SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State women’s basketball (8-3, 2-0 MVC) extended its win streak to five games with a 67-47 victory over Valparaiso (1-10, 0-2 MVC) here Thursday night at Great Southern Bank Arena.
The win marked MSU’s largest margin of victory this season as the Lady Bears pushed their home win streak to nine games and remained undefeated on their home floor. Missouri State also improved to 21-0 under head coach Beth Cunningham when allowing 65 points or less.
In contrast to their previous few games, the Lady Bears came out firing on all cylinders in to start the game, jumping out to a 15-2 lead to set the tone early. MSU outscored the Beacons 20-5 in the opening quarter and locked it down on the defensive end, holding Valpo to 13 percent (1-8) from the field in the first. A balanced effort contributed to MSU’s stellar start as eight different Lady Bears recorded points in the first 10 minutes, led by senior Paige Rocca with five points.
MSU’s offense faltered a bit in the second quarter, but it made up for it on the defensive end, once again holding Valpo to fewer than 10 points in the period. The Beacons connected on four field goals in the quarter, but Missouri State forced six turnovers in the second to maintain control and take a 30-14 lead into halftime.
Valpo’s 14 first-half points were the fewest points allowed in a half by Missouri State this season, as the Lady Bears held the Beacons to just 25 percent (5-20) from the field and shut them out from behind the arc in the opening 20 minutes. MSU took advantage of their opportunities, scoring 13 points off 13 Valpo turnovers in the first half.
The second half saw a more evenly-matched contest especially as the Beacons found some success from three-point range. After knocking down three triples in the third period, Valparaiso put together their best scoring run of the night early in the fourth quarter. Valpo’s leading scorer on the night Olivia Brown (15 points), drained two from long range to spark an 8-0 Beacon run that cut the MSU lead to 11 points and forced the Lady Bears to call a timeout.
From there, Missouri State locked back in, answering immediately with an Indya Green jumper and Kyrah Daniels trey to push the lead back to 16. MSU allowed just one Valparaiso field goal over the final seven minutes, following that 8-0 Beacon surge, to ultimately secure the wire-to-wire, 20-point victory and improve to 2-0 in Missouri Valley Conference action.
Green led the way for Missouri State with 12 points, followed by Lacy Stokes (11 points), Rocca (11 points) and Kennedy Taylor (10 points) to put four Lady Bears in double figures on the night. Daniels pulled down a career-high eight rebounds to lead MSU on the night in 26 minutes on the floor for the freshman.
As a team, the Lady Bears won the battle in the paint (26-16) and on the boards (40-23), while shooting 44 percent (23-52) from the field and 64 percent (16-25) from the line.
Missouri State will close out a six-game home stand as the Lady Bears welcome UIC on Saturday, January 6. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. at Great Southern Bank Arena and the game will stream on ESPN+.
