by AMES, Iowa – The Missouri State Lady Bears advanced to the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in school history with a 69-60 win Monday evening at third-seeded and 13th-ranked Iowa State inside Hilton Coliseum.
The 11th-seeded Lady Bears (25-9), already the lowest seed remaining in the tournament field after round one, will take on second-seeded Stanford (30-4) at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, March 30, in Chicago on ESPN2 after winning for the 24th time in 26 games. MSU also extended its school record road win streak to 10 games, winning for the 16th consecutive time away from Springfield including neutral site games.
Missouri State led for more than six minutes of a first quarter that featured three ties and six lead changes, the last on two Elle Ruffridgefree throws that proved to give the Lady Bears the lead for good with an 18-17 score after 10 minutes.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Alexa Willard and Danielle Gitzen midway through the second period gave the Lady Bears a 30-23 lead, which shrunk to 33-30 at halftime and one point after the Cyclones scored out of the break.
The Lady Bears countered with a 10-0 run coming from five different scorers for a 43-32 advantage with 4:46 left in the third, and the Cyclones (26-9) followed with a 9-0 run of their own. MSU recovered to lead 49-45 after 30 minutes, and Iowa State pulled within a point three times in the final quarter, the last with 4:32 remaining before Alexa Willard answered with a jumper and freshman Sydney Manning buried a 3-pointer for a 60-54 lead with 3:37 on the clock.
It was 62-58 after ISU scored with 2:32 left, and Brice Calip (Mvskoke Creek), Gitzen and Manning closed the game out by going 7-for-8 from the foul line to push the margin to 69-58 with 24 seconds left.
Willard led MSU with 17 points, Abby Hipp matched a career high with 11, while Gitzen added 10 to go with six rebounds and five assists. Calip added five helpers of her own, and Jasmine Franklin grabbed a team-high seven rebounds to move to the No. 10 spot on MSU’s single-season list.
Missouri State shot 41 percent overall and 86 percent from the foul line, while limiting the Cyclones, the nation’s 13th-ranked scoring offense, to 19 below their season average on 35.6 percent shooting, including 2-for-17 from long range.
ISU held a 38-37 rebounding lead, and the Lady Bears handed out 14 assists against 10 turnovers.
