Feb. 26, 2012
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NORMAL, Ill. -
The Illinois State (16-11, 11-5 MVC) women's basketball team was defeated by Missouri State (20-6, 13-3 MVC) in its second overtime game and first home conference loss of the season. Candace Sykes led all players and recorded a career-high 21 points and her 15th double-digit game of the season and Jamie Russell added 17 points.
Illinois State shot 41.8 percent from the field and had four players post double-digit points. Missouri State was led by Garrison with 19 points and shot 37.3 percent as a team from the field. Illinois State is now tied with Wichita State in second place heading into the final two conference match-ups of the regular season.
The Redbirds got off to a quick start, posting the first four points on the board with buckets from Russell and Katie Broadway. A layup from Missouri State's Christiana Shorter gave the Bears their first points trailing 4-2. Both teams went scoreless for over three minutes, until Marley Hall hit a jumper, followed by back-to-back treys from Sykes, 4-8.
The Bears started to find an offensive rhythm and went on a nine-point run for their first lead of the game, 17-14. Illinois State was able to stay within one point, but Missouri State broke away to a 27-23 lead with two-consecutive layups from Jasmine Malone and Whitney Edie and a Redbird foul that put Edie at the line for the extra point.
Despite four-straight points from Russell with three minutes remaining in the half and 12 points from Sykes, the Redbirds trailed 32-29 heading into the locker room. Illinois State shot 35 percent from the field and forced Missouri State to commit 14 turnovers in the first half, including six in the first five minutes. The Bears shot 41 percent from the field and grabbed seven more rebounds than the Redbirds, 23-16.
On the first possession out of the locker room, Sykes notched her third trey to tie the game, 32-32. The Bears and Redbirds exchanged buckets for the next 13 possessions until Russell drained a bucket and grabbed the extra point from the free throw line for a 49-46 lead. Missouri State answered right back with a layup and free throw from Regan Soldner off of a Redbird foul for the 10th tie of the game with 12 minutes remaining.
The battle continued, but the Bears were able to inch ahead with five made free throws off two Redbird fouls, 56-54. Illinois State got hot from beyond the arc and sank two-consecutive three-pointers from Russell and Broadway for a 60-60 tie with seven minutes left to play. The Redbirds stayed aggressive from the defense end, but Sykes committed her fifth personal foul, forcing her to foul out of the game with less than two minutes remaining.
Karly Buer grabbed two points from the line off of Sykes foul and Casey Garrison sank a three-pointer to put the Bears ahead 69-66 with less than a minute in the game. Out of an Illinois State timeout, Russell dished the ball to Chloe Nelson who drained a trey to tie the game 69-69 with 25 seconds remaining, forcing the game into overtime for Illinois State's second conference and home court overtime of the season.
Nelson marked the first points on the board in overtime, but Garrison hit a three-pointer on the next possession to a 72-71 MSU lead. Illinois State went off on a four-point run with a trey from Broadway and a free throw from Hall with less than two minutes left to play, 76-73. Both teams went scoreless for the next minute until Garrison notched her forth three-pointer of the game, 76-76. Missouri State was able to seal the win from the line from two Redbird fouls for an 80-76 victory.
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