Lady Bears take over first with decisive win

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Missouri State completed the first half of the Missouri Valley Conference schedule Saturday afternoon with a 77-57 triumph over Wichita State at Koch Arena. The Lady Bears (14-7, 7-2 MVC) took over the league lead by half a game with the victory, winning their fifth straight game overall and sixth consecutive on the road.

MSU never trailed in the contest after Hillary Chvatal and Kenzie Williams knocked down 3-pointers for a 6-0 advantage, and led 15-4 on a Liza Fruendt trey with 3:39 left in the first period.

The Shockers closed within two points on two occasions, with Lexi Hughes answering the second time with a conventional 3-point play for a 25-20 lead. MSU pushed the gap back to seven points three times in the second quarter and took a 36-31 lead into the break.

Seniors scored all 23 points in the third quarter, beginning with a Williams 3-pointer for 39-31 at the 9:08 mark. Snow then moved into 15th on MSU’s career scoring list with a layup for 43-33 with 7:43 left, and Williams assisted a trio of Chvatal baskets that led to a 51-37 advantage. Snow’s spinning layup with 1:59 left pushed the lead to 59-42, and the Lady Bears led by at least 12 points for the remainder of the game.

Missouri State led by as many as 23 points in the fourth quarter and shot 50 percent in the second half and 45 percent for the game. The Lady Bears also owned a 35-27 rebounding advantage, including 21-10 in the second half, and dished out 17 assists on 27 made baskets.

Williams led four double-figure scorers with 16 points, including 4-of-7 shooting from long range. She moved up to 11th place on MSU’s career scoring list, added four rebounds to become the 24th Lady Bear with 500 in a career, and handed out a season-high six assists.

Snow finished with 15 points and a career-high 12 boards for her fourth double-double of the season, and added four steals to move to third in MSU and seventh in MVC history in career thefts.

Chvatal added 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting, Fruendt scored 11, and Hughes tallied seven to become the 60th Lady Bear with 500 in a career.

MSU stays on the road to face UNI (11-8, 6-2) at 7 p.m. Friday and Drake (13-6, 6-2) at 2 p.m. Sunday.

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