SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Indiana State felt great about their chances to notch its first win at Hammons Student Center since the 1989 season with 26 seconds remaining in the contest when junior Lisa Verhoff hit her fourth 3-pointer of the day to push the Sycamores ahead of SMS, 70-66. But a banked-in trey by SMS senior Jenni Lingor, a missed free throw by ISU’s Melanie Boeglin and a driving lay-up by Lingor with 1.7 seconds remaining gave the Lady Bears a 71-70 come-from-behind victory. SMS moves to 16-6, 11-2 in the MVC, retaining a share of first place in the league, while ISU’s seven-game winning streak was snapped and the Sycamores fell to 15-7, 8-5.

Lingor’s heroics in the closing seconds beat Indiana State for the second time this season as she led SMS back from a 16-point halftime deficit in the victory.

ISU was paced by juniors Ashley Clark, who scored 18 points and secured seven rebounds while Boeglin enjoyed a solid contest, posting 14 points, hitting 6-of-10 shots from the field.

SMS found itself down by four points with 26 seconds remaining, but once again Lingor took the team on her shoulders. She banked in a three-pointer with 12 seconds on the clock and K.C. Cowgill fouled Melanie Boeglin immediately on the in-bound. Boeglin missed her free throw and Lingor grabbed took the ball. After a timeout, Cowgill inbounded the ball to Lingor and she went coast-to-coast to lay in the winning shot with 1.7 seconds left. The Sycamores turned the ball over on the inbounds pass and SMS clinched its 11th conference win.

It was Lingor who also allowed the Lady Bears to defeat Indiana State, Jan. 16, in Terre Haute, Ind., knocking down a trey with less than six seconds remaining in that contest to give SMS an 80-77 victory.

The first half was a see-saw battle for the first 12 minutes as SMS took its largest lead of the night at 11-4 with 14:42 remaining in the period. The game was tied at 18 before the Sycamores rattled off 10 unanswered point to take a 28-18 advantage with 5:44 to go.  Lisa Verhoff hit a three to cap off a solid half for the Sycamores to send them to the locker room with a 39-23 edge.

The Lady Bears cut Indiana State’s lead to six, 46-40, on a field goal by Cowgill with 13:31 left in the contest. SMS took its first lead of the second half at 55-54 with just over six minutes remaining and the Sycamores never got more than four points ahead the rest of the way. The win marked the first time since before joining the Valley the Lady Bears have overcome a halftime deficit of 16 points or more to win.

Lingor led the Lady Bears in scoring for the 14th time this season with 23 points. She added six assists and three rebounds. She was one of four SMS players scoring in double figures, as Nicole Lehman turned in 12, Kari Koch had 11 and Tiff Terwelp had 10 points in the game. Terwelp led the squad on the boards with seven and made a career-high five steals.

The Lady Bears shot 60.7 percent in the second half after shooting just 29 percent in the opening period. Indiana State shot well in both halves, hitting 53.6 percent for the game. The Lady Bears had a 32-30 rebounding advantage after being down by 10, 23-13, in the first half.

Indiana State returns to action on Thursday evening as they host Bradley in a Missouri Valley Conference tilt. Tipoff with the Braves is slated for just after 7:00 p.m. (EST). 

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