TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Missouri State women’s basketball (13-4, 5-1 MVC) completed the weekend sweep with a 73-57 win over Indiana State (3-14, 1-5 MVC) here Sunday afternoon.
The Lady Bears jumped out to a quick 5-0 start to get things rolling off a Lacy Stokes jumper and Kyrah Daniels triple. With a five-point advantage late in the first, Paige Rocca stepped up and drained a triple while drawing contact to polish off the four-point play and push the lead to seven points. Indiana State then went down and drew a foul on the final possession of the quarter to make it 21-16 in favor of the Lady Bears after one.
Two players with Indiana State ties in Zoe Stewart and Kiley Bess scored the first two baskets of the second period and forced an early Sycamores timeout after the lead stretched to nine. Indiana State quickly answered with a three, but then MoState punched back with back-to-back treys from Stewart and Daniels to go up 12 points. Following a couple of Sycamore field goals, the Lady Bears put together a short 6-0 run sparked by Stokes and Rocca buckets. Leading by 10 in the final minute of the first half, Sarah Linthacum scored on a layup, before Stokes drove to the basket on the last possession and beat the clock to put MoState up 41-27 at the break in Terre Haute.
Out of the break, the Lady Bears started quick once again with an 8-2 surge bookended by a Stokes jumper in the paint and another Daniels trey to extend the lead to 20 points with 6:34 on the clock. However, Indiana State fought back with an 11-0 run to bring the MoState lead back to single digits at 49-40 with 3:58 left in the third. Daniels put a stop to the Lady Bear scoring drought, then later her fourth triple of the afternoon and two Stokes baskets gave Missouri State a 13-point, 58-45, lead heading into the final period.
Indiana State opened the fourth with a made basket, but the Lady Bears quickly took firm control of the lead with a 10-2 burst that included four points from Daniels and a triple from both Rocca and Stokes as the lead grew to 19 points. A couple of minutes later, Kaemyn Bekemeier and Linthacum gave Missouri State its largest lead of the day at 21 points as the Lady Bears eventually won by 16 on the road.
Daniels led the way with a game-high 20 points (8-15 FG). Stokes followed close behind with 19 points and a team-high five rebounds. Rocca was the final Lady Bear in double figures with 11 points, while also tying for the team lead with four steals.
As a team, the Lady Bears forced 20 Sycamore turnovers and led in points in the paint, 42-30. Missouri State shot 46 percent (29-63) from the field, 31 percent (8-26) from three and 70 percent (7-10) from the line. Meanwhile, the Lady Bears held Indiana State to 33 percent (19-57) from the field and 8 percent (1-13) from beyond the arc.
Missouri State returns home for two key Missouri Valley Conference matchups, beginning on Friday, January 24 as the Lady Bears welcome the defending conference champion Drake Bulldogs to Great Southern Bank Arena. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. and the game will stream on ESPN+.
