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Bekemeier, Missouri State women beat Stephen F. Austin 85-75 at First Four

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Kaemyn Bekemeier had 22 points and 13 rebounds on Wednesday night, Lainie Douglas added 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Missouri State beat Stephen F. Austin 85-75 at the women’s First Four.

No. 16 seed Missouri State (23-12), which has won at least one game in each of its last four NCAA Tournament appearances, plays top-seeded Texas in the Round of 64 on Friday.

Missouri State shot 48% (33 of 69) and outrebounded SFA 50-30 to overcome 19 turnovers, which the Ladyjacks converted into 22 points.

Stephen F. Austin (25-10) has lost eight consecutive NCAA Tournament games since a 73-72 first-round win over Xavier in 2000.

Missouri State used a 9-0 run to take the lead for good late in the first half. Angel Scott capped the spurt with a 3-pointer that made it 45-37 with 1:55 to go in the second quarter.

Ashlyn Traylor-Walker scored 23 points and Aziyah Farrier had 13 points and nine rebounds, three blocks and two steals for SFA. Harmanie Dominguez hit three 3-pointers and finished with nine points. Dominguez extended her program record for single-season 3s made to 100 — third most in Division I this season.

Maiesha Washington scored 18 points, Kendal Brueggen had 13 points and nine rebounds and Faith Lee added 10 points for the Lady Bears.

Scott, who finished with three points, played two seasons for the Ladyjacks, helping them advance to the 2022 NCAA Tournament and the 2023 WNIT.

The Lady Bears are in the Big Dance for the 18th time and first since 2022, when they beat Florida State 61-50 in the First Four before losing 63-56 to Ohio State in the Round of 64.

Up next

Missouri State will try Friday to snap third-ranked Texas’ seven-game win streak.

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LSU has an agreement to sign recent NBA G League pro RJ Luis Jr., AP source says

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Recently re-hired LSU coach Will Wade is in the process of signing former professional player RJ Luis Jr., a person with knowledge of the move said Tuesday. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because LSU had not announced or acknowledged the move, which is expected to result in a petition to the NCAA to restore Luis' eligibility. Luis played three seasons in college — one at UMass and two at St. John's. He declared for the NBA draft in 2025 after being named the Big East player of the year. After going undrafted, the 6-foot-7 Luis signed a two-way contract with the Utah Jazz and was traded to the Boston Celtics. However, Luis never appeared in a game in either the NBA or the G League, and that is expected to be element of his argument as to why the NCAA should allow him to suit up for Wade's Tigers.
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