CHICAGO – Missouri State women’s basketball fell to 23-6 (14-4 MVC) on the season with a 60-42 loss at Loyola on Saturday afternoon.
It was a defensive battle in Chicago as both teams struggled offensively, especially in the first half.
After Missouri State jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, Loyola put together a short 5-0 run to go ahead by three points. Around the halfway mark of the first quarter, MSU reeled off four points, including Mariah White’s first bucket of the game, to lead 8-7 at the first media timeout.
With both teams swapping a bucket, Loyola made a three-pointer with 1:49 remaining to take a 12-10 lead after the first 10 minutes.
In a second quarter that saw just 15 combined points, Loyola got the first basket to put the Ramblers up by four. However, the Lady Bears answered with back-to-back layups courtesy of Brice Calip and Abi Jackson to tie the game at 14 points each. The game remained tied before Loyola went on a short 4-0 run of their own to go back up by four points, with a Calip free throw serving as the final point of the quarter with 0:36 remaining.
The Lady Bears trailed 20-17 at halftime, following their lowest scoring half in conference play. Their previous low was 21 points in the first half at Bradley. Jackson led the way for MSU in the first half with six points, while Sydney Wilson had six first-half rebounds.
The turning point in the game for both squads was the third quarter, as Loyola outscored the Lady Bears 21-7. The Ramblers jumped out to a 9-0 run out of the half to extend their lead to 12 points.
At the 5:41 mark of the third quarter, Calip knocked down two free throws to end the MSU scoring drought and cut the Rambler lead back to 10 points. However, Loyola answered with another four consecutive points to extend its lead to 15.
Both teams again swapped buckets down the stretch of the third period, before a Loyola three-pointer with :06 left on the clock gave the Ramblers a 41-24 lead with a quarter remaining.
The Ramblers hit a three-pointer out of the quarter break to give Loyola a 20-point lead before both squads swapped baskets, with the Rambler lead hovering between 19 to 21 points until the halfway point of the final period.
Missouri State was able to cut its deficit to 15 points with a 6-0 run via Jackson and White, before Loyola answered with six consecutive points of their own, all from the free throw line. Isabelle Delarue and Wilson knocked down a couple of shots in the final couple of minutes, but ultimately the Lady Bears were unable to mount a comeback in the 60-42 loss.
Jackson led the Lady Bears with a double-double on the afternoon with a 12-point, 11-rebound performance, while also tying her career high with five blocks. Calip and White contributed eight points each, while Wilson had the second-most rebounds on the team with nine.
Missouri State will head to the MVC Tournament next week in Moline, Ill. The tournament runs Thursday, March 10 through Sunday, March 13.
