SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State women's basketball secured a 63-47 victory over Jacksonville State behind 31 points from Kaemyn Bekemeier here on Saturday afternoon at Great Southern Bank Arena for its fourth consecutive win.
 
The win marked the 80^th victory for head coach Beth Cunningham at the helm of the Missouri State Lady Bears. Her squad also improved to 43-0 under her leadership when holding opponents under the 60-point mark.
 
Bekemeier once again set a new career best, this time logging her first career 30-point performance with 31 points on an efficient 11-for-16 from the field (7-11FT). She also matched her career high with 14 rebounds, marking her 5^th double-double of the season (second consecutive). She is one of just two Lady Bears since 1999-00 to post at least 31 points and 14 rebounds in a game (Casey Garrison, 2009-10). Her performance marked MoState's first 30-point scorer since Abi Jackson in the 2021-22 season and is one of just five such stat lines in NCAA Division I this season.
 
Lainie Douglas also had a career day, securing a career-high 11 rebounds to add to her 12 points for her second consecutive double-double. The sophomore also blocked a career-high five shots, the most by a Lady Bear since Jade Masogayo during the 2022-23 season. Faith Lee rounded out MoState's double-digit scorers with 12 points on the afternoon.
 
After trailing by three at the half, Missouri State put together a stellar third quarter on both ends of the floor. The Lady Bears surrendered a triple to open the third, but wouldn't allow a field goal for the duration of the period. Douglas got the MoState surge started with a fastbreak layup to set up an 18-1 run by MoState. The run flipped the script and took the Lady Bears from down six points to up 11 points at the end of the frame, 47-36. Missouri State limited Jax State to 1-for-13 (.077) from the field and 1-for-7 (.143) from three in the third to take control of the game.
 
MoState maintained the momentum through the fourth quarter, never letting the lead dip below 10 and stretching its lead to a game-high 18 points with 0:50 left in the game. The Lady Bears held the Gamecocks to just 15 points in the second half on 2-for-19 (.105) from the field.
 
The first half saw a much closer contest that featured six lead changes and three ties. Jax State threw the first punch, starting the game on a 6-0 run before MoState could settle in. Over three minutes into the game, Douglas got the Lady Bears on the board and back-to-back Lee jumpers knotted the game at 6-6.
 
From that point, Bekemeier took over and it became evident she could have a career game. The 5-9 junior guard scored MoState's final seven points of the quarter, including three at the free throw line after being fouled on a half-court heave as time expired.
 
Leading by one after a period, the game stayed close throughout the second frame. After back-to-back buckets gave MoState a two-point lead with 2:59 on the clock, Jax State put together a 7-0 run to stretch its lead out to a game-high five points with under two minutes left in the half. Cady Pauley and Bekemeier each hit shots to make it a one possession game in the final minutes as the Lady Bears trailed 32-29 at the break. Bekemeier scored 12 of Missouri State's 16 points in the second quarter and had 19 points and eight rebounds at the intermission.
 
Missouri State is back on the road next week for Conference USA matchups at UTEP (Thursday, Jan. 15) and New Mexico State (Saturday, Jan. 17). Tipoff in El Paso is set for 8:00 p.m. CT and the game will stream on ESPN+.