) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.06). His assist-to-turnover ratio also ranks 12th nationally. The Texas Tech transfer is also averaging 7.6 points and 3.3 rebounds per game with 35 steals.

Webster has been MSU’s top assist man in 26 of 31 games this season while scoring in double figures 10 times.

Joining the three Missouri State players on the 2019 MVC All-Newcomer Team are UNI freshman A.J. Green and Drake senior Brady Ellingson.

Coach Dana Ford and the Bears begin the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Friday afternoon in St. Louis. The No. 4 seeded Bears take on fifth-seeded Bradley at 2:30 p.m. at Enterprise Center (formerly Scottrade Center) in St. Louis.

— MSU Athletics —

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Nick McGlynn had 22 points and 13 rebounds as Drake topped Missouri State 73-62 on Saturday to win at least a share of the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title.

Tremell Murphy had seven rebounds for Drake (23-8, 12-6).

Jarred Dixon had 18 points for the Bears (16-15, 10-8). Tulio Da Silva added 17 points. Keandre Cook had 10 points and three blocks.

The Bulldogs improve to 2-0 against the Bears on the season. Drake defeated Missouri State 74-63 on Jan. 20. The Bulldogs and the Bears next take the floor in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

— Associated Press —

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Tulio Da Silva recorded 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead Missouri State to a 67-61 win over Indiana State on Saturday.

Josh Webster had 14 points and six assists for Missouri State (16-13, 10-6 Missouri Valley Conference). Keandre Cook added 11 points. Ryan Kreklow had 11 points for the home team.

Tyreke Key had 19 points for the Sycamores (14-14, 6-10). Christian Williams added six rebounds.

The Bears improve to 2-0 against the Sycamores on the season. Missouri State defeated Indiana State 72-57 on Jan. 8. Missouri State plays Illinois State on the road on Wednesday. Indiana State plays Drake on the road on Wednesday.

— Associated Press —

CHICAGO (AP) — Tulio Da Silva had 16 points, nine rebounds and three blocks as Missouri State narrowly beat Loyola of Chicago 65-61 on Sunday.

Jarred Dixon had 10 points for Missouri State (15-12, 9-5 Missouri Valley Conference), which earned its fourth straight win. Josh Webster added seven points and 10 assists.

Cameron Krutwig scored a career-high 24 points for the Ramblers (16-11, 9-5). Marques Townes added 23 points and six rebounds.

The Bears improve to 2-0 against the Ramblers for the season. Missouri State defeated Loyola of Chicago 70-35 on Jan. 23. Missouri State plays Northern Iowa at home on Wednesday. Loyola of Chicago matches up against Evansville at home on Wednesday.

— Associated Press —

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) — Tulio Da Silva scored 17 points as Missouri State topped Evansville 68-56 on Wednesday night. Ryan Kreklow and Jarred Dixon added 15 points each for the Bears.

Marty Hill had 15 points for the Purple Aces (10-16, 4-9 Missouri Valley Conference). K.J. Riley added 10 points.

The Bears evened the season series against the Purple Aces with the win. Evansville defeated Missouri State 70-64 on Jan. 16. Missouri State (14-12, 8-5) takes on Loyola of Chicago on the road on Sunday. Evansville plays Northern Iowa at home on Sunday.

— Associated Press —

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Jarred Dixon banked in a half-court shot just before the final buzzer to help Missouri State beat Illinois State 66-65 on Sunday.

Leading 65-63 with 7.8 seconds left, Illinois State turned it over on an inbounds play. The ball changed hands several times, leading to multiple players diving for the loose ball and it finally fell to Dixon, who took one dribble and launched it off the backboard before getting tackled by his teammates.

Tulio Da Silva posted 17 points and seven rebounds and Ryan Kreklow had 14 points for Missouri State (13-12, 7-5 Missouri Valley Conference), which earned its fourth consecutive home victory. Dixon added 13 points. Josh Webster had 11 points for the hosts.

Keandre Cook, who was second on the Bears in scoring entering the contest with 14 points per game, shot only 10 percent for the game (1 of 10).

Phil Fayne had 22 points for the Redbirds (14-11, 7-5). Milik Yarbrough added 17 points and six rebounds. Zach Copeland had 12 points.

Missouri State plays Evansville on the road on Wednesday. Illinois State faces Northern Iowa on the road on Wednesday.

— Associated Press —

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Jarred Dixon scored 19 points as Missouri State held off a late Southern Illinois rally for a 65-59 victory on Wednesday night.

The teams were even midway through the first half, but Southern Illinois stalled after that as the Bears (12-12, 6-5 Missouri Valley Conference) surged 11-3 to go up 25-17 and they pushed it to 36-23 at the break.

Kavion Pippen scored 10 of his 24 points for the Salukis (12-12, 5-6) early in the second half to cut it to 38-33. Aaron Cook’s layup gave Southern Illinois a 52-50 edge before 3-pointers by Dixon and Keandre Cook and a dunk by Tulio Da Silva put the Bears back into the lead, 60-54, with 2:23 remaining.

Keandre Cook and Josh Webster scored 12 points apiece and Da Silva added 11 points for Missouri State.

Pippen matched his career high in points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Salukis. Aaron Cook added 11 points.

— Associated Press —