Lady Bears Set to Duel Blue Raiders and Lady Toppers

Thursday, February 5

Springfield, Mo.

6:30 p.m.

Missouri State University

Middle Tennessee

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Lady Bears Set to Duel Blue Raiders and Lady Toppers

February 03, 2026 | Women's Basketball

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Missouri State Lady Bears (13-8, 5-3 CUSA)
Date and Time	Thursday, February 5 vs. Middle Tennessee \| 6:30 p.m. Saturday, February 7 vs. Western Kentucky \| 1:00 p.m.
Location	Great Southern Bank Arena \| Springfield, Mo.
Game 1	Thursday, February 5 vs. Middle Tennessee \| 6:30 p.m. Watch (ESPN+) \| Live Stats \| Varsity Network \| Tickets \| Listen Live (93.3 FM)
Game 2	Saturday, February 7 vs. Western Kentucky \| 1:00 p.m. Watch (ESPN+) \| Live Stats \| Varsity Network \| Tickets \| Listen Live (93.7 FM)
Missouri State	Game Notes (vs. Middle Tennessee) \| Digital Program Game Notes (vs. Western Kentucky) \| Digital Program Women's Basketball Home Page \| Media Guide
Promotions	Feb. 5 \| National Girls and Women in Sports Day Feb. 7 \| 2001 Final Four 25th Anniversary \| Alumni Day \| Play4Kay Pink Game \| SAAC Food Drive 2025-26 Promo Calendar
Opponents	Middle Tennessee \| Western Kentucky
Follow the Lady Bears	Twitter \| Instagram \| Facebook \| #LadyBears \| #WeAreMoState
Bears Mobile App	App Store (Apple Devices) \| Google Play Store (Android Devices)

The Lady Bear Necessities

Missouri State women's basketball is coming off a 60-54 win over Middle Tennessee on Thursday night. The Lady Bears welcome Western Kentucky on Saturday afternoon (1 p.m., ESPN+). MoState will celebrate alumni day and celebrate the 25th anniversary of the 2000-01 Final Four team.
Saturday's meeting will mark the ninth meeting between the squads with the series tied at 4-4. MoState is 3-2 against the Lady Toppers in Springfield, and the Lady Bears won the most recent meeting back in Dec. 2023 by one point, 69-68.
Head coach Beth Cunningham earned her 250th career victory on Thursday night with the Lady Bears' win over Middle Tennessee.
Kaemyn Bekemeier leads MoState this season with 18.1 ppg, 8.4 rpg and 39 three-pointers. She leads CUSA in total points (399) and is third in defensive rebounds per game (7.0). The 5-9 guard has scored in double figures in a team-leading 20 of 22 games on the season. She eclipsed 900 career points at Liberty and is 74 points away from 1,000 for her career. Bekemeier leads the league with 19.6 points per game against CUSA foes.
The second member of MoState's dynamic duo Lainie Douglas (So., Overland Park, Kan.) is averaging 13.1 points per game, 6.4 rebounds per game and leads the team with a .529 FG% in CUSA games. She owns 29 blocks on the season, which is tied for first in Conference USA.
As a team, Missouri State ranks inside the top 10 nationally in: free throw made/game (7th - 17.2) and free throw attempts/game (9th - 23.3). The Lady Bears lead CUSA and rank 86th nationally in FT% at 74.0 percent. Bekemeier ranks inside the top 20 nationally in FTM (9th - 120) and FTA (18th - 146).
In the Cunningham era, Missouri State is 53-7 when scoring 70+ points, 60-4 when holding opponents to 65 points or less and 45-0 when opponents score less than 60 points. Missouri State is 0-4 this season when allowing 70 or more points.
Missouri State is 58-11 in the month of February since the 2016-17 season and this year's Lady Bears' schedule features nine games in February, the most since the 1992-93 season.
Tale of Two Halves - MoState is -31 on the scoreboard in the first half this season, but flips the switch at the break to own a +99 point differential against its opponents in the second half of games.
Battle on the Boards - MoState is 13-1 this season when out-rebounding opponents, but is just 1-7 when losing the battle on the boards.
MoState is currently 138 in the NET ranking, which ranks second amongst CUSA teams (Louisiana Tech - 84). Western Kentucky currently ranks 308, which is 12th in the league.