DES MOINES, Iowa – Missouri State women’s basketball (22-5, 14-2 MVC) earned its second consecutive overtime win with an 82-79 victory over Drake (18-9, 12-4 MVC) here Saturday afternoon.
With 0:04 remaining in the game and the Lady Bears trailing by two points, Kyrah Daniels stepped up and knocked down a jumper just outside the paint to tie the game at 71-71. Drake had one final shot in a sequence that felt eerily similar to last season’s Missouri Valley Conference tournament title game, but this time the ball rolled off the iron and the game headed to overtime.
Kaemyn Bekemeier kicked off the overtime period with a jumper to give MoState the early advantage. Drake then made a push as the Bulldogs sank a three and converted the and-1 opportunity to retake the lead and extend it to four points. Lacy Stokes then took over for the Lady Bears, scoring four straight points to tie the game at 77-77 with 0:58 on the clock. On the other end, a Katie Dinnebier layup gave the home Bulldogs a two-point advantage. With time winding down and the lights shining the brightest, Paige Rocca, the Iowa native, played hero once again as she stepped up and drained a triple giving MoState an 80-79 lead. On the ensuing Drake possession, Missouri State’s defense held tough and forced a turnover. The Bulldogs were forced to foul and Stokes iced the game at the line as the Lady Bears earned a hard-fought 82-79 overtime road victory.
Drake got off to a fast start in this one with a 9-0 run that set the pace for the first quarter. Following a Bulldog three early in the second period that put the Lady Bears down by 10, MoState dug deep and clawed their way back into this one. Back-to-back Lainie Douglas layups sparked a 13-2 run that flipped the lead to the Lady Bears at 30-29. Later, a five-point Drake surge to end the half gave the Bulldogs a seven-point advantage at the break.
Out of halftime, the Bulldogs gradually extended their lead to 14 points with 2:08 left in the third quarter. When things seemed to be slipping away from the Lady Bears, MoState came back with a vengeance, knocking down four straight treys to over the final 1:47 to cut it to a two-point, 58-56, game with three quarters in the books.
The Bulldogs worked quickly to push the lead back to six points early in the fourth, but a Stokes free throw and buckets from Daniels and Rocca cut it to a single point. As the teams swapped free throws and the Drake lead was at five, Stokes stepped up and launched a three, finding the bottom of the net to make it a two-point game, 71-69. Forced to foul on the other end, Drake missed both free throw opportunities to give MoState a final chance to extend the game.
Stokes eclipsed 2,000 career points with a team-leading 20 points in addition to seven assists. Bekemeier poured in 17 points and grabbed five rebounds. Douglas was next with 12 points and six boards, and Daniels was the final Lady Bear in double figures with 11 points.
MoState was plus-five on the boards (36-31) and had a major advantage in bench points (29-2). Missouri State forced 21 Drake turnovers on the afternoon. As a team, the Lady Bears shot 45 percent (33-74) from the field, 35 percent (8-23) from three and 80 percent (8-10) from the line.
The Lady Bears continue their four-game road swing next week, beginning with a Thursday night contest at Murray State. Tipoff against the Racers is set for 6:00 p.m.
