Saturday, March 14
St. Charles, Mo.
4:07 PM
Missouri State University
75
vs
66
Evansville
Lady Bears Advance to MVC Final With 75-66 Win Over Aces
March 14, 2015 | Women's Basketball
March 14, 2015
St. CHARLES, Mo. - The Missouri State Lady Bears advanced to the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship game by defeating seventh-seeded Evansville (13-19) by a 75-66 final Saturday afternoon at The Family Arena.
With their 10th consecutive win, the Lady Bears (18-13) move on to play top-seeded Wichita State (28-4) for the league's automatic NCAA Tournament bid at 2:07 p.m. Sunday.
Missouri State never trailed in the contest, scoring the game's first six points and limiting the Purple Aces to one field goal in the first six minutes in building an 11-3 lead. NiJay Gaines scored to put MSU ahead by double digits at 16-6 with 11:34 to play, and Liza Fruendt's 3-pointer extended the advantage to 26-11 with 5:19 on the clock.
The Lady Bears held Evansville to 19.4 percent shooting in the first period for a 32-16 lead at the break, and led 43-21 with 15 minutes left after Tyonna Snow scored on both ends of a 7-0 run.
MSU's cushion grew to as many as 24 points on four separate occasions, the last at 61-37, and the Lady Bears led 71-52 before the Aces netted 14 points in the final 95 seconds for the final margin.
Missouri State shot 58.3 percent in the second half and .448 (26-58) in the game, while UE made 23 of 61 shots. The Lady Bears scored 26 points off 18 turnovers, and held a 42-36 rebounding edge.
Snow led MSU with 19 points and a 9-for-11 showing at the foul line, giving the junior 993 career points. Kenzie Williams (14), Hillary Chvatal (10) and Fruendt (10) joined her in double figures. Chvatal grabbed eight rebounds, and Lexi Hughes dished out five assists.
Williams moved up to 21st on MSU's single-season scoring list and 18th on the career chart, while her streak of 34 consecutive free throw makes came to an end as the No. 2 streak at MSU and No. 7 streak in MVC history.
With their 10th consecutive win, the Lady Bears (18-13) move on to play top-seeded Wichita State (28-4) for the league's automatic NCAA Tournament bid at 2:07 p.m. Sunday.
Missouri State never trailed in the contest, scoring the game's first six points and limiting the Purple Aces to one field goal in the first six minutes in building an 11-3 lead. NiJay Gaines scored to put MSU ahead by double digits at 16-6 with 11:34 to play, and Liza Fruendt's 3-pointer extended the advantage to 26-11 with 5:19 on the clock.
The Lady Bears held Evansville to 19.4 percent shooting in the first period for a 32-16 lead at the break, and led 43-21 with 15 minutes left after Tyonna Snow scored on both ends of a 7-0 run.
MSU's cushion grew to as many as 24 points on four separate occasions, the last at 61-37, and the Lady Bears led 71-52 before the Aces netted 14 points in the final 95 seconds for the final margin.
Missouri State shot 58.3 percent in the second half and .448 (26-58) in the game, while UE made 23 of 61 shots. The Lady Bears scored 26 points off 18 turnovers, and held a 42-36 rebounding edge.
Snow led MSU with 19 points and a 9-for-11 showing at the foul line, giving the junior 993 career points. Kenzie Williams (14), Hillary Chvatal (10) and Fruendt (10) joined her in double figures. Chvatal grabbed eight rebounds, and Lexi Hughes dished out five assists.
Williams moved up to 21st on MSU's single-season scoring list and 18th on the career chart, while her streak of 34 consecutive free throw makes came to an end as the No. 2 streak at MSU and No. 7 streak in MVC history.
Saturday, May 30
Saturday, May 30
Thursday, May 28
Sunday, May 24
