WKU Women’s Basketball “really struggled to find a flow offensively” in its 65-38 loss to Missouri State Thursday night in Diddle Arena, sophomore point guard Trinity Rowe said.
The Lady Toppers shot just 26.7% from the floor and 11.8% from the 3-point line. Beyond their low shooting percentage, Rowe attributed their lack of scoring momentum to their defense.
“We practice all the time getting a stop to score…we struggled to get consecutive stops in a row, so that deflates the offense (and) our ball movement,” she said.
Another significant sore spot for WKU was its presence in the paint. They allowed Missouri State to grab 54 rebounds compared to their 34, which led to 12 second-chance points. The Lady Bears also converted on 15 free throws, well above the Lady Toppers’ four.
“They had 10 offensive rebounds at the end of the first quarter, and I was on them again in the huddle, (saying) ‘You’re going to let them have 40 offensive rebounds in this game?’…they had one in the second quarter, so we did a little bit better,” Head Coach Greg Collins said.
Sophomore forward Torri James led WKU offensively with 13 points, followed closely by Rowe’s 11 points. Sophomore forward Lainie Douglas and junior guard Kaemyn Bekemeier combined for 42 of Missouri State’s 65 points.
The Lady Toppers shot 27% from the field compared to the Lady Bears’ 25% in the first half, but seven free throws and eight second-chance points from Missouri State meant WKU trailed 27-18 at halftime.
The Lady Bears were quick to start the second half, going on a 6-0 run. They extended their lead to 17 towards the end of the third quarter and limited the Lady Toppers to just six points in the fourth quarter. WKU did not score in double figures in three out of the four quarters.
The loss eliminates the Lady Toppers from participating in the 2026 Conference USA tournament.
WKU will play in its final game of the 2026 season at home against FIU Saturday afternoon.
“We’ll show up on Saturday and play for the same reasons we were playing earlier in the conference. We’re just playing for ourselves…I’m proud of our effort, not proud of our record,” Collins said.
