CARBONDALE, Ill. – Missouri State women’s basketball (14-5, 8-2 MVC) earned a hard-fought, 62-52, victory on the road at Southern Illinois (7-13, 2-8 MVC) here Saturday evening.
In a close game throughout the entire contest, the Lady Bears pulled away after a gritty fourth quarter performance. Holding a two-point advantage after three quarters, Missouri State scored the first six points of the fourth to extend the lead eight points and force a Saluki timeout. SIU then scored six of their seven points in the quarter over the next two-and-a-half minutes to cut the Lady Bear lead to four. From there, it was all Lady Bears, as five points from Jade Masogayo and a Kyrah Daniels layup gave MSU its largest lead of the night at 11 points with under a minute remaining. Missouri State held SIU to 20 percent (3-for-15) from the field in the final frame to ultimately secure a 10-point win on the road.
The first three quarters of the game saw neither team hold a lead of greater than five points in a back-and-forth battle.
In the opening quarter, the Lady Bears and Salukis swapped scores with three ties in the first 10 minutes. A four-point swing, courtesy of Daniels free throws and a Lacy Stokes steal and score as time ran out, put Missouri State up by three, 17-14, after a quarter.
Southern Illinois then owned the slight advantage in the second frame after the Salukis went on an 11-5 surge to open the period. Southern Illinois pushed the lead to its game-high of five points on two occasions, but Indya Green and Angel Scott layups to close the half made it a 31-30 game in favor of SIU at halftime.
Out of the break, Missouri State retook the lead quickly as Masogayo accounted for five of MSU’s first seven points in the third to give the visitors a two-point lead. The teams continued to trade points before MSU gained its biggest momentum down the stretch of the third that rolled over into the decisive fourth.
Three Lady Bears were in double figures on the night, led by Masogayo and Stokes with 14 points apiece. Daniels also contributed 10 points, six rebounds and three steals on the night. Indya Green pulled down a team-high seven rebounds in addition to eight points.
As a squad, Missouri State won the battle on the boards, 40-26, including 11-8 on the offensive glass. The difference-maker in the game was at the free throw line with MSU connecting on 15-of-18 attempts (.833) compared to SIU’s 5-for-10 at the line.
The Lady Bears return home next week for another crucial weekend in Valley action. Missouri State will host Belmont on Friday, February 9 with tipoff set for 6:30 p.m. at Great Southern Bank Arena. The game will stream on ESPN+.
