HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Missouri State women's basketball (21-12) outlasted FIU (20-11) in the semifinals, defeating the Panthers 74-69 to advance to the CUSA Women's Basketball Championship title game.
 
The Lady Bears will play in their 18^th conference tournament championship game in program history and the second under Beth Cunningham. The last time the Lady Bears appeared in the title game was 2023-24. The win also marked Cunningham's 90^th victory at the helm of Missouri State.
 
Kaemyn Bekemeier led the way with 22 points, followed by Lainie Douglas with 17 points. JaNyla Bush and Kendal Brueggen were the final two Lady Bears in double figures with 12 points each, and Maiesha Washington led the game with 11 rebounds.
 
After leading by 10 points heading into the fourth quarter, the Lady Bears continued to build their lead over the first part of the fourth quarter, pushing it to a game-high 15 points with 6:42 left in the game. Despite the big lead, FIU had one final push left in it that the Lady Bears had to sustain down the stretch.
 
With the lead at 10 with 2:08 left, the Lady Bears turned the ball over a few times which allowed FIU to quickly cut the Mo State lead in half with 0:53 on the clock. Following a Bush free throw, the Panthers reeled off five more points to make it a one-point game with 0:38 left. From there, Missouri State converted its opportunities at the free throw line to ice the game and win by five.
 
It was a back-and-forth start to this one as both teams got settled in, and then just under the halfway point of the first the Lady Bears found a groove. Brueggen hit a three to kickstart an 11-0 run that spanned the remainder of the opening period. Brueggen had seven points herself in that run, along with Bush and Bekemeier layups to lead by 10 points, 18-8, after a quarter in Huntsville.
 
Missouri State pushed the lead to as many as 13 points in the second quarter, but it was the Panthers' turn to make a surge as they took advantage of Lady Bear mishaps and reeled off 11 straight points. With the Mo State lead down to two points, the Lady Bears righted the ship as they went on an 8-2 run to end the first half, carrying a 36-28 advantage into the intermission. Douglas scored nine points on 4-of-5 from the field in the second period, and Bekemeier led all scorers in the first half with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
 
Both squads traded buckets to start the third before Bush and Brueggen added five quick points to make it a 12-point advantage. Then Douglas and Cady Pauley each added layups to push it to 14 points, and the Lady Bears were able to hold onto a double-digit lead heading into the halftime break.
 
Missouri State advances to tomorrow's (March 14) championship game against No. 1 seed Louisiana Tech. Tipoff is set for 4:30 p.m. and the game will be on CBS Sports Network.