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HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – No. 6 Missouri State (20-19, 11-7 CUSA) advances to the semifinal round, knocking off No. 3 MTSU (16-15, 11-7 CUSA) 69-66 in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Air National Guard CUSA Championship Thursday afternoon at Propst Arena at the Von Braun Center.
 
Missouri State had two big steals by Kendall Brueggen and Maycee James with less than 35 seconds left in the fourth quarter to stop MTSU from tying the game. Kaemyn Bekemeier notched her ninth double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Maiesha Washington stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, seven assists, seven rebounds and two blocks. Faith Lee also scored in double figures with 14.
 
Alayna Contreras led the Lady Raiders with 24 points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists. Blair Baugus recorded her 13th double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
 
The Lady Bears will face off against the No. 2 seeded Panthers at 8:00 p.m. CT Friday on ESPN+.

Missouri State Head Coach Beth Cunningham
Opening Statement…
“Yeah, just thrilled for our kids. Hard-fought battle, we knew it was going to be a grind-it-out game. We obviously split in the regular season, and just having played them so recently, I think had a sting from the last game, and our kids were really excited to be able to turn around and play and get a chance to run it back against them again. Just thrilled for our kids. Certainly didn't play perfect, but I just thought the toughness of our kids, just really stood out in a lot of key moments for us, so really happy for them.”
 
On changes to the scouting report since last week’s loss to MTSU…
“Yeah, points we hammered home was we couldn't give up 86 points. You know, I thought, defensively, we did a lot of uncharacteristic things, I felt like, at their place. You have to give them [MTSU] credit, because they had two kids that had career nights against us. But I think we had a lot of confidence coming in that we just need to be more locked in with some of their schemes and personnel. I felt like we could defend like we did the first time against them, and then I thought we were in much better flow on the offensive end of the floor, so kind of always go into it with a plan A, B, and C. Fortunately, for the most part, we were able to stick with Plan A tonight.”
 
MTSU Head Coach Rick Insell
Opening Statement…
“Very proud of our basketball team. We played like that all year, where we haven't given up, and, you know, a lot of people, except the coaches and team, thought we were out of 10 down with maybe 2 or 3 minutes to go, or more than that. I knew we were still in it. And, you know, had a shot, couple shots to tie it up. But I'm awful proud of our basketball team. These two young ladies and the rest of them back in the dressing room there, they're taking it pretty hard, and they should, because it's been a long year. We've gone through a lot. We've played probably the toughest non-conference schedule in the country, and you know, it's what got us right here. Appreciate y’all coming.”
 
MTSU Freshman Guard Blair Baugus
On the team never being out of the game…
“No, we believed the entire time, hey, this is not over. That's what we've done the entire season, is we can't ever give up. We gotta believe in ourselves, and we know that our coaches believe in us as well. So, I think that we were just pushed to the end, and it didn't fall in our favor, but I was proud of our team and how we did as best as we could till the end.”