Jan. 12, 2014
Final Stats
CHICAGO -- Loyola University Chicago scored the final six points of the game Sunday afternoon and blocked two Missouri State shots in the final five seconds to earn a 63-61 victory over the Lady Bears in the first meeting between the schools as Missouri Valley Conference opponents.
The final few moments summarized a wild second half that saw 10 lead changes and eight ties after the Ramblers led for the duration of the first period.
Trailing 57-55 with three minutes remaining, MSU's Hannah Wilkerson buried a long 3-pointer and Tyonna Snow followed with another 32 seconds later to put the Lady Bears ahead 61-57 with 2:11 remaining.
Loyola chipped away and tied the game at 61-all with 1:06 to play, and a Missouri State turnover gave the Ramblers the ball with 45 seconds left when Troy Hambric converted a spinning shot in the lane with 24 ticks remaining. Hambric then blocked the second of two MSU shots on the final possession to preserve the win and give her seven stuffs in the contest.
The Lady Bears fell behind from the outset, making only one of their first nine shots to trail 13-3 seven minutes into the game. Mikala McGhee scored five quick points and assisted a Bry Snow layup for a 17-12 deficit at the 10:08 mark, then followed a Katie Palmer steal and layup with another trey to pull MSU within a possession at 22-19 with 7:07 left.
The Ramblers moved back ahead 31-22 on a trey from Becca Smith with 2:36 on the clock, and Missouri State responded with an 8-0 run as Lexi Hughes buried a 3-pointer with 1:03 left and Kenzie Williams hit a layup with 24 seconds remaining to close to 31-30 before Loyola hit a jumper shortly before the horn for the 33-30 halftime score.
Bry Snow's layup 1:46 into the second half gave MSU its first lead of the game at 34-33 to begin the back-and-forth final period. She also powered in a putback to cap a 7-0 run for a 47-45 MSU lead with 8:28 left, and four ties and four more lead changes followed until Wilkerson's trey began the game-ending sequence.
McGhee posted career-highs of 12 points and nine rebounds, and Bry Snow pulled down a career-high 11 boards of her own as the Lady Bears held a 42-32 advantage on the glass.
Tyonna Snow paced the MSU scoring with 13 and Williams added 10 for her 14th consecutive game scoring in double figures.
Smith (25) and Hambric (20) accounted for the majority of LUC's points as the Ramblers shot 49.1 percent (27-55) compared to 36.7 percent (22-60) for MSU.
Missouri State fell to 6-8 overall and 1-2 in MVC play, while Loyola moved to 6-10 and 2-2 in league play.
The Lady Bears return to JQH Arena on Jan. 18 for a 12:05 p.m. game against Drake.
