Illinois outscored the Missouri State Lady Bears 12-0 over a seven and-a-half minute stretch which helped the Illini to a 65-53 third-round WNIT win Thursday evening at JQH Arena. UI held the Lady Bears to their lowest point total of the season and just .311 shooting for the game to bring an end to MSU’s best season in five years.

The Illini connected on 50 percent of its first-half field goal attempts to overcome 12 turnovers and take a 29-23 lead into the halftime locker room. UI limited the Lady Bears to just 8-of-32 shooting from the field in the half, and scored the last four points of the first period and the first eight of the second half to turn a 25-23 game into a 14-point advantage.

The Lady Bears would cut the lead to six points with just under nine minutes to play, but the Illini would go on another 12-0 run to ice the game. Casey Garrison scored 10 points in the loss for MSU and ends her sophomore year with 658 points, which is good for the fifth-highest total in school history. Her career total of 1,134 points through her first two years puts her 16th all-time at Missouri State through just 63 career games.

With the loss Missouri State finishes the season with a 22-11 mark, its best since going 25-8 in 2004-05.