SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State women’s basketball (26-8) dominated in a 107-76 victory over Oral Roberts (24-9) in the first round of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament here in Springfield on Thursday night.
MoState’s 107 points are the most in a postseason game in program history, surpassing the previous mark of 104 points against Washington on March 26, 2001 in the Elite 8. It also marks the most points the Lady Bears have scored since January 27, 2019 against Valparaiso (108).
It was all Lady Bears from the jump in this one as they got out to a hot start in front of their home crowd. Lacy Stokes got the first bucket of the night, sparking a 12-0 run to begin the game and force an early Oral Roberts timeout. Even as ORU finally found the bottom of the basket, the Lady Bears didn’t take their foot off the gas as they drained four more triples courtesy of Paige Rocca, Kyrah Daniels and Kaemyn Bekemeier over the final 5:11 of the first period for a total of six treys in the opening quarter.
Leading 27-11 after one quarter, the Lady Bears kept gradually adding to their lead in the second period. MoState’s sparks off the bench in Lainie Douglas and Bekemeier combined for 12 points in the second quarter as the Lady Bears extended the lead to as many as 27 points.
The Lady Bears led 53-28 at the half, paced by Bekemeier and Stokes who had 12 points each, while Linthacum pulled down a game-high seven first-half rebounds.
Out of the intermission, the third quarter saw much more of the same as Missouri State continued to steadily increase its advantage. Linthacum helped carry the load in the third quarter, scoring seven points on 3-for-5 from the field and grabbing three rebounds. Meanwhile, ORU made a push late in the quarter, finishing on a 10-4 run, but the Lady Bears had things firmly in hand as they entered the final period with a 76-47 lead.
The Golden Eagles posted their best quarter of the night, shooting 48 percent from the field (10-21) and knocking down four triples. However, the Lady Bears responded to the challenge with an even better final 10 minutes, shooting 85 percent (11-13) from the field with four treys en route to a 31-point, 107-76, victory to advance to the next round of the WBIT.
MoState had six players score in double figures and 10 total players tallied points in the victory. Stokes led the way with a 20-point, 10-assist double-double in addition to pulling down seven rebounds. She was followed by Rocca (19), Bekemeier (17), Linthacum (15), Daniels (11) and Douglas (10). Linthacum also recorded a double-double, her fifth of the season, with a game-high 12 rebounds. Stokes has now scored in double figures in 11 consecutive games.
As a team, the Lady Bears set season-marks in field goals (39), three-point field goals (14) and rebounds (52). MoState was plus-18 on the glass (52-34) and dominated in the paint, 46-30. The Lady Bears posted their highest-scoring quarter of the season with 31 points in the fourth quarter and their two highest-scoring halves of the season with 53 points in the first half and 54 in the second half.
Missouri State will also host the second round of the WBIT. The No. 3 Lady Bears will welcome No. 2 Minnesota on Sunday, March 23. Tipoff is set for 2:00 p.m. and the game will stream on ESPN+.
Tickets for Sunday’s game are on sale now at MissouriStateBears.com/tickets and the Great Southern Bank Arena Box Office will be open from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. on Friday, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. on Saturday and beginning at 10 a.m. on Sunday.
