SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Visiting DePaul connected on 51.4 percent of its field goal attempts and outscored the Missouri State Lady Bears 11-3 over the final 2:31 of the first half to take a 46-35 advantage into intermission Monday evening in Preseason WNIT quarterfinal round action at JQH Arena.
The Blue Demons hit on six of 13 shots from beyond the three-point arc to build their lead, as Sam Quigley led the way with 11 points.
After a promising start to the contest saw the Lady Bears grab a 3-0 lead, DePaul converted four of its next five attempts from the field and scored 11 of the next 12 points to jump out to an 11-4 advantage. Felicia Chester started the scoring for the visitors with a short jumper, and Anna Martin sank a three from the left corner to put the Blue Demons on top for the first time.
The Lady Bears were able to trim the margin to three on a pair of Tia Mays buckets in the paint, but Keisha Hampton went to work for the Blue Demons, scoring eight of DePaul's next 10 points to stretch the lead back to seven points with 12 and-a-half minutes to play in the half.
MSU briefly drew to within three on back-to-back baskets by Christiana Shorter and Karly Buer, but the Blue Demons would outscored the Lady Bears 12-4 over a span of 2:24 to build a 29-18 advantage.
China Threatt's three with 7:32 left in the period gave DePaul its biggest lead of the half at 32-20, but the Lady Bears clawed their way back into the contest once again. Casey Garrison's jumper started a 12-3 run that would see MSU close the gap to three with just over three minutes to go.
That's when the Blue Demons seized control, getting a three-point play from Quigley and a Taylor Pikes jumper to make it a 40-32 game. Threatt would score four straight points, and Pikes would tip-in a Deanna Ortiz miss at the buzzer to account for the halftime margin.
Tia Mays led the MSU charge with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting and a 4-for-4 effort from the foul line. The Lady Bears were an uncharacteristic 0-for-6 from long range and turned the ball over 10 times.
