MOLINE, Ill. – Missouri State improved to 24-6 on the year with a come-from-behind 63-49 victory against Drake (18-13) to advance to tomorrow’s MVC Tournament semifinals.
After each team scored a basket to get this one started, Drake jumped out to an early 5-2 lead following a Bulldog and-1 opportunity. Lady Bear seniors Mariah White and Sydney Wilson answered with back-to-back buckets to put MSU back in the lead by a point.
The Bulldogs then put together a 9-0 run, with five of those points coming at the free throw line, to retake and stretch their lead to eight points over the Lady Bears. Sixth-year senior Brice Calip ended the scoring drought with a jumper, followed by an Isabelle Delarue three-pointer to pull MSU within three.
The squads then swapped layups, before Drake hit a jumper to end the quarter. After 10 minutes in Moline, the Lady Bears trailed 18-13.
Coming out of the quarter break, the first half of the second quarter belonged to Drake. The Bulldogs reeled off two 6-0 runs separated by a White jumper to extend their lead to 15 points over the Lady Bears.
A huge spark was then ignited by Lady Bear point guard Mya Bhinhar, who scored on three consecutive possessions, a 6-0 run, to bring the Lady Bears back within nine points. A Bulldog three bumped the lead back to 12 points, but back-to-back jumpers from White and Abi Jackson made it a 33-25 game in favor of Drake at the half.
White and Bhinhar led the way for MSU at the half with six points each, while Ifunanya Nwachukwu contributed six first-half rebounds.
The comeback bid continued for Missouri State as Wilson scored the first bucket of the second half to make it a six-point game. Following a Drake three-pointer, Wilson and Jackson combined for a 4-0 run to cut the Lady Bear deficit to five points.
Drake responded with a layup, but the Lady Bears had a lot of fight left in them. Calip sparked an 8-0 MSU run that gave the Lady Bears their first lead of the game, 39-38, since the 8:07 mark of the first quarter. A Bulldog layup ended the scoring drought, but Wilson quickly gave MSU the lead back with four straight free throws to end the third quarter and give the Lady Bears a 43-40 advantage with a quarter to play.
Both teams struggled offensively to start the final quarter, with the first basket finally coming at the 6:42 mark when Jackson connected on a jumper that extended MSU’s lead to five points. From that point, both teams started finding the bottom of the net as the Lady Bear lead hovered around five points.
Missouri State created real separation in the final two minutes of the game, reeling off a 4-0 run courtesy of Calip and White. Drake went to the free throw line and sank both shots to cut the Bulldog deficit to seven, but the Lady Bears locked it down with Wilson scoring the final seven points of the game to give MSU the 14-point, 63-49, quarterfinal victory.
Missouri State outscored Drake 38-16 in the second half and outrebounded the Bulldogs 57-38 across the entire game as it secured its spot in the MVC Tournament semifinals.
Wilson paced the Lady Bears on the evening with game highs in both points and rebounds with 17 and 13, respectively. Wilson’s performance marked her third double-double of the season and she is the first Lady Bear since Kenzie Williams (11-for-11) in 2015 to shoot 100 percent (10-for-10) from the free throw line with at least 10 attempts. Jackson and White each contributed 12 points, while Jackson also grabbed nine boards and blocked five shots. With her five blocked shots on the night, Jackson now has 100 blocks in her Lady Bear career, moving her to fifth place all-time in program history. Calip recorded the second Lady Bear double-double of the night with an 11-point, 10-rebound performance.
Missouri State will be back in action tomorrow at 4 p.m. against the winner of No. 3 UNI and No. 6 Valparaiso in the semifinals of the MVC Tournament
