VALPARAISO, Ind. – Missouri State women’s basketball ended the regular season with a 21-8 (15-5 MVC) record after defeating Valparaiso (5-24, 4-16 MV) here Saturday afternoon by a score of 77-66.
The Lady Bears used an important surge in the third quarter to extend their lead over the Beacons in a hard-fought battle. After leading by six at the half, Missouri State put together an 11-2 run to begin the third quarter, seven of those points coming courtesy of Jade Masogayo, and take its largest lead of the game at 15 points. Valparaiso used an eight-point surge later in the period to cut MSU’s lead to just four points, but the Lady Bears responded with six makes at the charity stripe to extend the lead back to double figures.
Holding a seven-point lead heading into the final quarter, the Lady Bears surrendered a triple early in the period to make it a four-point game. Missouri State continued to respond, though, this time with a Masogayo layup and Lacy Stokes trey. The rest of the game saw both squads trade baskets as the Lady Bears went on to earn an 11-point, 77-66, road victory to finish out the regular season.
The Lady Bears got off to a good start on the afternoon, jumping out to a quick 4-0 lead. The Beacons would battle to tie things up at 7-7 at the 4:28 mark, but then Kaemyn Bekemeier and Indya Green nailed back-to-back triples to propel Missouri State to a six-point lead. Valparaiso answered with a triple and converted an and-1 opportunity to make it a one-point game, but Stokes and Kennedy Taylor closed out the scoring in the first with back-to-back layups.
Leading by five after one in Valparaiso, the second quarter was nearly identical for the two teams. Both knocked down five field goals, one coming from behind the arc, but the difference-maker was at the line as the Lady Bears went a perfect 8-for-8 compared to Valparaiso’s 7-for-10.
Stokes led the way for Missouri State with 22 points (7-for-12 FG, 7-of-8 FT), seven assists and four steals. Masogayo recorded a 20-point performance of her own with 21 points (7-for-9 FG, 7-for-7 FT) while adding seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Bekemeier was the final Lady Bear in double figures with 10 points (4-for-5 FG, 2-for-2 3FG).
As a team, the Lady Bears scored 21 points off of 22 Valparaiso turnovers, while also winning the battle in the paint (40-26) and on the boards (34-23). Missouri State shot 43 percent (25-58) from the field, 46 percent (5-11) from three and 88 percent (22-25) from the free throw line.
Missouri State will head to the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament next week as the No. 3 seed. They will play on Friday, March 15 at 8:30 p.m. CT in Moline, Ill. Opponent is to be determined.
