NEW YORK (AP) - Missouri State coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton was playing for Hofstra the last time the Lady Bears appeared in the poll 15 years ago.
Now, the first-year coach has the team in the Associated Press women's basketball Top 25 this week at No. 22. She inherited a really good squad that returned 12 players from last season's Sweet 16 appearance.
"It's tough because expectations are high as they had a great season coming off a Sweet 16," Agugua-Hamilton said. "Coming in with a new philosophy and style of play than the last coach. I want them to buy in and believe in my vision."
Agugua-Hamilton said that she's tweaked a few things and that it was made easier because the players took to her and the staff.
"It made it an easy transition," she said.
Agugua-Hamilton said one of the goals for the season was to get the Lady Bears ranked - something she experienced many times as an assistant at Michigan State. That goal was reached Monday - the Lady Bears first ranking since the 2004 season.
"It has been 15 years, and I'm really excited that our program is being recognized and our players are being recognized for their hard work," she said. "I think it's hard to get ranked as a mid-major. When it happens its super exciting. My message to them is I want to stay ranked. Want our RPI to stay where it is. Build our resume for the NCAA Tournament."
The Lady Bears' (7-1) only loss this season came at Oregon State in the finals of the Preseason WNIT Tournament. To get to the final, Missouri State won at Boise State and Oklahoma.
"It's almost like we played a postseason tournament early in the season. It helped us preparation wise," Agugua-Hamilton said. "At the end of the day, we have a really good team and are not playing our best basketball yet. We got a lot of things to work on and continue to improve on defensively."
The Lady Bears host Wichita State tonight.