ST. CHARLES, Mo. — The second day of the MVC Tournament is a day chocked full of quarterfinals games. Yesterday, Loyola and Evansville advanced and will be rewarded with having to play the one seed, Wichita State, and the two seed, Drake. It will be the first game of the tournament for the top six seeds. With nearly a week since their last game, will the top teams in the lead be rope for an upset as they try to shake off the rust? Or, will the well-rested favorites walk over the underdogs playing their first back-to-back of the season?
In the matchups of teams on equal rest/rust, Northern Iowa will play Southern Illinois, a team they split with in the regular season, in the second afternoon game and Missouri State will take on Indiana State in the nightcap.
Session II
#1 Wichita State (26-4, 17-1 MVC) vs. #9 Loyola (6-24, 3-15) 12 p.m.
Final- Wichita State 59, Loyola 42
The Wichita State Shockers beat the Loyola Chicago Ramblers 59-42 in the first quarterfinal on Friday. The top-seeded Shockers took a while to shake the rust off, but once they did they cruised to a double-digit win. For the second straight day, the Ramblers lost the turnover battle by 13 but could not overcome it this time.
In the course of the win, Wichita State’s Alex Harden became the all-time leading scorer in school history. To go with her 16 points, Harden also made seven steals to set the single-season record with 94.
Wichita State starting guard Jamillah Bonner scored 14 points and grabbed 6 rebounds. Forward Alie Decker scored 12 points while shooting 4-of-6 from 3-point range.
Loyoloa was led once again by St. Louis’ own Taylor Manuel, who grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and scored 8 points.
The game started sluggishly. The first points came two-and-a-half minutes in and Loyola led 5-4 at the 14:52 mark. Then, the Shockers took off, taking the lead and never getting close to giving it back again. Wichita State went on a 19-2 run over the next 10 minutes. The run included a more than six-minute Loyola scoring drought. Harden scored 9 of her 11 first half points during the run.
In the second half, Loyola was able to shoot 57 percent, but negated the advantage with 12 turnovers in the half. At the final horn, the Ramblers turnover total was 21 and were outscored 20-5 in points off those turnovers. Loyola was able to mount a bit of a comeback when the Shockers had a five-minute scoring dry spell. The 7-0 run cut the lead to 11 with 11 minutes left, but the lead would get no smaller. With the subs in the game late, the lead ballooned to as much as 22.
Wichita State continues their quest for their third straight MVC Tournament Title on Saturday. The Shockers will play the winner of the Northern Iowa in the first semifinal at 1:35 p.m.
Watch Replay on ESPN 3
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#4 Northern Iowa (16-13, 12-6) vs. #5 Southern Illinois (17-12, 10-8) 2:30 p.m.
Final- Northern Iowa 59, Southern Illinois 50
The Northern Iowa Panthers defeated the Southern Illinois Salukis 59-50 in a back-and-forth game that saw nine lead change and 11 ties. The Panthers scored 11 unanswered points over a three minute stretch late in the second half to secure the lead for good. The Salukis outrebounded UNI 57-41, including grabbing 21 off the offensive glass. The large rebounding numbers are partially a product of their 28 percent shooting performance.
The Panthers had three players who cracked the 10-point mark. Junior forward Amber Sorenson scored 12 points off four 3-pointers. Starting guard Brooke Brown led the team with 17 points. Madison Weekly added 10 points.
Both member of the Salukis starting front court posted double-doubles. Dyana Pierre scored a game-high 18 points and tied a career-high with 21 rebounds (10 offensive). Her running mate inside, Azia Washington, had 14 points and 14 rebounds (6 offensive) of her own.
The biggest lead of the first half was just five points and Northern Iowa was able to run it up to seven briefly in the first five minutes of the second half.
With 4:12 to go in the game, the score was tied for the eleventh time at 44-44. The Panthers then rattled off an 11-0 run over the next three minutes to put the game out of reach.
The Panthers will play Wichita State on Saturday for a right to go to the championship game on the line.
Watch Replay on ESPN 3
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Session III
#2 Drake (20-9, 15-3 MVC) vs. #7 Evansville (12-18, 6-12) 6 p.m.
Final- Evansville 84, Drake 79 (OT)
The Evansville Purple Aces upset the Drake Bulldogs 84-77 in overtime. Evansville unloaded a record-breaking 3-point barrage to carry them over the Bulldogs. Drake beat the Aces in their two regular season meetings by 17 and 9 points, but in this one they were done in by the turnovers.
With 55.7 seconds left Drake’s Caitlin Ingle knocked down a free throw to complete her 3-point play. On the ensuing possession, Evansville’s Sarah Dickey drove the lane and hit a floater to tie the game at 63-63 with 28 seconds left. After holding for one shot, Drake’s Lizzy Wendell could not get her own heavily contested runner to go and the game went to overtime.
