The Lady Bears’ six-game homestand ended without a blemish as they’ve discovered consistency heading into their first road trip in over a month.

Missouri State (9-3, 3-0) escaped with a 51-50 win over Illinois Chicago (8-6, 1-2) on Saturday afternoon at Great Southern Bank Arena.

A Jade Masogayo go-ahead putback layup with 1.1 seconds remaining proved to be the difference. Illinois Chicago had an open look at a game-winner at the buzzer at the other end but the layup was short-armed.

It marked the Lady Bears’ third one-possession win over their winning streak. The win came a week after Lacy Stokes got a layup at the buzzer to fall in a 54-52 win over Northern Iowa. The Lady Bears are 5-0 in games decided by five points or less.

Before the winning streak, the Lady Bears had yet to put together two wins in a row. Over the stretch, they’ve shown massive improvement and the ability to win close games. They look to keep momentum going during their central Illinois road trip to Bradley on Thursday before playing Illinois State on Sunday.

Missouri State Lady Bears basketball responds to slow start with 20-0 run

Unlike how the Lady Bears started in their 20-point win over Valparaiso on Thursday evening, MSU found itself down in a 9-2 hole through the first four minutes.

That quickly changed as Missouri State finished the first quarter by scoring 20 unanswered points. Indya Green and Kyrah Daniels each scored seven points over the stretch while the defense forced UIC into eight-consecutive misses.

“I wasn’t pleased with how we started the game,” MSU head coach Beth Cunningham said. “That’s just something that can’t happen and we can’t continue to do it. We got hot on the offensive end for the floor and then started to get comfortable again. I don’t know what it is but I think more than anything that it’s mentality. It’s pedal to the metal and you just have to stay on it.”

UIC held MSU to five points in second quarter

Whatever UIC women’s basketball coach Ashleen Bracey said after the first quarter worked. The Flames held the Lady Bears to just five points in the second quarter after MSU scored 20 in the previous six minutes.

Missouri State didn’t score until Jade Masogayo got a layup to fall with 1:42 left in the half. Kyrah Daniels followed with a 3 before the break.

The Flames didn’t make the biggest dent into the Lady Bears’ lead as it led 27-21 at halftime. UIC started with a 10-0 run to start the quarter but only made one shot from the field over the final 6:39.

Lady Bears pull off another win in dramatic fashion

Neither team led by more than five in the second half and the final 4:38 never had a difference of more than a possession.

With the Lady Bears leading by two with 18.6 seconds to go, UIC guard Jaida McCloud missed the backend of a one-and-one with the Flames grabbing the rebound. After a timeout with 16 seconds remaining, UIC guard Makiyah Williams fought in the paint to get the ball to go off the backboard and in with three seconds left for a one-point advantage.

After a Lady Bears timeout, down one, a lob into Daniels underneath the basket was deflected into Masogayo’s hands who scored a go-ahead putback layup with 1.1 seconds remaining.

“Right place at the right time,” Masogayo said. “It just literally fell on my hands and I put it up.”

“It was just the way they pressure and overplay,” Cunningham added. “I felt like they overplayed. I thought we had (Daniels) and we threw it a bit short. If we threw it a bit higher, I think Kyrah probably would have had it there. But Jade was right there. It wasn’t exactly how it was designed but it ended up working out as a touch pass to Jade.”

A timeout advanced the ball up the court. A near-perfectly executed call gave the Flames an open look for a layup at the horn but the shot came up short.

Daniels led the Lady Bears with 15 points. No other Lady Bear scored more than nine as the team shot 35%. They held the Flames to 37.3% and came away with the win despite uncharacteristically losing the rebound battle by 10.

Up next

After six straight home games, the Lady Bears will hit the road for the first time since Dec. 6. They will travel to Bradley for a 6 p.m. game on Thursday before a 6 p.m. matchup at Illinois State on Jan. 14. Missouri State will return home Jan. 19 and 21 for games against Evansville and Indiana State.

Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or X at@WyattWheeler_NL.