HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Missouri State women's basketball (15-9, 7-4 CUSA) suffered a 74-67 loss at Sam Houston (15-7, 8-3 CUSA) here on Thursday night.
 
Kaemyn Bekemeier paced the Lady Bears with a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double, while Lainie Douglas also posted a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Faith Lee was the final Lady Bear in double digits with 13 points.
 
After leading by nine at the break and going up by 11 on the first possession of the second half, Missouri State saw their lead slip away in the third quarter. Back-to-back Bekemeier layups pushed the Lady Bears' lead to a game-high 12 points with 6:30 on the clock, but foul trouble started to plague MoState. Up 11 points at the 4:51 mark, Sam Houston reeled off a 14-3 run to end the third and tie the game at 50-50 heading into the final period.
 
With this one coming down to the final 10 minutes, Lee scored MoState's first five points of the quarter to give the Lady Bears a four-point lead. The next two minutes and change saw three ties and a lead change with the game tied 58-58 with 6:19 left to play. From there, Sam Houston grabbed the advantage with a bucket and put the Lady Bears down four with 4:20 remaining. Kendal Brueggen gave the Lady Bears some life with a trey to cut it to a one-point deficit, but that's as close as MoState would ultimately get as the Bearkats got a couple of free throws and a triple to fall to push it to a two-possession game. Sam Houston then iced the game at the free throw line as MoState was forced to foul late.
 
In the second half, MoState was called for 21 fouls and turned the ball over 20 times as they were outscored 16 points in the final 20 minutes.
 
It was a good start to the game for the Lady Bears as they got the first bucket of the night and then a few minutes later, MoState's duo of Douglas and Maiesha Washington in the post scored three consecutive buckets to make it a six-point advantage. Sam Houston grabbed the lead back later in the period with a 9-0 run to put the Bearkats ahead by five, but two Bekemeier free throws to end the quarter made it a one-possession game at the end of the first, 18-15.
 
Sam Houston struck first in the second quarter, but Bekemeier and Douglas quickly erased the deficit and knotted the game at 20-20 with 8:42 on the clock in the second. With the lead back in the hands of the home squad, the trio of Lee, Washington and Brueggen reeled off six straight points to flip the lead back to the visiting Lady Bears. After Bearkat free throws tied the game at 28-28, Bekemeier sparked a big 9-0 run that was capped by an Audrey Hopkins triple. MoState connected on its last four field goal attempts of the half to lead by nine, 39-30, at the intermission.
 
Missouri State out-rebounded Sam Houston 47-26, but the difference-maker in this one was in turnovers and free throws. The Lady Bears turned the ball over 28 times in the game which led to 41 points for Sam Houston, and the Bearkats went to the free throw line 33 times in the contest compared to 17 attempts for MoState.
 
The Lady Bears have a quick turnaround as they travel to first-place Louisiana Tech on Saturday, Feb. 14. Tipoff against the Lady Techsters is set for 1:00 p.m. and the game will stream on ESPN+.