MURRAY, Ky. – Missouri State women’s basketball earned a dominant 77-61 road win over Murray State here Sunday afternoon.The Lady Bears (10-7, 5-3 MVC) used a huge first half to propel them over the Racers (11-6, 4-4 MVC) in the first matchup of the season against the new Missouri Valley Conference member.MSU came out of the gates firing on all cylinders, going on a 15-4 run to start the game. A Paige Rocca three-pointer put the exclamation point on the surge and forced Murray State to call a timeout at the 5:29 mark of the first quarter.After the Racers made it an eight-point game, the Lady Bears surged once again for nine-straight points to end the quarter, highlighted by Rocca’s second triple of the opening quarter with 0:02 remaining. Missouri State didn’t let their momentum slow down, as they scored the first six points of the second quarter to cap a 15-0 run that began at the 2:59 mark of the first quarter.MSU grabbed its largest lead of the game at 28 points with 4:44 left in the opening half. Fifth-year senior Sydney Wilson knocked down two free throws with under a minute remaining to give the Lady Bears a 26-point, 47-21, advantage at the break. Missouri State held Murray State to 23 percent shooting from the field in the second period with the Racers making just three field goals and going 0-for-5 from behind the arc.The Lady Bears had 12 first-half assists on 20 made baskets in the first half and forced nine Racer turnovers. MSU’s defense was stout in the first half, as they held Murray State to just seven field goals (.292) and 1-for-9 from three-point range.In second-half action, the Racers evened things up a bit, outscoring the Lady Bears 40-30 in the final 20 minutes.After an evenly matched third quarter, the Racers reeled off a few scorings runs of five and seven points to cut into MSU’s lead. However, the Lady Bear lead was too far out of reach as MSU continued to answer and keep the Racer surges short. Rocca’s third triple of the day with 2:20 left in the game propelled MSU back in front by 23 points, before Murray State scored the final seven points in a 77-61 Lady Bear road victory.Six different Lady Bears turned in double-digit scoring performances, led by Indya Green with a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double. Aniya Thomas and Rocca followed with 13 points each, while Rocca paced Missouri State with four assists. Kennedy Taylor and Wilson each tallied 12 points on the afternoon, marking Taylor’s 10th consecutive double-digit outing. Freshman Jade Masogayo followed her career-high performance at Belmont with 10 points and three blocks against the Racers.Collectively, the Lady Bears tallied 19 assists and collected seven steals, while winning the battle on the boards, 40-21. MSU was a force in the paint, outscoring the Racers 54-26 down low. The Lady Bears also took advantage of Murray State’s miscues, scoring 22 points off 14 Racer turnovers.Missouri State will return home next week as it welcomes Northern Iowa on Thursday, Jan. 26. Tipoff at Great Southern Bank Arena is set for 6 p.m. CT.
