Franklin leads Missouri State to 10-point win over Valpo

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VALPARAISO, Ind. – The 25th-ranked Missouri State Lady Bears held Valparaiso to 28 percent shooting and got 19 points and 11 rebounds from Jasmine Franklin to take game one of the series against the Crusaders by a 61-51 final Saturday afternoon at the ARC.

Missouri State improved to 10-2 overall and 6-0 in Missouri Valley Conference play while making Valpo (6-7, 2-4) its fifth opponent this season to shoot below 29 percent. The Lady Bears were plus 11 on the glass in the second half in their 26th road win in the last 30 tries.

Both teams shot below 30 percent to a 10-10 tie after the first quarter before Franklin hit 7-of-8 shots in less than six minutes to power the Lady Bears to a 26-15 lead with 4:28 until halftime on her way to 19 points and 11 boards for her 18th career double-double.

Valpo hit a pair of 3-pointers in a closing 10-2 run to make it 28-25 at the break, but didn’t score for more than six minutes after halftime and shot 1-for-11 in the third quarter. Emily Gartner’s putback in the final seconds gave MSU its largest lead at 43-31.

After Abby Hipp’s 3-point play with 6:04 left made it 51-38 Lady Bears, the Crusaders with on an 8-0 run before Sydney Manning connected on MSU’s only 3-pointer of the game for a 54-46 lead with 2:25 remaining. Valpo hit another triple to make it a 56-51 game, and MSU went 7-for-8 at the foul line in the final 77 seconds to close it out.

Missouri State shot 39 percent overall and won 44-35 on the boards. Brice Calip finished with 12 points and a career-high nine rebounds, adding three steals for her seventh consecutive game with at least three thefts, the longest streak at MSU since Tyonna Snow did the same in 2014. Sydney Wilson dished out a career-high six assists.

The teams meet against Sunday at 3 p.m.

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