SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State women's basketball (7-3) dropped a close contest to Kansas (8-2) in overtime, 73-70, here Sunday afternoon at Great Southern Bank Arena. The loss marked just the seventh loss at home in the Beth Cunningham era.
 
Missouri State was led by its dynamic duo of Kaemyn Bekemeier and Lainie Douglas. Bekemeier poured in a team-high 21 points, marking her fourth 20-point performance of the season, and grabbed six rebounds. Douglas added 17 points on 7-for-12 from the field and came up just shy of a double-double after pulling down nine rebounds.
 
After leading by as many as 13 points in the third quarter, Missouri State allowed Kansas to chip away at the double-figure lead throughout the remainder of the second half. The Jayhawks cut their deficit to four points in the third period, before MoState stretched it back out to a seven-point advantage as the game entered the final frame.
 
In the fourth, Maiesha Washington connected on a layup to give the Lady Bears a nine-point lead early, but that's when the offense went cold. Missouri State was held without a field goal for over eight minutes, scoring seven points at the charity stripe during that span. Meanwhile, the Jayhawks hit two triples in the quarter and S'Mya Nichols scored 10 of KU's 18 points in the quarter, including the last four points of the frame, to send the game to overtime.
 
In the five-minute overtime period, the two squads traded points with a Kansas layup tying the game at 67-67 with 1:49 remaining. Two free throws from the Jayhawks gave the visitors a two-point advantage with 1:19 left in the game and from there, with neither team finding the bottom of the net, MoState was forced to foul down the stretch. Bekemeier connected on her fourth trey of the afternoon to make it a one possession game with 0:04 left, but after a KU trip to the free throw line, the Lady Bears didn't have time to get a shot off with no timeouts remaining.
 
It was a close game all day in Springfield, as the first half featured seven ties and six lead changes. The Jayhawks had momentum early in the first period, stretching their lead to five points on three different occasions. But a Bekemeier triple and Maycee James layup to end the first period knotted the game at 14-14.
 
Missouri State flipped the script in the second stanza, holding the lead most of the period. A 10-3 run helped the Lady Bears take the lead by five points before KU retook the lead at the 1:11 mark of the second period. Following two more ties, a JaNyla Bush free throw changed the lead back into the hands of MoState and then with time expiring in the first half, Bekemeier launched a three from deep and nailed it to carry a 33-29 lead into the intermission.
 
The Lady Bears took their biggest lead of the day in the third period at 13 points after opening the second half on a 13-4 run. Kansas quickly answered with a 9-0 surge to start mounting its second-half comeback.
 
As a team, Missouri State won the battle on the boards, 45-35, and turned 14 Kansas turnovers into 17 points. The Lady Bears shot .379 (22-58) from the field, .438 (7-16) from three and .731 (19-26) from the charity stripe.
 
Missouri State will be back at home on Saturday, Dec. 13 as the Lady Bears host Arkansas. Tipoff is set for 1:00 p.m. and will stream on ESPN+. Fans are encouraged to wear white and there will be a halftime performance from the Amazing Tyler Balancing Act. Fall 2025 graduates may bring a graduation souvenir to redeem a free ticket and purchase $2 off companion tickets in the lower bowl baseline and corner sections.