SPRINGFIELD – The Missouri State Lady Bears suffered a 65-57 loss to Missouri Western in their lone exhibition game of the preseason.
A close game throughout, a Griffons fourth quarter run was the difference-maker in the contest.
Freshman Kyrah Daniels tied the game in the fourth quarter at the 5:48 mark after connecting on a jumper, before a Jade Masogayo free throw gave the home team a one-point advantage. Then, Missouri Western made its run, a 6-0 swing that put the visitors up by five points with 2:06 remaining.
Missouri State was able to cut the MWSU lead to four with a couple of free throws, but the Griffon surge was ultimately too much to overcome as the visitors took home an eight-point victory.
The game was tightly contested throughout the entire evening with two points being the largest margin at the end of any of the first three periods.
The first half was a game of runs as the Lady Bears reeled off a four-point spurt consisting of free throws early in the first quarter before closing the period on a 7-0 run, sparked by a Paige Rocca three-pointer, to knot the game at 14-14 after the first 10 minutes.
After a Missouri Western layup to open the second quarter, each team swapped a run of 10 points each, with the Lady Bears’ jump started by a trey and jumper from newcomer Angel Scott. MSU ultimately owned the slight edge in the second period as Jade Masogayo and Stokes drove in and hit back-to-back layups to take a 28-26 lead into the locker room at halftime.
MSU held the lead or the score remained tied for the majority of the third quarter, highlighted by seven points on 3-for-4 shooting from Lady Bear transfer Lacy Stokes. With the lead teetering between two to four points, the Griffons took their first lead of the third stanza on a three-pointer with 0:35 left on the clock and carried that momentum into the final period.
Stokes led the way for Missouri State on the night with 12 points. Joining her in double figures was Masogayo with 11 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Kennedy Taylor also contributed eight points, six rebounds and two blocks.
Missouri State now turns its focus to the start of the regular season as the Lady Bears travel to Little Rock on Monday, Nov. 6 for a 5 p.m. tipoff against the Trojans in the season opener.
