This story will be updated.
AUSTIN, Texas — Missouri State’s lead was just four in a taut, up-tempo second quarter when head coach Beth Cunningham opted to go deep into her bench.
Angel Scott wasn’t usually in the Lady Bears’ early rotation, but the former Stephen F. Austin guard found herself on the floor against her former team in an NCAA Tournament setting on Wednesday at Moody Arena.
When Scott’s 3-pointer at the top of the key went down two minutes before halftime to extend Missouri State’s lead to seven, Scott wore a Texas-sized grin as she backpedaled to the defensive end of the court.
Her teammates exhibited similar elation after the 16th-seeded Lady Bears proceeded to extend that lead and take down the 16th-seeded and Southland Conference Tournament champion Lumberjacks 85-75 in the First Four to advance to the Round of 64.
Missouri State (23-12) moves on to face No. 1 seed and opening-round host Texas (31-3) on Friday at 3 p.m. on ESPN.
It took the Conference USA Tournament champions’ highest scoring output of the season to get a shot at the national power Longhorns.
Junior guard and former Republic star Kaemyn Bekemeier (22 points, 13 rebounds) led five players in double-figures, pacing a Lady Bears team that led by as many as 15 points late in the third quarter and shot better than 50% from the floor most of the game.
A longer Missouri State team dominated the glass (50-30) and was able the hold off the 3-point-heavy Lumberjacks (25 attempts a game), a team that proved early it can score in a hurry.
Stephen F. Austin turned a 21-8 first-quarter deficit into a 33-30 second-quarter lead after a bevy of 3-pointers, including a sequence in which Harmanie Dominguez hit a triple, stole an inbounds pass, and proceeded to hit another.
The Lumberjacks would cool off as the game wore on, registering just a 6-for-28 clip from 3-point range.
Missouri State was able to get steady production out of both of its starting forwards, sophomore Lainie Douglas (14 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks) and freshman Maiesha Washington (18 points, four assists). Fellow freshman Kendal Brueggen (13 points, nine rebounds) nearly registered a double-double. Senior guard Faith Lee added 10 points.
Ryan Collingwood covers college and high school sports in the Springfield metropolitan area for the Daily Citizen. Have a story idea or gripe? Send an email to rcollingwood@sgfcitizen.org, call or 417-837-3660, or follow Ryan on social media at X.com/rwcollingwood. More by Ryan Collingwood