Missouri State women’s basketball coach Beth Cunningham has a roster that brings back a mixture of familiar and new faces heading into her third season with the program.
Cunningham’s third roster brings back star players while adding experienced newcomers to its backcourt. Her frontcourt is overhauled after the 2023-24 group opted to transfer out.
The Lady Bears were picked to finish fifth during their final season in the Missouri Valley Conference before joining Conference USA next season.
Here is the Lady Bears’ roster heading into 2024-25.
Lacy Stokes, Senior
Stokes made it known that she’s a Division I basketball star after transferring in from Missouri Southern last season. The 5-foot-4 point guard from Mount Vernon enters her final year of eligibility as the team’s best player and she won’t sneak up on anyone this year.
Stokes will continue to be the focal point of the Lady Bears in 2024-25. She was the Valley’s newcomer of the year last year averaging 12.4 points and 4.9 assists.
Makennah White, Seton Hall, Senior
White is a 6-foot-2 transfer from Seton Hall and she’ll bring experience to an overhauled frontcourt group.
At Seton Hall, she averaged three points and 3.1 rebounds. She spent the prior three seasons at UMass, appearing in 84 games while making 20 starts.
Kiley Bess, Indiana State, Senior
Bess adds to the Lady Bears’ guard depth. She started in the team’s exhibition matchup with Missouri S&T. Last year, she started 30 games for the Valley-rival Sycamores, finishing second on the team with 11 points per game.
Sarah Linthacum, Mizzou, Senior
Linthacum’s father, grandfather and great-grandfather all played football for Missouri and she played basketball with both of her sisters while wearing a Tigers uniform. The 6-foot-3 forward still decided to finish her career wearing maroon and white.
The Jefferson City High grad could be in for a major role in the Lady Bears’ frontcourt. She appeared in 68 total games in three seasons at Mizzou, averaging 1.1 points and 1.5 boards when shooting 56% from the field.
Angel Scott, Senior
Scott returns for her second season with the Lady Bears after providing guard depth for the team last year. She’ll have a similar role in 2024-25. She was a Stephen F. Austin transfer who averaged 3.6 points, 1.3 boards and 17.1 minutes last season.
Paige Rocca, Senior
Rocca enters her fifth year with the Lady Bears when it feels like she’s been around even longer. If she had it her way, she’d take a sixth season of eligibility if it was offered.
Rocca will continue to be a starter after averaging 7.7 points, in addition to 2.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.
Cady Pauley, Virginia, Junior
Pauley initially signed with the Lady Bears and former coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton out of high school but decided to follow “Coach Mox” when she got the head job at Virginia. After two years, Pauley is returning to southwest Missouri and will finally wear a Lady Bears uniform.
Pauley was a big-time scorer in high school, averaging 33 points and 9.7 at Milan High. The 5-foot-11 guard appeared in 20 games for Virginia last season, averaging 2.9 points and shooting 31% from the field.
Zoe Stewart, Murray State, Redshirt-sophomore
Another inner-league transfer, Stewart joins the Lady Bears after two seasons at Murray State. The 5-foot-10 guard appeared in 31 games last season, averaging 8.9 points, 2.6 rebounds and 20.3 minutes. She’s another experienced guard who will see plenty of time.
Tyra Robinson, Western Carolina, Sophomore
Robinson joins Missouri State after a year spent at Western Carolina where she played in 29 games and made four starts. She averaged 3.5 points, 1.6 rebounds and 7.6 minutes per appearance.
Kyrah Daniels, Sophomore
Daniels is coming off a standout freshman season and proved she can be a star for this program. She’s a 6-footer who made 22 starts, averaging 9.1 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists. She led the team with 40 makes from deep.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Daniels continue to rise and eventually become the Lady Bears’ best player, whether it’s this year or next.
Kaemyn Bekemeier, Sophomore
The former Republic great enters her second year after carving a role out for herself in the first. That role will continue and be expanded upon this season.
Bekemeier proved she could be a lockdown defender at different points while getting more comfortable offensively as the season progressed. Anyone who watched her play at Republic knows the scoring will come along at some point.
Blake O’Grady, Sophomore
O’Grady appeared in seven games last season as a true freshman. She scored three points, grabbed two rebounds and had two steals.
Ja’Nyla Bush, Freshman
Bush has been regarded as one of Missouri’s top prospects since she was at Vashon before playing her senior year at Link Academy. She’s a 5-foot-3 point guard who will carry a “point guard of the future” label by some as she develops behind Stokes and a veteran group. She’ll have a role when she returns from a torn ACL which should be during non-conference play.
Lainie Douglas, Freshman
Douglas, a 6-foot-3 forward from Blue Valley Northwest (Kansas) High, earned some good minutes in the Lady Bears’ exhibition win. She played 17 minutes, scoring four points and grabbing a pair of rebounds.
She averaged 13.5 points and 7.8 rebounds last season to earned All-Eastern Kansas League honors.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri State women’s basketball roster 2024-25
