ROLLA - The Helias Lady Crusaders had an opportunity to take a big lead into halftime.
But they just couldn't quite get it done. And Sullivan made Helias pay for it in the third quarter.
Sullivan outscored Helias 17-2 in the third quarter of Wednesday night's Class 4 sectional game, turning a one-point deficit into a 14-point lead on its way to a 49-37 victory at Missouri S&T.
"We just came out a little tentative, we haven't done that in a long time," Helias coach Alan Lepper said. "It was like we were playing not to lose instead of to win.
"I don't know if it was the situation of it being a sectional or what, but we didn't play like we had been the last few weeks."
The Lady Eagles were 0-of-7 on 3-pointers in the first quarter, but the Lady Crusaders turned it over five times and the game was tied at 6 after eight minutes.
A 3-pointer by Lindsey Byers with 2:50 to go in the half gave Helias its biggest lead of the game at 14-10. Sullivan answered with its first 3 on the next possession, snapping an 0-of-11 streak, to cut Helias' lead back to one.
The Lady Crusaders took a 17-16 advantage into halftime.
"The lead should have been bigger," Lepper said. "We just couldn't get our transition game going, we were committing a lot of unforced turnovers and giving up too many offensive rebounds to them."
Sullivan finished 1-of-13 on 3-pointers in the half, while Helias was just 5-of-16 overall from the field.
"We were passing up shots kids had been confident in taking recently," Lepper said.
A drive and short jumper by Byers with 6:35 left in the third quarter gave Helias its final lead of the game at 19-18. Sullivan closed the quarter with a 15-0 run to take a 33-19 advantage into the fourth quarter.
Mallory Shetley had eight points in the quarter for the Lady Eagles, who came out in the second half with a more inside approach on the offensive end.
"She was a matchup problem for us, we knew that," Lepper said. "She's a very good player, she takes it to the basket strong.
"She did what she had to do to get them going."
Shetley really got the Lady Eagles going in the fourth quarter, scoring 12 of her game-high 28 points.
The Lady Eagles led by as many as 20 points in the fourth quarter, that coming at 42-22 with a little more than four minutes to play.
Helias got as close as 11 points when Kylie Bernskoetter put back a rebound to make it 45-34 with 2:20 remaining.
Bernskoetter led Helias (15-13) with 13 points and seven rebounds. Byers added 11 points while pulling down six boards.
This was Helias' first trip to the sectional round since 2016.
"We took a big step forward as a program this season," Lepper said. "We played a lot of good basketball this season. I'm very proud of all the girls and all that they accomplished.
"I think we put Helias girls basketball back on the map this season."
In the third quarter, Helias senior starter Rylee Kolb left the floor with an injury and did not return. She sat on the bench in the fourth quarter with her right arm in a sling.
Eighth-ranked Sullivan (25-2) will face third-ranked Carl Junction (27-0) in the quarterfinals at 1 p.m. Saturday at Southwest Baptist in Bolivar.