SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State women's basketball (16-11, 8-6 CUSA) got back in the win column with a dominant 83-57 victory over Delaware (12-15, 6-9 CUSA) here on Saturday afternoon at Great Southern Bank Arena.
 
Lainie Douglas led the way for MoState with a spectacular 28-point, 12-rebound performance, both of which marked career highs. The sophomore was 10-for-13 from the field and a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line. Kaemyn Bekemeier posted 19 points and six rebounds, and in the first quarter she became the 32^nd Lady Bear in program history to reach 1,000 career points. Freshman Kendal Brueggen rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Lady Bears with 14 points and a career-high five assists.
 
After Delaware cut the Missouri State lead to six points right before the half, the Lady Bears started firing on all cylinders in the third quarter. With the lead sitting at nine points with 6:33 on the clock, Brueggen connected on a layup in the fastbreak that sparked an 11-0 Lady Bear run that JaNyla Bush capped with a trey to put the home squad up 20 points. A couple of Delaware free throws stopped the run, but Douglas and Brueggen responded with back-to-back and-1s to ultimately hold a 63-41 lead after three. The stifling Lady Bear defense held the Blue Hens without a field goal in the period as Delaware's eight points in the quarter all came at the charity stripe.
 
With 10 minutes still to play, Missouri State outscored Delaware 11-5 early in the fourth quarter to stretch the lead to a game-high 28 points. Fifth-year senior Angel Scott put the exclamation point on the end with five late points to help secure the 26-point, 83-57, win for the Lady Bears.
 
Both squads got off to a fast start in this one as MoState jumped out to a five-point lead in the early going. Delaware bounced back to grab the lead and the final 2:31 of the first quarter saw three ties and three lead changes. Leading by one after the first quarter, Brueggen knocked down a jumper to spark a 6-0 surge to begin the second and extend the lead out to seven points. After the Blue Hens pulled back within two points, it started raining threes inside Great Southern Bank Arena as Brueggen drained one followed by two treys from Bekemeier to put the lead in double figures for the first time in the game. However, Delaware answered with five straight points late in the half to make it a two-possession game at the intermission, 39-33.

As a squad, Missouri State dished out a season-high 22 assists and posted its highest free throw percentage of the year at 91.3 percent (at least 10 FTA). MoState led 40-12 in bench points, 32-14 in the paint and 19-8 in points off turnovers after forcing 19 Blue Hen turnovers on the day.
 
Missouri State continues with its third game of a four-game home stand. The Lady Bears host Sam Houston on Tuesday (Feb. 24) in a game that was rescheduled from earlier in the season. Tipoff at Great Southern Bank Arena is set for 6:30 p.m. and the game will stream on ESPN+.