SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State women’s basketball (8-5, 3-1 MVC) bounced back from their first Missouri Valley Conference loss in dominant fashion with an 87-54 victory over Bradley (3-12, 0-4 MVC).
MSU got career performances from across the board in the win, led by Kennedy Taylor who tied her career high with 23 points and set a new career-best with 10 made field goals. Meanwhile, Isabelle Delarue posted a new personal best with 19 points as Paige Rocca and Jade Masogayo set new career highs in assists with six and five, respectively. In the fourth quarter, freshman Jaiden Bryant and sophomore Taylor Woodhouse put the arena crowd and the Lady Bear bench on their feet as Bryant knocked down her first career field goal and Woodhouse logged a career-best eight points, including two big shots from behind the arc.
The Lady Bears got off to a hot start early, taking a 13-6 lead over the Braves just past the halfway point of the first quarter. However, Bradley was able to respond with a quick run to cut the MSU lead to four points after a quarter.
Bradley built off of that momentum and started the second quarter with eight consecutive points to take the lead from the Lady Bears and extend it to a four-point lead of their own. Missouri State didn’t allow the momentum shift to the visitor’s side last long, as MSU quickly flipped the switch and from there, it was all Lady Bears.
After BU took the lead in the second, back-to-back and-1s from the Lady Bears tied the game at 25-25 before a Kennedy Taylor layup at 4:52 gave MSU the lead for the rest of the game. A nine-point run a couple of minutes later was highlighted by back-to-back Isabelle Delarue triples that sent Great Southern Bank Arena into a buzz as MSU extended its lead to 11. Delarue and Aniya Thomas then combined for five points to end the first half to take a 43-29 lead into the break.
MSU outscored Bradley 24-6 beginning at the 6:05 mark of the second quarter as Delarue scored 11 points in the period on 4-for-7 shooting from the field and going 2-for-3 from behind the arc. Meanwhile, Taylor was the game’s leading scorer and rebounder at the break with 13 points and seven boards.
Coming out of the break, Missouri State kept its foot on the gas and extended its lead to 21 points a few minutes in to the third quarter with Indya Green connecting on her first couple of baskets on the afternoon. Missouri State eventually led by 23 at the end of the third behind a 10-point, six-rebound quarter from Taylor.
The Lady Bears finished the game in dominating fashion, holding Bradley to just eight points in the final quarter on 3-for-12 shooting from the field, while closing the game offensively on a 12-0 surge. Woodhouse was the fourth quarter’s leading scorer with a career-best eight points, including two triples, to give MSU its largest win of the season at 33 points.
As a team, MSU scored 24 points off of 20 Bradley turnovers and outscored the Braves in the paint, 46-22. The Lady Bears won the rebounding battle 42-29 and 20-8 on the offensive glass, while dishing out 20 assists and only turning the ball over 12 times.
Missouri State will host Southern Illinois on Wednesday, Jan. 11. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. at Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield.
