The Upper Iowa University women's basketball team overcame an early deficit and had three players score 20+ points as they endured a back-and-forth battle against Southern Arkansas University, but SAU prevailed with a 102-96 win. The Peacocks fall to a 1-1 record on the season while the Muleriders improve to 2-0.

The Muleriders opened the game on an 11-2 run and built an early 10-point lead at 14-4, but the Peacocks matched SAU with a 7-7 stretch before going on a 7-0 run to cut their deficit to 21-18 and force an SAU timeout. Jessica Musgrave brought UIU within one at 21-20 after converting a pair of free throws, and a three from SAU and two more freebies from Musgrave saw the Muleriders hold a 24-22 lead after the first period.

The teams traded three consecutive 4-0 runs to open a back-and-forth second quarter. Upper Iowa opened the second period with a 4-0 run after buckets from Musgrave and Lydia Haack to take their first lead of the game at 26-24. Southern Arkansas answered back with a 4-0 run to retake their lead, but UIU went ahead again with another 4-0 spurt thanks to scores from Brooke Evenson and Musgrave. SAU went on a 6-0 run to go up 41-36, but Evenson ended the run with a three-pointer and started a 7-2 UIU run that saw her tie the game at 43-43 on a layup with 1:59 on the clock. The Muleriders hit a pair of threes to go up 49-43, but the Peacocks ended the half with a 4-0 stretch and headed into the break with a two-point deficit after a buzzer-beating layup from Haack.

Haack opened the third quarter with a steal and a layup to tie the score at 49 points apiece, and Musgrave put in a layup to put UIU up by two. The back-and-forth play continued before Musgrave gave the Peacocks their biggest lead at 61-57 after converting an and-one. Southern Arkansas kept it close as the teams continued to trade buckets, but Musgrave drove inside and kicked it out to Emma Anderson for a three-pointer to put UIU ahead 70-64 and force an SAU timeout with 3:53 on the clock. The Muleriders responded with a 4-0 run to come within two before back-to-back buckets from Haack made it a 74-68 game, but SAU converted an and-one layup at the buzzer to cut the UIU lead to 74-71 at the end of the third quarter. 

Evenson missed her first shot in the fourth quarter, but she followed up the attempt with a second-chance layup to put UIU ahead 76-73. SAU knocked down a three at the 6:50 mark to go up 80-78 and take their first lead in over a quarter of play. Musgrave tied the game with 5:53 on the clock after a put-back layup off her own miss. A UIU defensive stop led to a three-pointer from Haack on the ensuing Peacock possession to give Upper Iowa an 83-80 advantage. SAU reclaimed the lead with consecutive buckets, but Mia Huberty turned the lead back in UIU's favor with a basket. 

The teams traded leads and buckets over the next two possessions before SAU took a timeout with 3:09 left on the clock and an 87-86 UIU lead on the board. The teams traded buckets once again with three lead changes over the next three possessions, but the Muleriders hit a big three with 1:33 to play to go up 93-89. SAU fumbled a fast break attempt after a steal on the next UIU possession, and Musgrave pulled the Peacocks within two with a layup at the 1:02 mark.

After a UIU timeout, Southern Arkansas made another three-pointer in crunch time to go up 96-91 and call a timeout of their own with 46 seconds to play. Musgrave missed a good look from deep on the right wing, and UIU was forced to foul to extend the game. Haack made a layup to cut the UIU deficit to 97-93, but SAU hit another three to go up 100-93. Musgrave converted an and-one with nine seconds on the clock to bring UIU within four, but the Muleriders converted a pair of free throws to push their lead to 102-96 before the end of the game.

STATS OF THE GAME… 

• The Peacocks shot 18/28 (64.3%) in the first half, while the Muleriders were 17-40 (42.5%) over the same stretch. Each team shot 33.3% from deep in the first half, but UIU was 2/6 while SAU was 7/21. UIU finished shooting 39/62 (62.9%) from the floor, 5/14 (35.7%) from three, and 13/14 (92.9%) from the free-throw line. SAU shot 36/74 (48.6%) from the floor, 12/34 (35.3%) from three, and 18/24 (75%) from the free-throw line.

• UIU held a 16-6 advantage in defensive rebounds in the first half, but SAU grabbed a 7-2 advantage on the offensive glass. The Peacocks finished +10 on the defensive boards but, they were -9 on the offensive boards as SAU had a 16-6 lead in second-chance points.

• UIU was turned over 15 times in the first half while SAU coughed it up just 8 times. The Peacocks finished with 26 turnovers while forcing 17, giving SAU a 41-24 advantage in points off turnovers.

• SAU had a 30-2 advantage in bench points through the first half and finished with a 57-5 advantage in bench points.

• Upper Iowa finished with a 60-38 advantage in points in the paint.

PEACOCKS OF THE GAME… 

• Jessica Musgrave added 15 first-half points after going 7/7 from the charity stripe, and she finished with a game and career-high 33 points. She grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds to secure her sixth career double-double, shot 11/18 (61.1%) from the floor, and a perfect 11/11 from the charity stripe. Musgrave also snatched 2 steals and dished out 4 assists.

• Lydia Haack tacked on 10 points in the first half after shooting 5/6 (83.3%) from inside the arc, and she finished the game with 25 points on 12/18 (66.7%) shooting, including 1/3 (33.3%) from three. She also contributed a game-high 6 assists and grabbed 5 rebounds while playing a game-high 38 minutes. 

• Brooke Evenson dropped in 11 points in the second quarter, including a 3/3 stretch to help UIU close the half, en route to 16 points on a flawless 7/7 from the floor and 2-2 from deep in the first half. She finished with a career-high 23 points while shooting 10/11 (90.1%) from the field and 3/4 (75%) from behind the arc.

UP NEXT… The Peacocks will play in an exhibition game against NCAA DI Bradley University on Monday, Nov. 15 at 6:30 p.m. in Peoria, Ill.