MOLINE, Ill. – Missouri State women’s basketball fell to 24-7 on the season with a hard-fought loss to Northern Iowa (22-9) in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals here Saturday night.
Senior Sydney Wilson picked up where she left off in last night’s MVC Tournament quarterfinal, scoring the first bucket of the game. UNI quickly hit a three-point basket to take the early 3-2 lead over MSU. After the Lady Bears went back up by a point on an Abi Jackson jumper, UNI scored on back-to-back possessions to take a three-point lead.
The Lady Bears answered with a 5-0 run, four points coming courtesy of senior point guard Mya Bhinhar, to tip the scales back in MSU’s favor by two. Another UNI run gave the Panthers a four-point lead, before an Ifunanya Nwachukwu free throw with under a minute remaining in the opening quarter cut the Lady Bear deficit to 13-10 after 10 minutes.
Following a Panther layup to start the second quarter, the Lady Bears reeled of a 12-0 run, sparked by five Jackson points, to tie the game before the Lady Bears knocked down three more shots via Nwachukwu, Bhinhar and Brice Calip to take a seven-point lead. From there, the Lady Bear lead didn’t exceed five points as the teams continued to swap baskets.
Two UNI free throws cut the Lady Bear lead to two points before Bhinhar knocked down her second three-ball of the period with :02 remaining to give MSU a 33-28 lead heading into halftime.
Jackson had a game high 11 points in the first half on 5-for-7 shooting from the field, while Bhinhar recorded 10 first-half points and went 2-for-2 from behind the arc in the opening half.
Each squad knocked down shots coming out of the half to keep the Lady Bear lead at seven points, until the Panthers held MSU scoreless for over two minutes to take the lead back for the first time in the second half at the 6:37 mark. A Jackson jumper put an end to the Missouri State dry spell to knot the game at 39-39.
After two Panther free throws, Jackson once again sparked an MSU run, this time of six consecutive points, to end the third quarter, to give MSU a 45-41 lead with 10 minutes to play in Moline.
The first eight minutes of the fourth quarter saw two major runs, one by each team. Over the first four minutes of the final period, UNI held MSU scoreless while scoring 14 points to take a 10-point lead over the Lady Bears.
However, the Lady Bears once again fought through the adversity, this time mounting a 10-0 run over a nearly four minute period to tie the ballgame at 55-55 with 2:05 remaining in the semifinal matchup.
UNI then took advantage at the free throw line, scoring the next six points from the charity stripe. Wilson hit a layup with :10 left to make it a four-point game, but two UNI free throws ultimately led to a 63-57 Lady Bear loss in the MVC Tournament semifinals.
Jackson led the game with 19 points, marking her 20th double-digit scoring performance of the season. Bhinhar continued to perform well in the tournament, scoring 12 points while grabbing three rebounds and dishing out three assists. Calip was the final Lady Bear in double figures with 10 points to pair with five rebounds and three assists.
The Lady Bears now await their postseason fate, with the Women’s NCAA Selection Show set for Sunday, March 13 at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
