Nov. 28, 2015 Final Stats
ESTERO, Fla. - Missouri State rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit, but Maine's clutch shooting in the closing minutes delivered a 69-65 victory for the Black Bears in the consolation bracket of the Gulf Coast Showcase Saturday at Germain Arena.
Trailing 47-35 midway through the third period, the Lady Bears (2-4) rode the combined offensive spark from Tyonna Snow and Liza Fruendt to fight their way back into the contest. Snow, who tallied a season-high 25 points on the day, scored the first nine MSU points of the second half, before Fruendt heated up to connect on three consecutive 3-point field goal attempts down the stretch to help pull the Lady Bears to within one point by the end of the period.
After Hillary Chvatal free throws with 8:56 to play handed MSU its first lead since late in the first period, the two clubs engaged in a back-and-forth battle until Sophie Weckstrom's 3-pointer with 4:59 left gave the Black Bears a 57-55 advantage that they would not relinquish. Sigi Koizar extended the Maine lead to 62-55 with her fifth triple of the game, but Snow led the MSU fight once again, scoring eight straight points to close the gap to 64-63 with under a minute to play. The senior guard then corralled a rebound following a Weckstrom miss, and drove the length of the court toward a potential go-ahead score with under 30 seconds to play.
But as a Maine defender attempted to impede her path, Snow was whistled for a questionable offensive foul, then received a technical foul in the wake of the momentum-swinging call.
The Black Bears (4-3) drained 5-of-6 free throw attempts to seal the outcome, including four straight from Koizar, who finished with a game-high 30 points on a 5-of-8 effort from 3-point range and 10-of-16 shooting overall. As a team, Maine converted 9-of-30 (.300) tries from long range.
Snow, who scored 21 of her 25 points in the second half, went 10-of-15 from the floor and matched a career high with 11 rebounds. Fruendt combined with Snow to score 22 of MSU's 23 third-period points, and added 14 points on 4-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc. Chvatal posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards to help stage the Missouri State comeback.
Maine used a late second-period scoring frenzy to take control of what had been a defensive struggle through the first 15 minutes of play. Koizar and Liz Wood did most of the damage for the Black Bears, who connected on 13-of-26 field goal attempts in the half. The duo combined to score 26 of Maine's 33 first-half points, shooting 4-of-6 from 3-point range, including a stretch late in the second period where Koizar connected on three consecutive tries from beyond the arc and tallied 11 straight points for the Black Bears to turn a one-point margin into their largest lead of the half into intermission.
The Lady Bears, who shot .421 (24-of-57) from the floor, started strong, using two buckets apiece from Kenzie Williams and Chvatal in the opening minutes of the game to seize a 10-6 lead that would serve as their largest of the day. But the Maine defense clamped down to hold MSU scoreless over a five-minute stretch late in the first period, as Wood went to work on the offensive end to account for seven of the Black Bears' next nine points to turn the tide. Maine led 13-12 after one period, but Wood's basket just 34 seconds into the second extended the lead to three points.
MSU would use a Snow field goal at the 7:01 mark to pull to within 18-17, but Koizar buried the first of her three key triples down the stretch on Maine's ensuing possession, then converted a layup the next time down the floor to make it a six-point game. Fruendt canned the first of her four treys with 3:05 to play, and an Onye Osemenam free throw sliced the margin to 23-21.
But Koizar dialed it in on the Black Bears' next two possessions, hitting key threes that would help Maine take a 33-26 cushion into halftime.
The Black Bears extended their advantage early in the third, as Weckstrom sank a triple from the corner on the opening possession of the half, and Bella Swan's jumper stretched the lead to 38-26. Another Koizar three and a pair of free throws from Wood gave the Black Bears a 47-35 edge before Snow and Fruendt caught fire to engineer the Lady Bear comeback.
MSU enjoyed a substantial advantage on the glass, finishing with a 43-23 edge in total rebounds, but the Black Bears helped offset the discrepancy with an 18-to-8 assist-to-turnover margin. In addition to Koizar's big day, Wood totaled 14 points, while Weckstrom chipped in 12 points and a game-high five assists.
The Lady Bears conclude their trip to Florida Sunday morning with a 10 a.m. (Central) consolation bracket match-up against the loser of Saturday's LSU-Marist contest.
