Missouri State improved to 2-0 in Missouri Valley Conference play Sunday afternoon, matching the league’s top scoring defense stop-for-stop in a 59-51 victory over Indiana State at the Hulman Center.
MSU moved to 9-5 with its third straight road victory, holding the Sycamores (5-8, 1-1) to 31.3 percent shooting overall and 5-for-25 from the 3-point line.
The Lady Bears used an 8-0 run capped by a Kenzie Williams 3-pointer to lead 11-4 with 6:34 left in the first quarter, and pushed the margin to double figures at 16-6 on a Hillary Chvatal free throw with 1:44 to play.
Missouri State went 6:30 without a field goal until Tyonna Snow scored at the 7:58 mark of the second, and Lexi Hughes followed with her 100th career trey for a 23-12 lead with 7:17 to play.
MSU did not score again until Snow hit with 2.9 seconds before half, but still took a 25-16 lead into intermission as the defense held ISU to 23.3 percent shooting and forced nine turnovers.
Liza Fruendt’s 3-pointer and an offensive rebound and score by Chvatal gave the Lady Bears a 30-16 advantage to begin the second half, and two Hughes free throws opened up MSU’s largest lead yet at 34-18 with 6:45 to play, but the Lady Bears made only three free throws for the remainder of the third quarter as the Sycamores closed to 37-29 with an 11-3 run.
Missouri State went nearly 11 minutes without a field goal until Williams knocked down a 3-pointer with 7:22 left in response to a desperation trey by ISU that pulled the Sycamores to 38-34 just 18 seconds earlier.
ISU again closed to four points at 41-37, but Hughes had the answer with triples for leads of 44-37 and 50-39 before hitting a layup with 3:03 left to play for a 52-39 advantage.
Snow hit a pair of free throws 26 seconds later for 54-39, but ISU had one more charge left with an 8-0 run to close to 54-47 with 1:20 remaining. Snow then converted two steals into four points in the final 51 seconds to seal the win.
Snow led all players with 20 points while adding nine rebounds, three assists and four steals to move to 11th in MVC history in that category. Hughes scored nine of her season-high 14 points in the fourth quarter, and Chvatal had nine points and 14 rebounds.
MSU shot 8-for-17 from beyond the arc and owned a 19-4 advantage in free throws.
The Lady Bears return home Jan. 8 for a 7 p.m. contest with Drake.
