ST. THOMAS, U.S. VI – Missouri State women’s basketball fell to 4-3 in a tough battle against Texas Tech, 72-69, to close out the Paradise Jam here Saturday evening.
Both squads had to overcome slow offensive starts to begin the game. Texas Tech (8-1) prevailed with the first points, before Missouri State finally found the bottom of the basket at the 3:55 mark to make it a 6-2 game. After going down by nine later in the quarter, Kiley Bess sparked a 7-2 run over the final 1:26 to cut the deficit to four points, 15-11, after one in paradise.
Kaemyn Bekemeier connected on a jumper in the paint to begin the second quarter and make it a one possession game, but Texas Tech quickly responded with two buckets to push its lead back out to six. That’s when Paige Rocca helped light a spark for the Lady Bears, getting to the basket for a layup before a Lacy Stokes free throw, Rocca’s first triple of the night and a Sarah Linthacum layup knotted the game at 21-21. With the leading going back and forth, Rocca hit her second trey of the period to finally give MSU some breathing room with a four-point advantage with 0:51 left. Texas Tech came down and hit a layup to once again make it a one possession game, but with time quickly winding down, Bekemeier got the running triple at the buzzer to fall and have MSU a 33-28 lead at the intermission.
Out of the break, Missouri State kept ahold of its narrow lead for the first half of the third period, before Texas Tech chipped away and jumped back in front at the 4:37 mark following a 5-0 run. With a Stokes layup sandwiched between the Lady Raiders’ 11-2 run, the visitors on the scoreboard then took a five-point lead. Once again, Rocca was right on cue as she drained a triple to ignite the Lady Bears. Linthacum then added a layup and Bess drilled one from beyond the arc to propel MSU back into the lead. However, it wouldn’t last long as Texas Tech’s Jasmine Shavers (32 pts, 10-17 FG) scored the last four points of the quarter and the Lady Raiders went ahead, 52-51, with one quarter to play.
It was a battle throughout the entire fourth quarter and Rocca made it a brand-new ballgame with her fourth triple of the night to make the score 56-all with 8:28 remaining. Florida State then put together a 7-2 run to extend its lead out to five points, but the Lady Bears countered with a 7-0 run of their own. Lainie Douglas started the surge with a layup before Bekemeier scored the next five, including a triple off the inbounds pass with the shot clock expiring, to give MSU a 65-63 lead with 3:38 left in the game.
After the lead swapped hands yet again, the Lady Raiders took the lead for good on a jumper at 2:39 before a couple of free throws put Texas Tech up by three. The Lady Bears got back to the free throw line but couldn’t chase down the three-point advantage as they tossed up one final shot at the end of the game that didn’t connect in the 72-69 loss.
Stokes led the way for Missouri State with 17 points, including going 11-for-12 at the free throw line. Rocca followed with 14 points on 50 percent (5-for-10) shooting from the field while going 4-for-5 from deep. Bekemeier was also in double figures with 12 points and a team-leading six rebounds and three assists, while LInthacum rounded out MSU’s double-figure scorers with 10 points on the evening.
As a team, Missouri State owned a 30-24 advantage on the boards and knocked down eight three-pointers to Texas Tech’s two. The Lady Bears committed 20 turnovers on the night, which led to 24 Lady Raiders points. MSU shot 42 percent (23-55) from the field, 42 percent (8-19) from three and 79 percent (15-19) from the charity stripe.
The Lady Bears will finally return to Springfield after a six-game road swing to host Wyoming on Friday, Dec. 6. Tipoff at Great Southern Bank Arena is set for 6:30 p.m. and the game will stream on ESPN+.
