March 31, 2016
SPRINGFIELD - The 2015-16 season was a special one for the Missouri State Lady Bears. Here is a list of some facts and figures about the team, players and coaches that represent the accomplishments of the 2016 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament champions.
Team Notes
The Lady Bears won their 10th Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title and played in the NCAA Tournament for the 14th time in school history ... MSU finished 24-10 overall, the program's most victories since 2012 ... MSU tied for second in the MVC with a 14-4 record, the program's 13th top-two finish in 24 league seasons ... Missouri State's home attendance average of 3,400 led the MVC for the 24th time in the last 27 seasons ... The Lady Bears won 10 true road games, tying the 1993 team for second-most in school history, and won 14 total games away from home, earning victories in eight different states ... MSU defeated each of the other nine MVC schools ... All of Missouri State's losses came against schools that played in the postseason ... The Lady Bears held five consecutive opponents below 50 points from Feb. 21-March 11, the school's longest such streak since 1974.
Player Notes
Aubrey Buckley
Started the season's first nine games, extending her starting streak to 39, before injury cut her season short ... Scored a career-high 12 points in MSU's 64-58 win at Little Rock.
Hillary Chvatal
Averaged 8.5 points and a team-high 7.0 rebounds while starting all 34 games ... Finished career with seven double-doubles and 14 double-figure rebounding games ... Ranks 12th in school history with 59 career blocked shots and 14th with 629 rebounds ... One of 10 players in school history with at least 500 points, 500 rebounds and 50 blocks ... One of nine Lady Bears to have two separate seasons with at least 200 rebounds.
Liza Fruendt
Scored at least 10 points in 19 of 34 games ... Averaged 11 points and hit 59 3-pointers ... Ninth player to average double figures as a freshman and sophomore at MSU ... Hit game-tying 3-pointers on MSU's final possession to force overtime against UNI (Feb. 5) and Loyola (Feb. 12), with the Lady Bears winning both games ... MVC all-tournament selection and MVC Scholar-Athlete Second Team choice.
Danielle Gitzen
Started 19 games, with MSU going 15-4 in those contests ... Hit the go-ahead free throws with 19 seconds left of MSU's Feb. 14 win over Bradley ... Scored a season-high 14 points in the team's MVC Tournament semifinal victory against Drake.
Audrey Holt
MSU's fourth-leading rebounder at 4.5 per game, including 4.9 in 19 starting assignments ... More than half of her rebounds came on the offensive glass ... MSU went 15-4 with her in the starting lineup.
Lexi Hughes
Averaged 6.3 points off the bench ... Shot 37.4 percent from 3-point range to rank fourth in the MVC overall, and 39.6 percent in league games to rank second ... Tallied 11 points on 4-for-4 shooting the in MVC Tournament championship game.
Onye Osemenam
Ranked second on the team with 22 blocked shots ... Played in all 34 games ... Ended the season ranked 18th in MSU history in blocked shots.
Lee Ann Polowy
Shot 34 percent from 3-point range on the season ... Made multiple treys in four contests, including a 3-for-5 effort on March 3 versus Indiana State.
Tyonna Snow
Became the third player to earn MVC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors in the same season ... MVC Tournament MVP ... Only Division I player to average at least 16 points, six rebounds and three steals ... Set MSU records for steals in a season (109) and career (352) ... Finished career as the Division I active leader in career steals ... Her 570 points as a senior ranked 12th in MSU history, 168 free throws ranked fifth, and 241 free throw attempts ranked third ... Had 92 career games with multiple steals, 45 with four steals, and six games with seven-plus thefts ... Owns the top two free throw games in MSU history in both makes and attempts. Her 21-for-29 game on Feb. 12, 2016 vs. Loyola tied the MVC record for attempts and ranked second in makes. Both were NCAA single-game highs for 2015-16, and the 29 attempts is two shy of the NCAA record ... Had 41 points and 12 rebounds against Loyola for the only 40/10 game in school history ... One of three players in MSU history - along with Casey Garrison and Kenzie Williams - with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 200 steals, 200 assists and 50 blocks in a career ... Finished career ranked first in MSU history (and 4th in MVC) in steals (352), second (third in MVC) in free throw attempts (763), third (eighth in MVC) in free throw makes (495), eighth in field goal attempts (1,318), seventh in blocked shots (72), ninth in points scored (1,611), 16th in rebounds (622) and 18th in assists (265) ... Scored at least 10 points in the final 22 games of her career.
Rachel Swartz
Appeared in 33 games, shooting 41 percent from the floor ... Rebounded at a rate of 10.3 boards per 40 minutes ... Had five games with at least five rebounds.
Grace Vander Weide
Saw time in 25 games ... Made the first nine free throws of her career ... Dished out 21 assists against 20 turnovers.
Kenzie Williams
First-team all-MVC for second consecutive season ... Third Lady Bear to earn first-team MVC Scholar-Athlete honors three times ... Sixth player in school history to average at least 10 points for four consecutive seasons at MSU ... One of 13 Lady Bears to start 100 career games ... Five-time MVC Player of the Week in her career ... Made 34 consecutive free throws during her junior season for the No. 2 streak at MSU and No. 7 streak in MVC history ... One of three players in MSU history - along with Casey Garrison and Tyonna Snow - with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 200 steals, 200 assists and 50 blocks in a career ... Concluded career ranked seventh in MSU history in scoring (1,645), ninth in steals (212), sixth in 3-point makes (184), fifth in 3-point attempts (517), 13th in 3-point accuracy (.356), 10th in free throw makes (345), 10th in free throw attempts (444), 14th in blocked shots (52), 15th in assists (320), and 21st in rebounds (566).
Coach Kellie Harper
Coach Harper became the 11th Division I women's basketball coach to take three different schools to the NCAA Tournament ... Harper is one of two coaches to both play in the tournament and lead three different programs there as a head coach ... Harper's 56 wins are the second-most in MSU history through three seasons.