Highlights:
Kyrah Daniels, Jade Masogayo and head coach Beth Cunningham after win:
Missouri State women’s basketball (9-3, 3-0) won its sixth-straight game with a 51-50 victory over UIC (8-6, 1-2) here Saturday afternoon at Great Southern Bank Arena.
The win marked MSU’s 10th consecutive at home as the Lady Bears moved to 3-0 in Missouri Valley conference action, their best start in conference play since the 2020-21 season.
Once again, the Lady Bears found themselves in a close game down the stretch with the score tied at 38-38 heading into the final quarter. After UIC knocked down the first basket of the fourth, freshman Kyrah Daniels later answered with a three-pointer, her third of the night, to give MSU a one-point advantage.
The Flames then put together a short 5-0 run to take their largest lead of the second half at four points. MSU then battled to string together seven consecutive points highlighted by a Jade Masogayo jumper to tie it and a Paige Rocca trey to put the Lady Bears up three with 2:52 remaining. With MSU clinging to a one-point lead, UIC found the bottom of the basket to go up a point with just 0:03 left in the game, giving the Lady Bears one final chance on offense.
With the ball on their side of half court following the timeout, the Lady Bears got the ball inside and it was deflected right into the hands of a waiting Masogayo who laid it in to give MSU a one-point lead with 0:01 remaining. The dramatics weren’t over, though, as UIC advanced the ball on the timeout and had a great look at the basket with time expiring, but the layup came up short as MSU held on for the one-point victory.
In the lead up to the deciding final quarter, the game was evenly matched with a few big runs favoring each team.
The Lady Bears got off to a slow start, surrendering seven points and starting 0-for-4 from the field to begin the game, but from there they reeled off a 22-2 offensive outburst to lead 22-9 after the first frame. Indya Green and Daniels each had seven points in the first quarter as MSU held the Flames scoreless for the final 6:03 of the period.
Despite the huge momentum shift in favor of the home team, UIC owned the second quarter. MSU’s first points in the quarter didn’t come until the 1:42 mark as the Flames scored 10 points to close the gap to three points. MSU was strong on the defensive side of the ball until they were able to find some offense with a Masogayo layup and Daniels triple to give the Lady Bears a six-point, 27-21, lead at the half.
In the first half, MSU shot 40 percent (12-30) from the field and 75 percent (3-4) from long range and forced 11 UIC turnovers.
Out of the half, both teams swapped baskets before UIC put together a four-point run to cut MSU’s lead to one point once again. MSU was able to push the lead back to five before an 8-2 UIC scoring run gave the visitors the one-point advantage with 1:53 left in the third. Masogayo then hit a free throw to tie the game at 38-38 heading into the final 10 minutes.
Daniels led the way for MSU with a career-high 15 points on 60 percent (6-10) shooting from the field. She also went 3-for-3 from behind the arc and blocked two shots in almost 30 minutes on the floor. Masogayo followed with nine points, including the game-winning bucket.
Collectively, the Lady Bears forced 21 UIC turnovers and collected 11 assists on 21 field goals. MSU improved to 5-0 on the season in games decided by five points or less and to 22-0 under Beth Cunningham when holding opponents to 65 points or fewer.
Missouri State hits the road next week to face Bradley on Thursday, January 11. Tipoff in Peoria is set for 6 p.m. CT and the game will stream on ESPN+.
