CHICAGO – Missouri State women's basketball fell to 20-8 (14-5 MVC) on the season with a 65-61 loss on the road at UIC (17-13, 10-9 MVC) here Thursday night. 
 
After a one-point game earlier this season between Missouri State and UIC in Springfield, the rematch lived up to the expectation of a close, physical game. 
 
With the game tied 31-31 at the half, MSU took a three-point lead early in the third period. The lead hovered between one to three points for the Lady Bears until just under the midway point of the quarter, when UIC connected on back-to-back buckets to take a one-point lead. MSU grabbed the lead back momentarily on a Lacy Stokes layup, but the Flames would put together what would ultimately be the game-winning run, outscoring the Lady Bears 7-2 over the final 2:26 of the third quarter.
 
Missouri State would continue to battle back in the fourth quarter with Jade Masogayo scoring the first eight points of the final period, pulling the Lady Bears within two points near the midway point. Over a two-minute span starting at the 4:59 mark, UIC connected on six free throw attempts to push the lead back to six. 
 
In typical Lady Bear fashion, they kept clawing their way back with back-to-back layups from Kennedy Taylor and Indya Green tying the game at 61-61 with 0:49 left on the clock. Unfortunately, the Flames were able to get a bucket on the other end to go up by two, and Missouri State came up empty on its final possession, forcing a foul situation as UIC iced the game at the line for a 65-61 victory. 
 
The first half saw much of the same back-and-forth between the two squads. After a layup to open the game for MSU, the Flames knocked down two of its three triples in the period to take an early four-point lead. A Green layup a few minutes later tied the game, before a Kyrah Daniels three-pointer gave MSU its first lead since the opening basket at 11-10. The run continued with consecutive Taylor layups to give the Lady Bears a five-point advantage. 
 
After another UIC trey to cut MSU's lead to two at the end of the first quarter, the Flames scored the first five points of the second to reclaim the lead. Following a 21-21 tie at 6:23 on a Taylor basket, UIC reeled off five straight points, but Missouri State didn't let the Flames get too much momentum. 
 
Daniels drained her second three of the night to make it a two-point game before her third three-point bucket of the first half sparked a 7-0 MSU run to give the Lady Bears a three-point lead. Then, the Flames answered with their sixth triple of the first half to tie the game once again at 31-31 heading into the intermission. 
 
Masogayo led the way for the Lady Bears with 15 points, including eight in the fourth quarter. Green notched a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds on the night, while Stokes and Taylor joined in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Missouri State won the battle in the paint (38-24) and on the boards (39-32), but the difference ultimately came at the free throw line with UIC going 17-for-23 compared to MSU's 6-for-9. 
 
The loss marked MSU's first defeat this season in a game decided by five points or less. Missouri State was 6-0 in such games prior to tonight's outcome.   
 
Missouri State will close out the regular season at Valparaiso on Saturday, March 9. Tipoff against the Beacons is set for 1:00 p.m.