The Seminoles’ deep threat is too great for the Lady Bears

ST. THOMAS, US VI – Missouri State women’s basketball fell to 4-2 this season with a 97-66 loss to Florida State (7-1) here Friday night in the second game of the Paradise Jam.

It was a tough game for the Lady Bears as they fell behind early and never took the lead in the game. Six of Florida State’s first seven field goals came from behind the arc, giving the Seminoles an 18-11 lead. Kaemyn Bekemeier responded with MSU’s first triple of the night to cut the Lady Bear deficit to four points, but an FSU jumper with 0:30 remaining gave the Seminoles a 20-14 lead after one.

In a two-possession game early in the second quarter, the shots kept falling for the Seminoles as they went on a 13-2 run to take a 33-16 lead over the Lady Bears with 5:56 left. MSU began to settle in offensively, allowing just five FSU points over the remainder of the quarter. Lainie Douglas And Lacy Stokes They connected on consecutive throws to end the FSU run and begin chipping away at the lead. Bekemeier trailed by 15 points later in the quarter and contributed four points Paige Rocca hit a triple to cut the Lady Bear deficit to just nine points. After a Florida State bucket, Kiley Bess had one more layup to go before Douglas closed the half with a wide-open look in the paint on the final possession, making it 38-31 at the break.

Just as Missouri State was able to muster some momentum early in the half, Florida State grabbed the momentum right at the start of the third quarter. The Seminoles went on a 9-0 run to start the second half, with Ta’Niya Latson (21 points, 7:13 FG) scoring seven to extend their lead back to 16 points. Rocca finally hit three free throws at the line after being fouled on a three-point attempt, then connected with her second triple of the night about 10 seconds later to pull the Lady Bears back to within 12 points. However, that’s as close as the Lady Bears ever came to in the second half as FSU continued to block shots.

The following three points Sarah Linthacum and a Bekemeier trey at 3:08, FSU’s lead continued to fluctuate between 15 and 17 points for the remainder of the period, while Missouri State trailed 68-51 early in the fourth quarter. It was a similar story in the final period as the Lady Bears were unable to score points or get the stops they needed. Florida State finished the game with a 15-1 run, six of which came from charity stripes, handing MSU its first loss of the Paradise Jam tournament.

Linthacum led MSU with 11 points, while Bekemeier and Rocca joined in double figures with 10 points each. Bess was the team’s rebound leader with eight goals, nine points and four assists.

As a team, Missouri State outscored the Seminoles 41-39, including 14-9 on offense. MSU shot 40 percent (25-63), 26 percent from beyond the arc (5-19) and 58 percent from the line (11-19), while FSU was 50 percent (34-68) from the field, 47 percent ( 14-30) from three and 83 percent (15-18) from the charity.

Missouri State will conclude the Paradise Jam tomorrow (November 30) with a matchup against Texas Tech. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. CT and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.

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