PEORIA, Ill. – Missouri State women's basketball (16-4, 8-1 MVC) earned a 73-62 road victory at Bradley (8-12, 2-7 MVC) on Friday night. 
 
After a three for Bradley to open the game, Missouri State reeled off nine straight points to force an early Braves timeout. Out of the timeout, the Lady Bears found some success from beyond the arc, with Paige Rocca, Cady Pauley and Kaemyn Bekemeier all connecting on triples to push the MoState lead to 20-13 with 1:27 remaining. Bradley answered with a trey, but Zoe Stewart scored the last bucket of the period on a pull-up jumper to put the Lady Bears ahead by six points. 
 
Bradley once again kicked off the scoring in the second period, but then Missouri State locked in on both ends of the floor. Sarah Linthacum sparked a 12-2 Lady Bears run over a four-minute span to push the lead to 34-20. Both squads then went cold, before Bradley connected on a couple of buckets to get back within single digits. Again, the Lady Bears struck last as Bekemeier drove to the basket and gave MoState the 36-25 advantage at the intermission.
 
Out of the break, both squads came out firing as Bradley outscored the Lady Bears by one in the quarter, 23-22, on 60 percent (9-15 FG) shooting from the field. However, Missouri State countered with a 71 percent (10-14 FG) shooting performance in the third to maintain a 10-point advantage as the game entered the final period. The freshman Lainie Douglas put on a clinic in the third with 11 points on a perfect 5-for-5 from the field as she helped MoState stay out in front in a crucial quarter. 
 
The Braves cut the deficit to eight points with the first bucket of the fourth, but Kyrah Daniels hit her second triple of the night to spark a quick 6-0 surge. With the Lady Bear lead at 12 points, a Bekemeier free throw and Daniels layup gave MoState its largest lead of the night at 15 points with 6:30 to play. Missouri State would keep it steady the rest of the way and grab an 11-point road win to improve to 8-1 in league play.
 
Douglas had a career performance, setting a new career mark with 17 points on 8-for-10 FG in 15 minutes off the bench, including 15 points on a perfect 7-for-7 in the second half. Linthacum followed with 13 points and seven rebounds, while Daniels posted 12 points, five boards and a team-high five assists. Bekemeier was the fourth and final Lady Bear in double figures with 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds. 
 
As a team, Missouri State took advantage of Bradley mishaps as the Lady Bears scored 21 points off of 12 Braves turnovers. MoState also dominated in the paint, 46-24, and in bench points, 32-7, while shooting 50 percent (32-64) from the field for the game. Under Beth Cunningham, the Lady Bears are 43-1 when holding opponents to 65 points or less.
 
Missouri State stays on the road to take on Illinois State on Sunday, February 2. Tipoff against the Redbirds is set for 2:00 p.m. and the game will stream on ESPN+.