In overtime, the Aces never trailed and led by as many as eight points. Mallory Ladd and Khristian Hart each scored seven points in the extra period and Kat Taylor knocked down a pair of free throws with four seconds left to finish off the Bulldogs. The Aces missed the front end of 0ne-and-ones a couple of times, but were bailed out by Ladd getting her own rebound and Drake turning throwing the ball away when trying to beat the press.
Evansville was led by a pair of 20-point scorers. Ladd scored 22 and had 7 rebounds for her second consecutive 20-point game of the tournament. Despite picking up her fourth foul with 5:20 left in the second quarter, was able to play 42 minutes and finish the game. Hart scored a game high 29 points and hit 6-of-8 from 3-point range. Ladd made 5-of-12.
Drake was led by a pair of 21-point scorers of their own. Forward Becca Jonas had 21 points and 15 rebounds. Maddy Dean also scored 21 but did so by shooting 3-of-9 from 3-point range.
The first game of the night session was a showcase of conflicting styles. Evansville is an outside focused, jump shooting team that plays a pressure man-to-man defense. Drake is the top rebounding team in the conference and pounds the ball inside. They also played a 2-3 zone for much of the game. As a result, the numbers for each pretty much fall where you would expect them.
Evansville took 38 3-pointers, a product of seeing the zone to some degree, and hit 17 of them. Both are tournament records. They also forced Drake into 29 turnovers and led 29-8 in points off turnovers, 13-0 in the second half and overtime.
Drake meanwhile won the battle on the glass 50-30 and in the paint 34-10. Evansville did not make their first basket in the lane until there were just 22 seconds left in the first half. In the second half, Drake did jack up a few more from the outside taking double (12) they did in the first half (6) and then took six more in overtime.
Evansville led for over 16 minutes of the first half. Drake finally wrestled away the lead from them with just over 4 minutes left in the half when a 12-0 run turned a seven-point deficit into a five-point lead. Eight unanswered points to end the half gave Evansville then got lead back going into the break.
The second half was even tighter than the first. The lead changed hands 7 times and was tied twice. Evansville led early by as many as six points and Drake held several seven-point leads. However, in the final 5 minutes of the second half, neither team held more than a one-possession lead. After shooting 28 percent in the first half and 38 percent from 3-point range, the Aces were 9-of-17 from distance the rest of the way and finished the game shooting 41 percent from the field.
This was by far the loudest the Family Arena has been for the MVC Tournament. Combine a later start on a Friday night with a strong contingent from both schools and you get an atmosphere worthy of a good conference tournament game.
The Drake fans were so loud late in the first half, the referees could not hear Aces Head Coach Oties Epps as he asked loudly and emphatically for a timeout. A lapse in communication that angered him to the point of having to be warned by an official.
Evansville will now go on to play the winner of the second game of the night session, Missouri State or Indiana State, in the second semifinal game Saturday at 4 p.m.
Watch Replay on ESPN 3
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#3 Missouri State (16-13, 12-6) vs. #6 Indiana State (17-12, 7-11), 8:30 p.m.
Final- Missouri State 75, Indiana State 57
The Missouri State Lady Bears pulled away from the Indiana State Sycamores in the second half to win 75-57 in the final quarterfinal. Like so many games, this one was decided in the turnover column. Throw in a below 30 percent shooting second half and it is going to be hard to stick with any team.
Indiana State had 21 turnovers and was outscored 26-8 in points off turnovers. Turnovers also lead to easy baskets in transition, hence the 12-2 Missouri State advantage in that category. The turnover situation was close to equally terrible in both halves but shooting 47 percent counteracted the negative side effects of giving away 13 possessions in the first half. In the second half, Indiana State shot just 29 percent so they got to feel the full sting of a 10 turnover half.
There were 8 lead changes and two ties in the first half. Indiana State actually had the biggest lead of the half at eight points. They lost their last lead of the game with just under four minutes to play in the first half and Missouri State took a 35-32 lead into halftime.
While never trailing in the second half, Missouri State could not put Indiana State away. The lead stayed under 10 points until the final four minutes. An 11-0 Lady Bears run extended the lead from 4 to 15 in a little over a minute and a half, allowing Missouri State to coast into the semifinals.
Missouri State’s Tyonna Snow left to a standing ovation in the game’s final minutes after she scored a game-high 26 points. Kenzie Williams was the only other MO State starter in double figures with 10 points. Lexi Hughes and Liza Fruendt came off the bench to score 12 apiece.
The Sycamores’ bench outscored their starters 30-27. Jasmine Grier’s 12 points made her the only starter to make it in to double digits. Ciera Ceazer scored 1o points and Joyea Marshall scored 11, both in a reserve role. Starting forward Racheal Mahan did haul in a game-high 12 rebounds.
Missouri State will next face the Cinderella Story of the 2015 MVC Tournament, Evansville. The pair will play in the second semifinal, scheduled to tip at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Family Arena.
Watch Replay on ESPN 3
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