TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Missouri State women’s basketball improved to 16-6 (10-3 MVC) with a 59-51 victory on the road at Indiana State (8-15, 4-9 MVC) here Thursday night.
After trailing by one heading into the fourth quarter, the Lady Bears locked it down defensively and held the Sycamores to just 2-for-10 from the field in the final period. Out of the final quarter break, Missouri State scored the first six points of the fourth with a floater from Kaemyn Bekemeier to open the period marking MSU’s first lead in the game since its opening basket.
Lacy Stokes found a rhythm in the final minutes of the game, scoring six of MSU’s last eight points in the game to help the Lady Bears escape with a 59-51 conference road victory.
The first three quarters were close throughout with the Lady Bears knocking on the door of the lead several times, but they were never quite being able to grab the lead.
MSU scored the first points of the game on a Stokes layup, but then Indiana State went on an 11-3 run to take a six-point lead near the midway point of the first. The Lady Bears cut the lead to two points twice, on a Kennedy Taylor layup and a Masogayo jumper, but the Sycamores drained a three as time expired in the first to lead by five.
With a layup to open the second period, Indiana State extended its lead to its largest of the game at seven points. From there, the squads swapped baskets as MSU cut the deficit to one point on two occasions in the quarter. As was the theme of the first three periods, the Sycamores had an answer and led 30-28 at halftime.
Indiana State scored the first two buckets out of the intermission to push the lead to back to seven, but a 9-2 Lady Bear surge, capped by a Taylor and-1, tied the game at 37-37. Missouri State stayed within striking distance, hitting the last bucket of the third to cut the deficit to one, until the Lady Bears were able to make their move in the game-deciding fourth quarter.
On a night when MSU’s offense struggled to find a rhythm, the Lady Bears came up clutch on the defensive end. After surrendering 20 first-quarter points to the Sycamores, Missouri State held Indiana State to 21 points in the entire second half on 7-for-23 (.304) shooting from the field, while forcing 11 second-half turnovers and dominating 26-6 in the paint.
Taylor led the way for Missouri State with a 14-point, 12-rebound double-double on 50 percent shooting from the field. Stokes joined in double figures with 13 points and a team-high four assists. As a team, the Lady Bears outscored the Sycamores 36-20 in the paint and was plus-eight on the boards. Missouri State also forced 20 turnovers and collected 13 steals.
Missouri State is back on the road for a Saturday afternoon (2 p.m.) contest at Evansville. The game will stream on ESPN+.
