FORT MYERS, Fla. – Missouri State women’s basketball (6-2) got back in the win column with a 77-56 victory over Coppin State (1-7) to close out the GEICO Coconut Hoops tournament.
The win marked the 75th victory for head coach Beth Cunningham at the helm of the Lady Bears.
The Lady Bears were led by Cady Pauley who poured in a career-high 23 points (8-11 FG, 5-6 3FG) in addition to grabbing three rebounds and dishing out three assists. Lainie Douglas followed with a 19-point (7-9 FG, 5-7 FT) performance. Kaemyn Bekemeier was the final Lady Bear in double figures with 13 points and four rebounds.
After three lead changes early in the first quarter, Pauley sparked a run that changed the course of the game. With MoState trailing by four at the 5:34 mark of the first, Pauley drained back-to-back triples to swing the lead back to the Lady Bears and they never relinquished it.
Freshman Kendal Brueggen knocked down a trey to open the second period and extend the MoState lead to seven points. The second quarter was highlighted by a stretch that featured Missouri State’s second wave of players off the bench. After CSU had cut the lead to two points, the group consisting of JaNyla Bush, Brueggen, Zoe Canfield, Audrey Hopkins and Maiesha Washington, held the Eagles to one point over a four-minute period. A few minutes later, buckets from Maycee James and Douglas pushed the Lady Bears’ lead to double figures for the first time before surrendering a bucket to end the half.
Leading by eight at the intermission, Missouri State outscored CSU 45-32 in the second half. Both squads knocked down five three-pointers across the final 20 minutes, as MoState shot .538 from the field (14-26).
Missouri State went on a 6-0 run to end the third quarter, leading by 14 as the game entered the final period. The Lady Bears slowly extended their lead throughout the fourth period, eventually stretching it to a game-high 21-point advantage with 1:39 left on the clock. Douglas and Pauley each posted 13 points in the second half, shooting a combined 8-for-11 from the field.
As a team, the Lady Bears outscored the Eagles 26-18 in the paint and 18-17 in points off turnovers. MoState shot 50 percent (28-56) from the field, 47 percent (9-19) from three and 71 percent (12-17) from the charity stripe.
The Lady Bears are back on the road later this week as they travel to Tulane on Thursday, Dec. 4. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. and the game will stream on ESPN+.
