HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Missouri State women's basketball (20-12) defeated No. 3 seed Middle Tennessee (16-15) in the quarterfinals of the CUSA Women's Basketball Championship, 69-66, on Thursday afternoon. The win secured Missouri State's ninth consecutive 20-win season.
 
The Lady Bears had four players in double figures, paced by Kaemyn Bekemeier with 15 points and 11 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season. Faith Lee and Kendal Brueggen each posted 14 points, and Maiesha Washington poured in 13 points and dished out a career-high seven assists with no turnovers.
 
Missouri State led wire-to-wire in the quarterfinal victory as the Lady Bears forced 15 turnovers and turned those into 24 points. The Lady Bears won the battle in the paint (34-28) and in bench points (22-9).
 
The Lady Bears grabbed the early lead and never looked back after Lee hit the first couple of buckets of the game. After going up by six, a JaNyla Bush jumper, Brueggen layup and a Bush three pushed the lead to nine points. MTSU got the final bucket of the first to cut the Lady Bear lead to seven.
 
The Blue Raiders hit the first two baskets of the second quarter to pull within three, but then Missouri State reeled off a 13-2 run to go up by a game-high 14 points. The run was highlighted by a Bekemeier three that capped the surge. MTSU kept fighting back and chipping away, finishing the half on a 9-2 run to make it a 35-28 game in favor of Missouri State at the intermission.
 
Out of the half, Missouri State pushed the lead back to double digits at the 7:00 mark of the period. Then, Washington converted an and-1 and Brueggen got a layup to fall to stretch it to 12 points. The two squads then traded possessions back and forth, and MTSU once again had the final shot of the quarter fall to cut the Lady Bear lead to nine points, 55-46.
 
Missouri State made a statement to open the fourth, as Brueggen got a jumper to fall and Bekemeier hit two free throws to stretch it back to 13 points. The Blue Raiders didn't go away quietly, though, as they continued to cut into the Lady Bear lead. With under a minute to play and the Mo State lead at eight, an MTSU jumper and three made it a single-possession game. Brueggen then came up clutch on a play that almost had two turnovers, snatching the ball and hitting the layup and drawing the foul to extend the lead back to six. Another late three for the Blue Raiders made it a three-point game again, but the Missouri State defense locked it down and didn't let MTSU get a shot off on the final possession to secure the win.
 
The Lady Bears advance to tomorrow's semifinal matchup against No. 2 seed FIU. The game is set to tipoff at 8:00 p.m. and will stream on ESPN+.