SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State women’s basketball suffered a 73-54 loss at the hands of Oklahoma State here Thursday night at Great Southern Bank Arena.
The Lady Bears (1-2) scored the first points of the game as Indya Green hit a wide-open layup to get things started. The Cowgirls (4-0), who came into tonight’s game shooting .495 from the field and .447 from three-point range, quickly responded with a 10-point run to go up by eight points.
Missouri State continued to show its fight, as Isabelle Delarue and Aniya Thomas pulled the Lady Bears back within one point after a couple of layups and a Thomas triple. Thomas’ three-pointer and first basket of the night put her over the 1,000-point mark for her career. OSU was then able to put together quality possessions to lead 22-13 after a quarter in Springfield.
MSU came out tough in the second quarter, beginning the period with two converted and-1s on its first two possessions to cut the lead to six. The second and-1 began a spurt of seven consecutive points capped by a Delarue three to pull the home team back within two.
As was the theme of the game, OSU hit right back with an 11-2 surge to eventually take a 40-31 lead into the half over the Lady Bears. Thomas recorded a game-high 10 first-half points, while Green pulled down five first-half rebounds.
Coming out of the break, Oklahoma State found a spark courtesy of Naomie Alnatas, who scored 11 of OSU’s first 13 points in the quarter, including three baskets from behind the arc. From there, both teams traded possessions and buckets as the visiting Cowgirls led 59-43 heading into the final quarter.
The trend continued in the fourth quarter as the Lady Bears could not get back within striking distance of the Cowgirls. Despite eight points and five rebounds from Green in the final 10 minutes, MSU ultimately fell, 73-54.
Thomas paced the Lady Bears on the night with a season-high 18 points while dishing out four assists. Meanwhile, Green recorded her second double-double in as many games with a 12-point, 13-rebound outing. Freshman Jade Masogayo set a career-high with five blocks in just her third career game. As a unit, Missouri State won the rebounding battle, 43-32.
MSU will be back in action next week as the Lady Bears hit the road for the first time this season as they travel to Las Vegas. Missouri State is set to play UTSA on Friday, Nov. 25 at 3:15 p.m. and Middle Tennessee on Saturday, Nov. 26 at 1:00 p.m. as part of the Las Vegas Invitational.
