Latest news with #Bekemeier
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
March Madness: Missouri State women's basketball dismantles Oral Roberts in WBIT
By the looks of how hard Missouri State women's basketball played to open the Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament, you would have never guessed the Lady Bears were playing in a secondary tournament. The Lady Bears played like a team motivated to make a deep March Madness run in their 107-76 WBIT first-round win over Oral Roberts at Great Southern Bank Arena on Thursday night. The win advanced the three-seed Lady Bears to the second round, where they will play two-seed Minnesota on Sunday. The Lady Bears will host the Golden Gophers at 2 p.m., despite being the lower seed. Missouri State women's basketball scored 53 points in first half The Lady Bears scored 15 of the game's first 17 points, which saw Paige Rocca hit back-to-back 3's to cap off the run. They were in full control when hitting six 3's in the opening quarter with Kaemyn Bekemeier also hitting a pair. Advertisement Their feet never came off the gas, extending their lead to as many as 27 with a minute left in the half. MSU made eight 3's, with Lacy Stokes and Bekemeier each scoring 12 points. Eight different Lady Bears scored in the game's first 20 minutes as the team shot 46.5% from the field and held the Golden Eagles to 33.3%. Missouri State Lady Bear Kaemyn Bekemeier shoots a three-pointer as the Lady Bears take on the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles in the WBIT at Great Southern Bank Arena on Thursday, March 20, 2025. Missouri State women's basketball cruises to win Not much changed in the second half. Six different Lady Bears finished the game with 10 or more points. Stokes led the way with 20 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. Sarah Linthacum also had a double-double with 15 points and 11 boards. Bekemeier scored 17 points with four 3's. Rocca made five 3's. Advertisement The game marked the first time the Lady Bears scored 100 or more points in the team's three seasons under Beth Cunningham. It was the team's first since scoring 100 against Lincoln in Dec. 2020. It's also the first time the Lady Bears have scored 100 or more against a Division I opponent since scoring 108 against Valparaiso in Jan. 2019, the program's final season under Kellie Harper. WBIT second round game vs Minnesota up next Not since the opening game of the Amaka Agugua-Hamilton era have the Lady Bears faced Minnesota. The Lady Bears beat then-No. 23 Minnesota to tip off a season that saw them win a Missouri Valley Conference championship and be nationally ranked for much of the season. A lot has changed since then. Minnesota is now coached by Dawn Plitzuweit, who previously led South Dakota and West Virginia. Her Gophers finished the season 20-11 and with an 8-10 record in Big Ten play. This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri State women's basketball destroys Oral Roberts in WBIT
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Lady Bears blow out ORU, advance in WBIT
SPRINGFIELD, Mo–And another opportunity for this Lady Bears team to play together. Missouri State and Oral Roberts battled Thursday night in the first round of the WBIT tournament. The WBIT is an NCAA run postseason event that gives teams that didn't make the big dance a place to play. In our Bear Nation report, this is the first home postseason game for Missouri State in a decade. And the Lady Bears Lacy Stokes was playing like a woman possessed. She knocks down this three, it's 9-0 Lady Bears. Then the skip pass to Kaemyn Bekemeier with the corner three, 25-9. Then Stokes strong to the hole, and into the photographers, it's 27-11 after one. Second quarter fifth year senior Paige Rocca with a three it's 36-18 MoState. Nice pass here to Bekemeier for the basket, the Lady Bears led 53-28 at the half. Third quarter the Lady Bears put the pedal to the metal, Sarah Linthacum for the basket inside, Lady Bears up by 33 points. Fourth quarter, Stokes still hooping, this three is one of 20 points. Then Stokes feeds Bekemeier for the three, she finished with 17. And the Lady Bears win 107-to-76, the Lady Bears will host Minnesota in the next round Sunday at 2 p.m. 'I think a couple of fans came out and said hey you have a great team with a lot of energy. That's what this arena does it lights another fire in you. And on this court is a different kind of energy. That's why we have the record on this court that we do,' said Stokes. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
