SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Behind Christiana Shorter’s 13 first-half points and a .486 team shooting effort from the field, the Missouri State Lady Bears took a 36-28 lead over visiting Evansville into intermission Sunday afternoon at JQH Arena. MSU led by as many as 17 points in the opening period before the Purple Aces heated up from long range late in the half to make it a contest.

Shorter went 6-of-8 from the field and hauled in six rebounds over the first 20 minutes of the game, while fellow sophomore Tia Mays and junior guard Casey Garrison pulled down seven boards apiece to help MSU control the interior. The Lady Bears outscored the Aces 22-12 in the paint, blocked five shots and finished the half with a 26-21 rebounding edge.

The Lady Bears got an early lift from Shorter, who scored eight points in the first five minutes of the contest to stake Missouri State to a double-digit lead. Shorter scored the first four points of the game, then added two more baskets as part of an 11-2 run that was capped by a Jaleshia Roberson three-pointer that pushed the MSU lead to 15-4 with 14:18 left on the clock.

Missouri State would extend its advantage to 25-8 on a Mays layup at the 9:17 mark before the Purple Aces would heat up from the perimeter. Katie Ellerson knocked down three consecutive treys t0 spark a 13-2 UE run that drew the visitors to within six points with just under six minutes to play in the period.

But the Lady Bears would get back to back buckets from Jasmine Malone and Garrison to stretch their lead back into double figures.

UE shot just .282 (11-of-39) from the field, but committed just four turnovers to make the most of its scoring opportunities. Ellerson led the Aces with nine points on 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc.