Missouri State shot a season-high 55 percent against the nation’s sixth-ranked field goal percentage defense Sunday afternoon, dispatching Illinois State by a 75-58 final at JQH Arena.
The Lady Bears improved to 14-10 overall and 10-3 in Missouri Valley Conference play with the program’s 100th win at JQH in 10 seasons and 145 games, exceeding the previous high scoring total this season for an ISU opponent by 10 points, as the Redbirds (11-13, 5-8) entered the contest allowing 52.8 points on 33.9 percent shooting on the year.
The Lady Bears missed their first five shots, trailing 13-7 with 1:58 left in the first quarter before turning the offense around with a 24-for-39 shooting performance to close the game
Missouri State forced turnovers on six consecutive ISU possessions to begin the second quarter, leading 20-15 after Brice Calip‘s 3-pointer with 6:16 left capped a 9-0 run.
The Redbirds pulled within a basket three times before Aubrey Buckley and Lee Ann Polowy scored on consecutive trips to make it 30-23, and the Lady Bears closed on a 6-0 run in the final minute to lead 36-25 at the half.
MSU’s second-half lead hovered between eight and 13 points until Buckley scored 48 seconds into the fourth quarter to make it 58-44. The Lady Bears led by at least 11 points after that, with final 17-point margin serving as the largest lead of the contest.
Fruendt scored a game-high 18 points to pace four Lady Bears in double figures and pass Roshonda Reed for the No. 10 spot in career scoring at MSU with 1,544 points.
Calip finished one shy of her career high with 15 points to go with three assists and three steals, Buckley added 14 and drew three charges, and Danielle Gitzen needed just five field goal attempts to tally 13 points, five boards and four steals. Alexa Willard added six points to become the 63rd Lady Bear with 500 in a career.
The Lady Bears dished out 18 assists, including a season-high five from Fruendt, and forced 21 ISU turnovers compared to 10 of their own, swiping 11 steals and converting the Redbird miscues into 21 points.
MSU makes its final Valley road trip of the season this coming weekend, beginning with a 7 p.m. Friday visit to Loyola.
