Reminiscent of years past, the Lady Bears went into their biggest game of the season thus far with the hopes of making a statement.
Locked in on the game plan throughout the week and with a recent loss to Missouri Valley Conference-contending Belmont fresh in mind, Missouri State had an opportunity to reintroduce itself among the league’s elite.
A dominant defensive performance and a 19-point win later, the Lady Bears have found themselves back in contention to win a championship.
“That’s what this program’s used to, isn’t it?” second-year Lady Bears coach Beth Cunningham said. “You understand those are kind of the expectations when you come in and you want to put your kids in the best possible position to be able to do that.”
A 73-54 win over Belmont in front of the best Missouri State basketball crowd of the season on Friday night has the Lady Bears back in the league’s title mix heading into the remainder of the season.
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A loss would have put them two games behind Drake (17-5, 10-1) and Belmont (16-6, 9-2) atop the standings with the Bruins having a two-game sweep. Instead, the Lady Bears (15-5, 9-2) are now tied with Belmont for second place while one game behind Drake with a trip to Des Moines coming in the weeks ahead.
“We always want to make a statement,” said sophomore Jade Masogayo, who led the team with 17 points. “At the end of the day, a win is a win. We just came out, played hard, played as a team and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
The Lady Bears’ statement began early by scoring the game’s first 12 points. That differed from MSU’s 66-55 loss to Belmont on Jan. 26 in which the Bruins led 20-6 by the end of the first quarter.
It allowed Missouri State to control the game despite Belmont making a few comeback attempts throughout. Whenever it got close, the Lady Bears seemed to have a response. Belmont brought the game within three midway through the third quarter and only made one shot for the remainder of the period as MSU built its lead back up to 14.
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“I feel like in the locker room before the game, we just talked about being ready and staying focused on the task that was on the table,” said Kennedy Taylor, who scored 13 points with five rebounds and four assists. “I feel like we just did that and we came out and started swinging on all cylinders. I’m really proud of the team. This is a really, really big win.”
Missouri State built its lead up to as many as 23 in the fourth quarter. Lacy Stokes, who appears destined to win the Valley’s Newcomer of the Year honor, dictated the game’s pace as she scored 10 points with six boards and assists. MSU also dominated the boards with a 42-26 advantage when Belmont out-rebounded the Lady Bears 43-32 in their first meeting.
The defense was phenomenal while holding Belmont to 11 of 46 (23.9%) shooting from the field. It was, by far, Belmont’s worst offensive performance of the year. The Bruins’ previous fewest baskets made came against No. 5 Ohio State when they made 19. Their previous worst field goal percentage was against Mizzou when they made 33.3% of their shots.
Well over half of Belmont’s points came from the free throw line where it went 29 for 36. Jailyn Banks, the Bruins’ leading scorer this season, finished with 19 points with 17 of them coming from the line.
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“Our kids were really locked in and focused,” Cunningham said. “It was a recent sting and pretty fresh in their minds what their post players did to us last time. Our guards did a great job collectively. I thought we were a little more locked in on the scouting report and trying to take away the things they like to do from a personnel standpoint.”
The Lady Bears program is back where it belongs as a title contender. Cunningham was left with a pretty empty cupboard when she took over the program after Amaka Agugua-Hamilton’s departure. She turned in the biggest win of her MSU career on Friday night.
But as Cunningham tells her players: “You can’t get fat and happy. You have to be skinny and starving.”
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The Lady Bears can’t afford to lose the games they’re supposed to win and that starts Sunday with a 2 p.m. game against Murray State (14-6, 7-4) at Great Southern Bank Arena. It precedes a pair of games at Indiana State (8-13, 4-7) and Evansville (2-19, 0-10) on Feb. 15 and 17.
Three wins could set up what can ultimately be the Lady Bears’ best chance at claiming at least a share of the MVC when they visit Drake on Feb. 22 in their lone matchup of the regular season.
“We’re right there,” Cunningham said. “There’s still a lot of games to play and still a lot at stake moving forward. I always say ‘it doesn’t matter who you play, it all counts the same.’ This is obviously a great win for us but it’s a quick turnaround and we have another really good team coming in.”
Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or X at @WyattWheeler_NL.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri State Lady Bears beat Belmont in MVC women’s basketball
