CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — After trailing by six points with under 13 minutes remaining, the Missouri State Lady Bears out-scored UNI 22-11 down the stretch to earn a 63-58 victory Sunday afternoon at the McLeod Center.
Down 47-41 late in the third quarter, Sydney Wilson scored six of her 10 points in a 9-0 MSU run – with all scoring coming from freshmen – to grab a 50-47 lead with 9:07 on the clock. Missouri State pushed the lead to 57-49 with 6:07 remaining, but did not score again until Wilson grabbed on offensive rebound and scored to make it 59-54.
It was 59-56 with 27.1 seconds left, and Danielle Gitzen and Brice Calip each went 2-for-2 at the line to seal MSU’s 12th consecutive overall win and 16th straight in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Calip scored a team-high 12 points, including the first seven of the game, and the Lady Bears (13-7, 9-0 MVC) got the first lead of the game at 9-7 midway through the first period. The lead changed hands five more times in the quarter, the last during an 8-0 UNI run that resulted in a 23-16 Panther advantage with 8:15 remaining until halftime.
Missouri State closed to 26-25 after that and trailed 33-29 at the half, and kept the Panthers (13-8, 6-3) within striking distance before the late run by never trailing by more than six in the second half.
The Lady Bears became the first MVC team since 2014 to sweep the Drake/UNI road swing, while Kellie Harper moved to third in school history with her 106th coaching victory at MSU.
Gitzen and Alexa Willard added 10 points apiece to give MSU four double-figure scorers, and the Lady Bears rallied for a 37-35 rebounding edge. Missouri State forced 21 turnovers, led by Sydney Manning’s four steals.
MSU held UNI to 35 percent shooting in the second half, including 3-for-18 from 3-point range. The Lady Bears shot 35 percent for the game, but went 23-for-29 at the foul line compared to 1-for-1 for UNI.
Missouri State continues its three-game road trip on Friday, Feb. 8, with a 6 p.m. contest at Southern Illinois (10-10, 3-6).
