SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State women's basketball (20-7, 14-4 MVC) secured its seventh consecutive 20-win season with a 67-62 win over Illinois State (19-9, 12-6) here Saturday afternoon at Great Southern Bank Arena. 
 
Point guard Lacy Stokes put together an incredible performance in a crucial Missouri Valley Conference matchup. The junior poured in a season-high 26 points, tied her career high with seven steals and dished out seven assists without leaving the floor as she helped lead Missouri State to a five-point victory in its home finale.
 
After trailing by four at the half, the Lady Bears came out firing in the third quarter, shooting .615 (8-13) and owning a 10-0 advantage in the paint. Kyrah Daniels got things going for MSU in the third, knocking down a triple to cut the Redbird lead in half. With Illinois State still holding on to a narrow advantage, Kennedy Taylor and Stokes connected on back-to-back buckets to tie the game at 38-38. 
 
Less than a minute later, Taylor again tied the game before Kaemyn Bekemeier nailed a three to give MSU its first lead since midway through the second and Indya Green drove in for a layup to extend the lead to five. Illinois State then scored the final four points of the period to make it a two-point, 47-45, game heading into the final quarter. 
 
The Lady Bears used an 8-5 run over the first four minutes of the fourth quarter to push their lead back to five points, but Illinois State wasn't going away quietly. In a key MVC matchup, the Redbirds would tie the game on two more occasions, at the 5:30 and 1:58 mark. 
 
With less than two minutes remaining and a tie ballgame at 61-61, Daniels drove in for what would be the ultimate game-winning layup. After Illinois State cut the deficit back to one on a free throw with 1:25 left to play, Paige Rocca and Stokes went on to score on back-to-back possessions to secure a five-point win for the Lady Bears. 
 
The opening quarter set the narrative for what would be a hard-fought battle throughout a game that saw 11 lead changes and six ties. Illinois State jumped out front early, but the Lady Bears kept things close. Despite trailing nearly the entire first quarter, MSU went on to score four points in the final 0:28 of the first period with a Bekemeier fastbreak layup giving MSU its first lead of the game at 13-12 after one period in Springfield.
 
The second quarter saw Illinois State own the advantage as the Redbirds shot .583 (7-12) in the quarter, including a 9-0 surge over nearly three minutes in the early part of the second to retake and extend the lead to six points. MSU cut the lead to two points with 0:42 remaining in the half on a Stokes fastbreak layup, but two Redbird free throws down the stretch gave Illinois State a 30-26 advantage at the intermission. 
 
Behind Stokes' 26-point performance, Taylor collected seventh double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds. As a squad, the Lady Bears forced 21 Redbird turnovers which turned into 26 MSU points, won the battle in the paint (38-26) and held an 11-2 advantage in fastbreak scoring. 
 
Missouri State goes on the road for its final two games of the regular season. The Lady Bears visit UIC on Thursday, March 7 with tipoff set for 7:00 p.m. in Chicago.