SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State women's basketball (17-5, 9-2 MVC) got back into the win column with a 76-61 victory over Indiana State (3-19, 1-10 MVC) here Friday night at Great Southern Bank Arena. 
 
After leading by just five points at the half, the Lady Bears surrendered the first bucket of the third quarter as Indiana State made it a one-possession game. But the home squad came together and answered promptly with an 11-0 surge comprised of points from Paige Rocca, Lainie Douglas and Kiley Bess to push the MoState lead back out to 14 points. The Sycamores didn't go away quietly as they chipped away with eight consecutive points, but that's when the fifth-year senior Rocca showed her leadership and stepped up when the Lady Bears needed it most. With the Lady Bears leading by six, Rocca scored the next six points, consisting of five free throws and a tough and-1 conversion to make it 52-40 in favor of Missouri State. 
 
Holding an 11-point lead with a quarter to play, Rocca scored the first basket of the fourth before Indiana State made its final push. The Sycamores strung together a 7-1 run to cut MSU's lead back to seven points at the 6:46 mark, but that's as close as they would get. Rocca knocked down a free throw to halt the run and then Lacy Stokes, who came back into the game in the second half, reeled off five straight points to put this one out of reach. From there, the teams swapped points as Douglas' final basket of the night gave Missouri State its largest lead at 15 points with just 0:36 remaining as the Lady Bears remained unbeaten at home. 
 
The first half saw a much closer ballgame with four lead changes and seven ties in the first 20 minutes. In Douglas' first-career start, she was the spark for the Lady Bears early, scoring the first nine points of the game for MoState. Throughout the last five minutes of the first quarter, different buckets from Kyrah Daniels, Rocca and Stokes put the Lady Bear advantage at four points. 
 
In the second quarter, the game saw five ties and two lead changes as neither team owned more than a two-point advantage until the 0:47 mark. That's when Rocca connected on her second triple of the evening to give Missouri State the 35-30 lead going into the intermission. 
 
Rocca led the way for Missouri State on the night with 21 points, matching her career high, and a team-high five assists. Douglas followed with a career-high 20 points (9-13 FG) while matching her career high mark of nine rebounds. Stokes was the third Lady Bear in double figures with 16 points and a team-high five assists. 
 
As a unit, the Lady Bears forced 20 Sycamore turnovers, turning those mishaps into 21 points. Missouri State shot .397 (25-63) from the field, .250 from three (6-24) and .667 from the line (20-30).
 
Missouri State will be back at home on Sunday, February 9 against Evansville. Tipoff against the Purple Aces is set for 2:00 p.m. and the game will stream on ESPN+. The game will serve as the Lady Bears' annual Play4Kay game honoring those impacted by breast cancer – fans are encouraged to wear pink.