CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The Missouri State Lady Bears came out firing, using a pair of key scoring runs to take a 51-32 lead over the UNI Panthers Thursday evening at the McLeod Center. MSU shot a blistering .630 from the field and forced 12 UNI turnovers, while holding the Panthers to just 10-of-27 (.370) shooting.
The Lady Bears came out of the gate blazing hot, connecting on seven of their first 10 attempts from the floor to build a 17-2 lead by the first media timeout. Jaleshia Roberson kicked off the scoring with a three-pointer from the right wing, then converted an old-fashioned three-point play at the 16:09 mark to start a 12-0 run for MSU. Jasmine Malone then tossed in the first of her two three-pointers in the period to stretch the margin to 15 points with 14:12 to play.
MSU would push their lead to 21-4 on another Roberson basket before UNI would respond with a 6-0 spurt to climb back to within 11.
However, the Lady Bears would score 11 of the final 14 points in the half to take their largest lead of the game into the locker room.
Casey Garrison, who handed out six assists in the period, led all first-half scorers with 13 points, while Roberson chipped in 11.
