Already down one starter entering Friday night, Missouri State women’s basketball star Lacy Stokes was nowhere to be seen to start the second half.
The Lady Bears’ primary ball-handler, the heart and soul of the team, was with the trainers. Instead of being in the locker room with her team at the break, she was with the medical staff and coach Beth Cunningham was told that she was unlikely to return.
Late in the third quarter, Stokes emerged from the locker room and immediately subbed in. She didn’t come out until the Lady Bears built a comfortable lead before winning 76-61 over Indiana State at Great Southern Bank Arena.
After the game, Stokes went right back to the trainers, leaving her coach unaware of her best player’s status.
“I don’t know,” Cunningham said when asked if Stokes was OK. “I was shocked when she came back in. I thought she was out for the rest of the game. That’s a kid that was playing through a lot of pain and just toughed it out.”
Cunningham revealed that Stokes has been playing through an unspecified foot injury for most of the season. The pain has come and gone throughout the year, and the coach had not heard it was an issue for a while.
Stokes’ absence was notable in addition to the team being without forward Sarah Linthacum, who has been in concussion protocol since playing 30 minutes in the Lady Bears’ loss to Illinois State on Sunday.
Injury scares are starting to pile up when the Lady Bears improved to 17-5 with a 9-2 record in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Lady Bears are a game behind Belmont for the league lead.
“We just need prayers for us to be healthy right now,” Cunningham said. “That’s my biggest concern. Our kids have been resilient and have fought their tails off all year. We just need prayers for a healthy team, and we have to do everything we can to be as healthy as possible.”
Lacy Stokes’ absence in the third quarter was noticeable
Indiana State went to a full-court press throughout the third when Stokes was absent. During the quarter, the Lady Bears turned it over six times and struggled at times to get the ball across midcourt. The Sycamores quickly cut a 14-point deficit to six. When Stokes returned, she helped get the lead back to double-digits.
The backup point guard position had been a question since the preseason, especially considering the injury to freshman JaNyla Bush, who appears to be redshirting this season.
Cunningham said the Lady Bears frequently practice having others play point guard, often seeing Paige Rocca bring the ball up the court. Rocca scored 12 of her team-high 21 points in the third quarter.
Cunningham attributed the team’s struggles in the early second half to its being a little shaken up when it realized Stokes was being examined by trainers during halftime.
“We have a lot of kids who can handle the ball,” Cunningham said. “I just think that, mentally, we were just a little out of character. There were simple things, and a lot of things like that aren’t going to happen on a typical night.
“We’re never going to replace Lacy, but if we have to play without her, we’re not going to have to structure practice any differently because we work on this stuff every day because you never know who’s going to go down. We’ll handle it by committee.”
Lainie Douglas had a career night when making her first start in place of Sarah Linthacum
Linthacum is expected to return shortly, but the Lady Bears got excellent play from freshman Lainie Douglas. In her first career start, she scored 20 points on 9 of 13 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds.
Douglas was physical in a game that demanded much physicality. She wasn’t afraid to get in the face of an opponent after a hard foul saw Kaemyn Bekemeier get thrown to the floor, leading the refs to call an intentional foul after a review.
“Lainie’s been good for us all year,” Cunningham said. “The only way they could stop her was when she was on the bench and in foul trouble. They had no answer for her. She played like a veteran. She was great just about every second she was on the floor.”
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri State women’s basketball: Lacy Stokes injury creates concern
