Kaemyn Bekemeier highlights young Missouri State Lady Bears starting to 'figure it out'

Since returning from Christmas break, Lady Bears head coach Beth Cunningham has started to notice a change in the freshmen on her roster.

The growth they showed in the months before started to take another step. In younger players, it takes a bit longer for everything to click. But the coach is seeing the development and potential in her newcomers than she did before.

Former Republic standout Kaemyn Bekemeier has been one of the younger standouts in recent weeks and she's starting to get more of an opportunity to see the floor at the college level.

"Things are starting to click in practice," Cunningham said. "I've seen her as a different player in practice and in these last couple of weeks than I did necessarily in the first semester. I think she's starting to figure things out and then there's nothing better than having an opportunity to get in a game and see that it clicks and you have that success there, too."

More: A look at Missouri State's 3 president finalists through a sports lens

Bekemeier appears to be carving out a role for herself for the Lady Bears after contributing in each of the last three games. She played 18 minutes for Missouri State (11-4, 5-1) on Friday night in its 90-55 win over Evansville (2-15, 0-6). The blowout allowed more players to see the floor and gave them valuable experience while still getting used to the college game.

The News-Leader's 2022-23 Girls' Basketball Player of the Year scored a career-high eight points while tying another career-high with three assists. Known as a scorer while averaging 23 points as a senior down the road, it's evident Bekemeier has taken a step defensively and that her athleticism at that end of the floor may be what's most valuable to the Lady Bears right now.

"It's definitely been an adjustment, but it's a good one," Bekemeier said. "There are so many layers to basketball and that's just what I'm learning; just being more physical, stronger and faster and learning all that goes on to hopefully be more successful down the line."

Among the layers, Cunningham is trying to instill into the youth on her roster includes picking up both the new offensive and defensive systems that they didn't have in high school or their prior stops.

More: Kaemyn Bekemeier's high school basketball career ends as one of Republic's all-time greats

There's trying to learn how to play with new teammates and there's trying to understand the personnel on the court. On top of that, Bekemeier and four other freshmen had to come in and adapt to the new level of physicality and pace that the college game has to offer.

"It's hard to be a freshman," Cunningham said. "I think the thing I've stressed as much as anything is that you don't have to play perfect, but you have to compete like crazy every time you're out there.

"I think that's probably been the biggest area of improvement but Kaemyn's just competing; she's not hesitant. I think early on, she was maybe a little hesitant and thinking. She's competing at a higher level now and it's given her a chance to have more playing time and then be able to go out there and use her skillset."

Bekemeier isn't the only freshman who has received more of an opportunity in recent weeks. Louis Volker (Paul VI; Virginia) has also started to find the floor more often. She's scored in double-digits in each of the last three games and has played in 10 or more minutes in four of the last five contests.

Kyrah Daniels (ThunderRidge; Colorado) has been a key rotation player since the beginning of the season and has started in each of the last three games. Natasha Barnes (Kenwood; Chicago) and Blake O'Grady (Dexter Southfield; Massachusetts) showed glimpses on Friday night as they continue to fight for larger roles in the future.

"It's certainly a process," Cunningham said. "It's not always easy. We watch a ton of film probably more individually than we do as a team. We're really trying to focus on individual development. If kids aren't necessarily playing as much in games, we have a system in place where we're keeping them game-ready. I think that's paid off and you have to come in and give them credit because they've come in hungry."

More: Republic senior Kaemyn Bekemeier named News-Leader's 2022-23 Player of the Year

Development in the Lady Bears' youth has been one of the highlights of their start to the Missouri Valley Conference season. They currently sit in a three-way tie for second in the league and one game back of Drake.

Sunday's 2 p.m. game against Indiana State (6-10, 2-4) will be the last game MSU plays in Springfield before it hits the road to play at Belmont and Murray State next week — the two teams the Lady Bears are currently tied with. A game on Feb. 3 at Southern Illinois will be followed by their return games against the Racers and Bruins on Feb. 9 and 11.

"The Valley is a super tough league," Volker said. "I think this was a big confidence booster knowing we can run with and we can beat anyone if we pull it together and work together like we can. I think we can be a very, very dominant team this season."

Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or X at @WyattWheeler_NL.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Kaemyn Bekemeier gaining confidence for Missouri State Lady Bears