The Missouri State Lady Bears fought back from a nine-point second-half deficit but came up just short in a 68-65 loss at Wichita State Saturday evening in Missouri Valley Conference women’s basketball action.
WSU senior center Antionette Wells turned in a monster game, scoring 16 points, including several critical buckets down the stretch, and grabbed an MVC season-high 16 rebounds to lead the Shockers to victory. Wells also played a key role in holding MSU's Breton Wyett scoreless. Kyrie Kinder also had a big night for Wichita State, hitting 4-of-5 shots from three-point range to tally 14 points off the Shocker bench, as five WSU players finished in double figures.
The Lady Bears seized control of the lead early in the contest behind the duo of Tahnee Balerio and Roxy Stiles, who combined to score Missouri State’s first 13 points of the game. Stiles’ three-pointer at the 14:20 mark sparked a 15-2 MSU run, punctuated by a Balerio jumper that put the Lady Bears up 21-8 with 8:36 left in the half.
But Wichita State responded with an offensive spurt of its own, closing the half on a 14-2 run to trim the Missouri State advantage to 23-22 at the break.
Wichita State wasted little time in getting its offense going in the second half, as Daria Frazier buried a short jumper just 35 seconds into the period to give the Shockers their first lead since early in the ballgame. Missouri State struggled to find any offense in the early going, connecting on just one of its first 10 shots of the second half.
The Shockers got back-to-back three-point field goals from Kinder and Lexee McDonnell to stretch their advantage to six points, before Marcy Sudbeck’s 18-footer with 11:24 left on the clock pushed WSU’s lead to 43-34. Missouri State cut into the deficit over the next two minutes, drawing to within three points on Melissa Busby’s three-pointer with just over nine minutes to play.
Once again WSU responded, using another Kinder trey and a Wells layup to extend its advantage to 53-46 with 5:54 left on the clock.
The Shockers led by five with under one minute left in regulation when Busby again connected from beyond the three-point arc to cut the lead to 61-59. McDonnell and Kiki Stephens each knocked down a pair of free throws to give WSU a seemingly comfortable six-point cushion with just 16 seconds left to play. But Missouri State had one final push left, as Balerio connected from three point range, then drew a foul on another long-range attempt before sinking three-straight free throws to trim the deficit to just one point with 8.8 seconds to play.
But McDonnell hit two more free throws in the final seconds and Balerio’s half-court attempt glanced off the backboard to close out the Shocker win.
The Lady Bears committed a season-low five turnovers, but shot just 35.2 percent (25-of-71) from the floor. Wichita State dominated the boards en route to a 52-38 rebounding edge.
Balerio finished the night with a game-high 27 points, while Terwelp chipped in 13, all in the second half. Busby finished with 10 points, marking the fifth-straight game she has scored in double figures.
The setback was the fourth-straight for the Lady Bears, who fell to 2-8 in MVC play and 6-13 overall. Wichita State improved to 3-7 in the conference race and 8-12 for the season.
Missouri State will look to rebound next Thursday, Feb. 8, when the Lady Bears open a two-game homestand with a 7:05 p.m. contest against Indiana State. MSU will also welcome Illinois State, which leads the Missouri Valley Conference with a 9-1 record, to Hammons Student Center on Saturday, Feb. 10, for a 2:05 p.m. match-up.
