Lady Bears’ eight-game win streak halted with loss at Illinois State

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NORMAL, Ill. – Missouri State women’s basketball (16-5, 8-2 MVC) suffered its first loss since December with a 66-55 setback on the road at Illinois State (14-7, 8-2 MVC) on Sunday afternoon.

After trailing by as many as 13 points in the fourth quarter, Missouri State clawed its way back into the game, cutting the Illinois State lead to just two points with 2:16 remaining in the game. The Lady Bear run started with 7:11 on the clock, with a Paige Rocca three sparking a 12-0 run that also included a Kyrah Daniels three and back-to-back layups from Sarah Linthacum. That surge pulled MSU within a point with 4:19 left, before consecutive buckets from the Redbirds halted the Lady Bear run. Daniels connected on a jumper with a little over two minutes on the clock to make it a one-possession game, but that’s as close as the Lady Bears would get. Over the final 1:56, the Redbirds went on an 11-2 run with eight points coming from the free throw line as Missouri State was forced to foul, ending MoState’s win streak at eight games.

Back in the first half, the first quarter was a tale of two runs. Illinois State jumped out to an 8-2 lead, before Rocca’s first trey of the night sparked a 10-0 Missouri State run to give the visitors a four-point lead. The squads traded field goals to end the period as the Lady Bears led by a narrow two-point, 14-12, margin after one on the road.

After an opening layup by Illinois State to tie the game at 14-14 in the second, the stage was set for a back-and-forth period that saw five lead changes and two ties. A Kaemyn Bekemeier jumper and Rocca triple accounted for MoState’s best run of the quarter at five points to take a two-point lead, but a Redbird three with just under a minute remaining gave Illinois State a 27-26 advantage at the intermission, dropping Missouri State to 1-4 when trailing at halftime this season.

Missouri State was able to tie the game in the opening minute out of the halftime break, but a Maya Wong three-pointer gave the Redbirds the lead and Illinois State wouldn’t surrender it for the duration of the game.

Linthacum and Daniels paced Missouri State with 14 points each on the afternoon, while the former led the team with eight rebounds. Rocca joined in double figures with 12 points, while Lacy Stokes dished out eight assists to just one turnover.

As a team, Missouri State shot just 32 percent (23-72) from the field and 20 percent (6-30) from three. MoState’s 30 three-point field goal attempts were a season high. Illinois State dominated the Lady Bears in the paint, 28-42, and Missouri State was minus-two on the boards.

The Lady Bears return home next week to host Indiana State and Evansville. First up, Missouri State will welcome the Sycamores on Friday, February 7 for a 6:30 p.m. tip. The games will stream on ESPN+.

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