SPRINGVILLE, Mo. — BYU women’s basketball fell to the Missouri State Lady Bears 56-55 at Great Southern Bank Arena in the Lady Bear Classic on Wednesday evening.
The Cougars had three players score in double figures with Lauren Davenport leading the way with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting. The junior from Idaho Falls went 3-for-4 from behind the arc while also adding three rebounds and an assist to her stat line.
Lauren Gustin notched her 66th career double-double as she scored 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting, grabbed 13 rebounds and dished four assists. Kailey Woolston was the third Cougar in double figures with 11 points, four rebounds and three assists.
First Quarter
Gustin opened the scoring with buckets on two of the Cougars’ first three possessions followed by a jump-hook from Calvert. After another miss by the Lady Bears Woolston and Whiting connected on back-to-back triples to take a 12-4 lead with 6:16 left in the opening quarter.
After an 8-5 Missouri State run that trimmed the BYU lead to five, Davenport found Gustin for a scoop-and-score with 2:31 to go in the period. The Lady Bears cut the deficit to three before a back-door layup by Smiler with 58 seconds to go secured a five-point advantage going into the second.
Second Quarter
MSU again cut the lead to three just 59 seconds into the second period but a kick-out three from Davenport, assisted by Whiting, retook a three-point lead with 7:12 remaining in the half. The seesaw continued with BYU and trading baskets over the next four minutes with the Cougars leading 35-20 with 2:18 left.
Following two Missouri State free throws, a jumper from Jade Masogayo gave the Lady Bears their first lead since the 8:37 mark of the first quarter. With 14 seconds remaining in the quarter, MSU’s Angel Scott hit a right-corner three to cap a 7-0 run and take a 32-30 lead into the break.
Third Quarter
After trading baskets and trailing 35-37, Davenport hit back-to-back triples to retake the lead at 41-37 with 5:21 left in the third quarter.
With 3:20 left in the third, the Lady Bears went on an 8-0 run to take a four-point lead with 40 seconds to go. Woolston earned a trip to the line where she made both free throws to draw BYU within two with 10 minutes to play.
Fourth Quarter
The Lady Bears scored six-straight points to open the fourth quarter before a layup by Calvert settled the Cougars down with 7:20 to play. Out of a BYU timeout, Amber Whiting drew up a baseline inbounds play for Woolston who knocked down a baseline jumper to draw within four.
After an MSU score, Whiting blew by the defender to score off the glass and again climb within four with 4:25 left. Gustin pulled BYU within two with a mid-post jump-hook with 2:07 to play, the slimmest lead for the Lady Bears since the 26-second mark of the third quarter.
Neither team made a field goal in the final 2:07 but with one second remaining, Whiting drew a foul and went to the line down by two. She missed the front end but made the second. MSU inbounded the ball and drained the clock and down the Cougars 56-55.
BYU will be back on the court tomorrow at noon CT as the Cougars take on the Nevada Wolfpack in their final game at the Missouri State Lasy Bear Classic. The game between Nevada and BYU will not be streamed on ESPN+ but fans can tune into live play-by-play of the Cougars and Wolfpack on BYU Radio 107.9 FM or BYU Radio.org/BYU Radio app with Jason Shepherd on the call.