PEORIA, Ill. – Missouri State women’s basketball improved to 20-5 (11-3 MVC) overall on the season with a dominant 72-56 victory over Bradley (4-20, 1-14 MVC) on Sunday afternoon.
Both teams got off to hot starts offensively here in Peoria. Abi Jackson scored the first bucket of the game and six of MSU’s first eight points to begin the game. However, Bradley was on fire from behind the arc, connecting on three of their first four three-point attempts to take an eventual 11-8 lead at the first media timeout.
MSU responded out of the timeout with a 6-0 run, sparked by Mariah White’s first two baskets of the game. White was coming off of a 21-point performance at Illinois State on Friday night. Bradley’s Tatum Koenig hit a pull-up jumper to make it 14-13 in favor of the Lady Bears following the MSU run.
Senior Sydney Wilson gave the Lady Bears some breathing room with back-to-back three-pointers in the final 1:15 of the first quarter to give MSU a 20-13 lead after one period.
Bradley started the second quarter on a 4-0 run to cut the Lady Bear lead to three points, all four points coming courtesy of Sierra Morrow. However, back-to-back trips to the free throw line ignited a 12-0 Lady Bear run over a six minute span.
In the middle of the run, freshman Isabelle Delarue knocked down her first basket of the day to put the Lady Bears up 28-17. Then, the Lady Bear bigs connected on back-to-back shots to give Missouri State a 15-point advantage. Bradley scored the final four points of the quarter to make it a 32-21 game in favor of the Lady Bears at the halfway point.
Jackson was MSU’s leading scorer after the first half with 11 points, while Ifunanya Nwachukwu grabbed 10 first-half rebounds.
Brice Calip got things rolling for the Lady Bears in the second half with the first four points for MSU on two free throws and a jumper. Two three-pointers from Bradley’s Morrow and two free throws cut the Missouri State lead to 36-29.
Following two Jackson free throws, a short 3-0 Braves run cut the Lady Bear lead to six points. However, after a couple of trips to the free throw line for Bradley to make it a four-point game, Missouri State reeled off a 15-0 run over the final 3:14 of the third quarter to take a 19-point, 55-36, lead into the final 10 minutes.
Despite being outscored 20-17 by the Braves in the final quarter, the Lady Bears were able to extend their lead to their largest of the game at 22 points with 5:21 remaining in the game. The highlight of the fourth quarter was freshman Lindsey Byers who was 3-for-4 from behind the arc, marking the first three-point baskets of her Lady Bear career, as Missouri State secured the 72-56 road victory.
Jackson paced the Lady Bears with 19 points, marking her fourth consecutive game with 15 or more points, while grabbing six rebounds and blocking two shots. Calip and Wilson joined Jackson in double figures with 14 and 11 points, respectively. Nwachukwu set career highs with 15 rebounds and three assists, in addition to contributing six points. Byers set a career high with her nine-point performance on 75 percent shooting from long range.
Missouri State will return home next week as the Lady Bears take on Evansville on Thursday, Feb. 24. First tip is set for 7 p.m. at JQH Arena.
