BATON ROUGE, La. – Missouri State women’s basketball improved to 25-7 on the season and advanced to the First Round of the NCAA Tournament following a 61-50 victory against Florida State on Thursday night in Baton Rouge.
Missouri State jumped out to a fast start, which was spearheaded by five consecutive points from senior Mya Bhinhar to begin the game. Following a Sydney Wilson layup to make it 7-0, Florida State scored their first point of the night at the free throw line.
From there, fifth-year senior Abi Jackson knocked down her first bucket of the night to spark another 7-0 run by the Lady Bears, giving MSU a 14-1 lead with 3:49 remaining in the first quarter. The Lady Bear defense held the Seminole offense in check, not allowing an FSU field goal until the 3:32 mark of the first.
However, once FSU connected on the bucket, the Seminoles scored six consecutive points to cut the MSU lead to seven points. Both teams then swapped four points each to give the Lady Bears an 18-11 lead after the first 10 minutes.
All of MSU points in the first quarter came courtesy of Bhinhar, Jackson and Wilson. Sixth-year senior Brice Calip surpassed 700 career rebounds with two boards in the first quarter.
Opposite of the first quarter, the second quarter belonged to the Seminoles. Florida State followed their 4-0 run to end the first with 15 straight points, 11 of which came at the free throw line, out of the quarter break.
Missouri State finally broke through with 3:01 remaining in the half as Ifunanya Nwachukwu scored a layup off of a Paige Rocca assist. Nwachukwu’s layup sparked a 6-0 MSU run to cut the Seminole lead back to two points. After a Florida State three-pointer, Bhinhar reeled off her second 5-0 run of the game, featuring a three-pointer with :16 remaining, to tie the game at 29-29 heading into the half.
Bhinhar had a game high 12 points and six rebounds in the first half, while Wilson and Jackson contributed seven and six first-half points, respectively.
After a Missouri State free throw and a Florida State layup to begin the second half, MSU scored 10 consecutive points in what would be a crucial third quarter, with the final six points of the run coming via graduate transfer Mariah White. With the Lady Bears up nine points, both teams scored swapped baskets with the MSU lead staying between five and seven points.
MSU made an important run at the end of the third quarter, scoring six points courtesy of Nwachukwu, White and Jennifer Ezeh to take an 11-point, 50-39 lead into the final quarter.
Florida State punched back, with Makayla Timpson scoring the first five points in the fourth period to cut MSU’s lead to six points. The Lady Bears had a quick answer, however, as Calip, White and Wilson used a 7-0 scoring spurt to extend the lead to 13 points.
Missouri State remained in control for the final 2:42 and secured the 61-50 victory in Baton Rouge to advance to the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.
Bhinhar led the way for MSU with 12 points on the night in addition to grabbing six boards. Wilson and White each racked up 11 points, with White logging a game high five steals. Nwachukwu was the final Lady Bear in double figures with 10 points, while tying for the team lead with seven rebounds. With the win, the Lady Bears now own a 19-16 record in the NCAA Tournament.
Missouri State will be back in action on Saturday, March 19 as they face sixth-seeded Ohio State (23-6) at 1:30 p.m. CT. The game is set to air on ESPNU.
