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If the Lady Bears are going to climb back into the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season race, they needed a win against Southern Illinois on Sunday evening.
The Lady Bears got it.
Missouri State (16-5, 7-3) got its much-needed win over first-place Southern Illinois (12-7, 7-2) with a 53-52 victory at JQH Arena.
The Lady Bears find themselves with three losses and behind three teams sitting atop the conference with two. They play two of the top three teams in the league to close out the season including a Sunday 2 p.