SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State women's basketball earned a 75-52 victory over Western Kentucky here on Saturday afternoon at Great Southern Bank Arena to cap a 2-0 weekend at home.
 
Kaemyn Bekemeier once again led the way for the Lady Bears with 21 points, marking her 11^th 20-point performance of the season. Freshman Kendal Brueggen matched her career best with 16 points, 13 of which came in the fourth quarter. Lainie Douglas and Faith Lee rounded out MoState's double-digit scorers with 10 each, while Douglas pulled down a game-high eight rebounds.
 
The Lady Bears (15-8, 7-3 CUSA) got off to a scorching hot start on their home floor, outscoring the Lady Toppers 21-3 in the first period. After WKU's bucket to tie the game at 3-3 with 8:04 on the clock, Missouri State didn't surrender another point in the frame as the Lady Bears reeled off 18 straight points in that span. The big run was highlighted by three total triples from Bekemeier and JaNyla Bush and four points from senior Faith Lee. The Lady Bears held Western Kentucky (5-17, 1-10 CUSA) to just .077 (1-13) from the field in the opening frame.
 
The second quarter was polar opposite from the first, as WKU scored the first five points and knocked down three treys in the quarter to shrink the MoState lead to as little as four points. With about 30 seconds remaining in the first half, Lee found the bottom of the basket on a layup to make it a six-point game at the break, 33-27, in favor of the Lady Bears.
 
Out of the intermission, MoState stretched the lead back out to double figures early, but WKU hung around as the squads traded short runs back and forth. With the MoState lead sitting at five points, Brueggen drained a three to spark a 5-0 run and set the stage for what would be a great fourth-quarter performance for the freshman.
 
Leading by 10 with 9:35 left in the game, Brueggen got a layup and a three to fall to jumpstart the MoState surge. She scored eight points of a 10-0 run to put Missouri State up 18 points. A short time later, Brueggen capped a 7-0 run with her third trey of the quarter to make it a 22-point lead for the home squad. Then, fifth-year senior Angel Scott provided the exclamation point on the victory with a triple to send the Lady Bear bench and home crowd up in a roar as MoState earned the 75-52 win.
 
Missouri State dominated on the glass for the second straight game, winning the rebounding battle 43-24 overall and 17-8 on the offensive boards. Offensively, the Lady Bears made their most three-pointers of the season with 10 buckets from beyond the arc (10-18, .556).  
 
The Lady Bears return to the road next week for games at Sam Houston (Feb. 12, 6:30 p.m.) and Louisiana Tech (Feb. 14, 1:00 p.m.).