by SPRINGFIELD – The Missouri State women’s basketball team fell to 13-4 (4-2 MVC) on the season with a close 52-51 loss to Illinois State (10-8, 6-1 MVC) on Saturday afternoon at JQH Arena.
Illinois State hopped out to an early three-point lead to begin the game, before fifth-year senior Abi Jackson went on a 6-0 run herself to kick start the Lady Bear offense.
In what ended up being the trend for the game, the Lady Bears and Redbirds swapped baskets for the final half of the quarter, including a couple of Brice Calip (Mvskoke Creek) jumpers and Sydney Wilson free throws for Missouri State. Illinois State got the final run of the first quarter, scoring the last four points of the period to take a 15-12 lead over Missouri State after 10 minutes at JQH Arena.
An Abi Jackson jumper in the first 20 seconds of the second quarter and a 5-0 Calip run gave the lead back to the home team, 19-18. Once again, the teams traded baskets, with the Redbirds extending their lead back to three points with 1:46 left in the half.
This time, though, it was the Lady Bears who got the final streak of the period, as they scored six consecutive points to close out the first half, including a Paige Rocca three-pointer at the buzzer to give MSU a 27-24 lead at the break.
Calip paced the Lady Bears with nine points and five rebounds at the half, while Jackson contributed eight points and a couple of rebounds in the first 20 minutes.
Illinois State came out of the half with another punch, as they went on a 6-0 run out of the locker room to retake the lead from the Lady Bears. Following the 6-0 Redbird run, neither team led by more than one point, until an Illinois State layup gave the visitors a three-point lead.
Graduate transfer Mariah White connected on a jumper with :12 seconds left in the third period to put the Lady Bears back within a point as the game entered the final quarter.
Wilson took advantage of an early foul and drained both of her shots at the free throw line to tip the score back in favor of the Lady Bears. At a pivotal point in the fourth quarter, the Redbirds went on a 7-0 run to mark their largest lead of the afternoon at six points with a 45-39 advantage.
A fight to the end, the Lady Bears punched back with a Wilson three-pointer to make it a one possession game with :52 seconds left. The MSU defense then showed its dominance in two critical situations down the stretch, first forcing a 10-second violation to give MSU possession down by three.
Mya Bhinhar connected on her first basket of the game to cut the Redbird lead to 52-52 with :19 seconds left. Then came the second critical defensive play as Missouri State forced a five second violation on the Illinois State inbound pass to create one final opportunity for the Lady Bears.
Ultimately, the Lady Bears weren’t able to connect and came up just short against the Redbirds.
Calip led the Lady Bears with a 15-point, 10-rebound performance for her second double-double of the season, while Jackson and Wilson also posted double digit performances with 10 points each. Jackson also blocked a career high five shots on the afternoon.
