SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State women’s basketball (20-5, 12-2 MVC) secured its eighth consecutive 20-win season with a 79-63 win over Valparaiso (9-16, 5-9 MVC) on Sunday afternoon at Great Southern Bank Arena.
With the game knotted at 31-31 at the half, Missouri State came out of the locker room and put on a dominant third quarter performance. With the teams tying the game two more times in the first few minutes of the third, the Lady Bears made their move with 6:20 on the clock. Lacy Stokes got jumper to fall and from there MoState locked in on both ends of the floor.
Stokes bookended the 11-0 Missouri State surge with a layup before Valparaiso found its way back on the scoreboard with a triple, but that’s the only bucket the Lady Bears defense surrendered over the final 6:46 of the third quarter. MoState went right back to work on offense as Lainie Douglas sparked a short 6-0 spurt to end the quarter.
Missouri State’s 17-3 run to end the third was the difference-maker in this one as the Lady Bears carried a 14-point lead into the final period.
Stokes and Kyrah Daniels scored the first two buckets of the fourth before the Beacons hit their first of five triples in the period. MoState didn’t let up as they continued to increase their lead with a Kaemyn Bekemeier trey pushing the Lady Bear advantage to its largest of the night at 25 points with 6:10 remaining. The Beacons tried to shoot their way back into the game late, connecting on three triples in the last four-and-a-half minutes, but the Lady Bears had pulled too far away as they earned a 79-63 victory to remain undefeated at home.
Daniels got off to a hot start in this one, knocking down back-to-back triples to put MoState out in front early. Five of Missouri State’s seven field goals in the first 10 minutes came from beyond the arc, as Bekemeier twice extended the Lady Bear lead to double digits by splashing treys.
The second quarter was a much different story for the Lady Bears as they struggled on both ends of the floor. MoState shot just 23 percent (3-13) from the field, while Valparaiso shot 67 percent (8-12) and outscored the Lady Bears 18-11 in the period to tie the game at 31-31 going into halftime.
Stokes led the way with 22 points (8-12 FG, 5-7 FT), including a game-high nine points in the crucial third quarter. Daniels poured in 15 points, while Bekemeier added 14 points and seven rebounds. Douglas was the final Lady Bear in double figures with 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
As a unit, Missouri State shot 49 percent (28-57) from the field, 33 percent (7-21) from three and 84 percent (16-19) from the charity stripe. MoState owned the advantage in the paint (34-18), in bench points (28-11) and on the glass (39-21).
Missouri State will hit the road for four straight games, beginning with a stop at Northern Iowa on Thursday, Feb. 20. Tipoff against the Panthers is set for 6:00 p.m.
