SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - The Indiana State women's basketball team battled tough for 40 minutes against the Missouri State Bears on Sunday afternoon, falling 65-54 to the Preseason Missouri Valley Conference favorites inside JQH Arena. The Sycamores are now 8-8 overall and 2-3 in conference play, while the Bears improve to 14-4, 5-1 in the MVC.

ISU and MSU traded baskets over the opening two minutes the contest, with the Bears taking an 8-6 early lead. Senior Kelsie Cooley led the Sycamores in the opening minutes, totaling five of ISU's six points on a 16-foot jumper and a 3-pointer from the top of the key.

The Bears created separation after that, going on a 12-4 run over the game's next six and a half minutes to go up 20-10 on a pair of free-throws from 2009-10 MVC Player of the Year Casey Garrison. The Sycamores would not go away, however, as ISU scored the game's next five points, on a jumper from freshman Anna Munn and a free-throw and jumper from junior Shannon Thomas to cut the MSU lead to 20-15 with 9:12 remaining.

After Missouri State took a six-point lead on a pair of free-throws from MSU's Jaleshia Roberson with 6:34 left in the first half, Indiana State used a 7-0 to take their first lead of the contest. A jumper from Thomas, a 3-pointer from junior Brittany Schoen and a basket by junior Deja Mattox made up the ISU run, capped by Mattox's shot with 3:47 remaining in the half.

Indiana State's lead would last for just nine seconds, as Garrison hit a runner in the paint to put the lead back on Missouri State's side, a lead that the Bears would never relinquish.

Missouri State took a 33-32 lead into the locker room at the half, as the Sycamores shot 13-for-38 in the opening 20 minutes and just 4-for-17 from the beyond the three-point line. Schoen led ISU at the half, dropping in 10 points while Thomas added seven points, six rebounds and three blocks. Cooley added five points and seven rebounds at the break while Mattox also tossed in five.

MSU came out firing in the second half, scoring the first six points to take a 39-32 lead with 16:44 on a layup by Garrison. The Bears' offensive rebounding was a large factor in the opening minutes of the second half, as Missouri State grabbed six offensive boards during the first three minutes of the period.

After Garrison hit a jumper to give the Bears an eight-point lead, at 47-39 with 12:48 remaining, Mattox scored the next five points to cut the MSU lead back to three points, capping the run on an old-fashioned three-point play with just under nine minutes remaining in the game.

From there, the Bears pulled away late using a perfect 12-for-12 effort from the free-throw line over the game's final eight minutes to secure the victory, while ISU could find just three field goals for the remainder of the game, coming on a basket from Thomas at the 6:43 mark, a 3-pointer from Mattox with 2:15 to go and another shot from Thomas with 1:31 left.

For the game, Thomas finished with her fifth double-double this season with 12 points and 13 rebounds, while also adding five blocks. Schoen and Mattox led ISU in scoring, each totaling 13 points on the afternoon. Cooley finished one point shy of a double-double, going for nine points and 10 rebounds.

As a team, the Sycamores shot 30.8% from the field, at 20-for-65. ISU could not find their stroke beyond the three-point line, hitting just six of their 26 attempts.

Indiana State entered the game with the most successful free-throws attempts in the MVC, but made just 14 trips to the line on Sunday, knocking down eight of their shots.

Garrison led the way for the league-leading Bears, totaling 18 points and five assists, while Roberson and Christiana Shorter both joined her in double-figures, with 13 and 10, respectively.

The Sycamores return to Terre Haute and Hulman Center for their next two games, when they welcome Drake on Thursday, Jan. 20, and Creighton on Saturday, Jan. 22. ISU is 7-2 this season in games inside Hulman Center, including two straight wins in MVC play.