The Missouri State women's basketball team rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to force overtime on Tahnee Balerio's game-tying three-pointer with 1.4 seconds left in regulation, but still came up on the short end of an 82-76 decision Saturday afternoon against Drake in a Missouri Valley Conference match-up at the Knapp Center in Des Moines, Iowa.
Lindsay Whorton came up big for the Bulldogs in the overtime period, burying three-pointers on successive trips down the court with under two minutes to play to turn a 74-74 tie into an 82-76 Drake victory.
Missouri State went just 1-of-10 from the field in the overtime period after outshooting the Bulldogs .532 to .431 in regulation.
Whorton scored 20 of her 25 points after intermission to lead Drake, while Balerio totaled 30 points, four assists and three steals on the afternoon to pace the Missouri State attack.
Missouri State trailed by five at the break after getting 12 points from Balerio in a first half that featured 11 lead changes.
The Bulldogs grabbed 26-24 lead on Lauren Dybing’s three-pointer just moments after Balerio drained her second trey of the half to give the Lady Bears a one-point lead late in the half
Drake extended its lead to 29-24 on Lindsay Whorton’s three with just 32 seconds left in the half.
After Missouri State pulled to within three points early in the second stanza, Whorton struck again from beyond the arc to push the DU lead to 38-32. Dybing then connected on two straight jumpers to give the Bulldogs their biggest lead of the afternoon at 47-36.
Breton Wyett’s lay-up with just over six minutes to play cut the DU lead to 56-49 and got the Lady Bears started on the comeback trail. The 6-3 sophomore tallied 13 of her 17 points on the day in the second half before fouling out with 2:59 to play.
Melissa Busby connected on a three-point try from the left wing to draw MSU to within three points, then stole the ball and drove length of the floor for a layup that cut the margin to 64-63 with just over two minutes left on the clock.
Moments later, Balerio’s drive to the basket netted two points to give Missouri State its first lead since late in the first half.
But Drake’s Brandy Dahir responded by knocking down a pair of jumpers in the lane and Whorton hit a pair of free throws with 8.1 seconds left to give the Bulldogs a 70-67 lead before Balerio canned a 24-footer to send the game into overtime.
With the loss, Missouri State dropped to 2-7 in MVC play and 6-12 overall. Drake improved its conference record to 2-7 and upped its season mark to 7-12 with the victory.
Next up, the Lady Bears will wrap up a three-game road stretch and kick off the second half of the conference slate when they travel to Wichita State next Saturday, Feb. 3, for a 7 p.m. match-up with the Shockers.
