CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The Missouri State Lady Bears built an early double-digit lead and never let up on the UNI Panthers, running away with a 95-79 victory Thursday evening at the McLeod Center. MSU, which notched its 20th win of the season, shot a blistering .633 from the field and forced 12 UNI turnovers in the first half to establish a lead that the Panthers would never seriously threaten.Casey Garrison led all scorers with 24 points on 10-of-18 shooting, while handing out six assists and playing 38 minutes without a turnover. Christiana Shorter also came up big for MSU, posting a double-double consisting of a career-high 22 points and 10 rebounds.
The Lady Bears came out of the gate blazing hot, connecting on seven of their first 10 attempts from the floor to build a 17-2 lead by the first media timeout. Jaleshia Roberson kicked off the scoring with a three-pointer from the right wing, then converted an old-fashioned three-point play at the 16:09 mark to start a 12-0 run for MSU. Jasmine Malone then tossed in the first of her two three-pointers in the period to stretch the margin to 15 points with 14:12 to play.
MSU would push their lead to 21-4 on another Roberson basket before UNI would respond with a 6-0 spurt to climb back to within 11.
Another Malone triple made it a 14 point game, and a Garrison three-point play moments later would take the Lady Bear lead to 33-15 at the 7:25 mark.
UNI used a 10-3 run to pull to within 11, but the Lady Bears would score 11 of the final 14 points in the half to take a 51-32 lead-their largest lead of the half-into the locker room.
Garrison, who handed out all six of her assists in the opening period, led all first-half scorers with 13 points, while Roberson chipped in 11.
After the Lady Bears got an Aly Stock jumper with 18;50 remaining on the clock to push their lead to 20, UNI got back-to-back threes from Jacqui Kalin and Nicole Clausen to pull to within 14.
The two clubs would trade blows throughout the half, but MSU would hold UNI at bay. The Panthers never got closer than 11 down the stretch, as the Lady Bears put the game on ice by converting 19-of-21 second-half free throw attempts.
MSU would finish the night 31-of-58 (.534) from the floor to go along with a 28-of-33 (.848) effort at the charity stripe. The Lady Bears capitalized on 18 UNI turnovers to finish with a 30-12 advantage in points off turnovers.
With the victory, the Lady Bears wrapped up at least a fourth-place finish in the MVC regular-season race, heading into Saturday's season finale at Bradley tied with Creighton for second place with an 12-5 conference mark. The win also gave MSU its first 20-win season since 2004-05.
Roberson and Malone also finished in double figures for the Lady Bears, tallying 18 and 14 points, respectively.
Kalin led UNI (13-15, 9-8 MVC) with 20 points, and Kim Wypiszinski totaled 14 for the Panthers.
Up next, the Lady Bears (20-8, 12-5 MVC) will close the regular season Saturday afternoon with a 2:05 p.m., contest against Bradley in East Peoria, Ill.
