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Missouri State Lady Bears Down Northern Iowa 58-48

Missouri State Lady Bears Down Northern Iowa 58-48

Missouri State Lady Bears Down Northern Iowa 58-48

The Missouri State Lady Bears survived a late scare from the Northern Iowa Panthers, holding on to a 58-48 win Friday night at JQH Arena.

The win keeps the Lady Bears (18-8, 14-1) in a first place tie with Drake in the Missouri Valley Conference, setting up what could be a battle for the regular season league title Sunday at The Q.

MSU’s tough defense propelled the team to a 27-19 halftime lead.

But after going ahead by 15 points on a three pointer by senior Danielle Gitzen with 5:46 left in the third quarter, MSU saw UNI (17-10, 10-5) cut the lead to five points, 39-34, with 1:31 remaining in the period.

The Panthers pulled within four, 48-44, on Nicole Kroeger’s three pointer with 5:53 left in the game.

MSU got a bucket in the paint from Alexa Willard with five seconds left in the third to put the Lady Bears ahead 46-37 heading into the final frame.

Kroeger hit the Panthers’ eighth trey of the night with 5:53 to go, pulling within four of the lead, 48-44.

But after Coach Kellie Harper called a timeout, Jasmine Franklin got a big bucket and freshman Sydney Manning drained a three, extending the Missouri State lead to nine before pushing it to double digits.

“We had a couple breakdowns in a row that led to buckets, so I was not pleased with that,” Harper said. We took that timeout to make sure we all got on the same page.”

Harper says it was a fun atmosphere to play in with a big crowd in the arena. “From the get-go, just coming out on the court to start the game and seeing the crowd that we had, and just feeling the excitement there. It was fantastic.”

Gitzen’s 13 points led the way for the Lady Bears, while sophomore Abby Hipp added 11 and Franklin posted a double-double with ten points and ten rebounds.

Taylor Hagen’s ten points/ten rebounds performance paced UNI.

The Panthers committed 31 turnovers in the contest, with the Lady Bears scoring 30 points off those giveaways.

Missouri State had 21 turnovers.

The Lady Bears will take on Drake Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. at JQH Arena in what will be a battle for sole possession of first place in the Valley entering the final week of the regular season.

Game Notes: 

Missouri State made 7 of 13 free throw attempts, but for the most part, managed to keep UNI off the line as the Panthers connected on four foul shots in only five attempts.

The Lady Bears had 16 steals, with nine different players recording a take-away.

MSU leads the all time series against UNI 52-29, including a 31-8 mark in Springfield.

Friday’s announced attendance was 3,112.

Drake, who’s ranked 23rd in the nation, survived a scare at Southern Illinois, winning 71-64.

 

 

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