PEORIA, Ill. — Missouri State became the 35th Division I women’s basketball program to achieve 800 all-time wins on Friday with a 55-44 Missouri Valley Conference victory against Bradley inside Renaissance Coliseum.
The Lady Bears (10-7, 3-2) posted their best defensive effort of the season in terms of points allowed while improving to 6-1 in true road games. Bradley dropped to 4-11 and 0-4 in league contests.
For the second straight game, Missouri State owned a significant rebounding edge, winning 48-34 on the glass and turning 17 offensive boards into 13 second-chance points to help overcome 36.7 percent shooting.
The Lady Bears rebounded seven of their first eight missed shots, including a putback from Hillary Chvatal to begin a 6-0 run for a 14-5 lead with 3:15 left in the first quarter.
MSU suffered through a shooting slump over the next several minutes as the Braves battled back to tie the score twice in the second quarter, but Tyonna Snow had the response each time as BU never claimed the lead.
After Bradley’s basket for a 19-all tie with 5:53 left, Snow and Kenzie Williams combined for a 9-0 run to close the half for a 28-19 MSU advantage at the break.
BU’s scoring drought extended more than seven minutes until the home team scored 82 seconds into the second half to make it 28-21, while the Lady Bears went nearly five minutes without a bucket until Chvatal scored with 7:15 left for 30-21.
Williams knocked down a jumper a minute later for MSU’s first double-digit lead at 32-21, and Liza Fruendt scored for a 39-25 advantage with 3:21 left in the third before the Braves whittled the margin back to 40-31 by the end of the period.
Lee Ann Poloway hit a 3-pointer from the left corner to open the fourth quarter, and a 6-0 run capped by Chvatal’s layup made it 49-33 with 5:13 remaining.
The Braves made one last charge, using a 7-0 run to close within single digits at 50-42 with 3:16 to play, but did not score again until 12 seconds remained as the Lady Bears were able to clamp down defensively in the final few minutes.
Snow finished with 15 points to lead all scorers, adding eight rebounds and three assists. Chvatal had 11 points and nine boards, and Williams scored 12 points.
Missouri State limited the Braves to 32.7 percent shooting overall and 2-for-16 from beyond the arc.
MSU visits Loyola (8-7, 4-0) at 2 p.m. Sunday. The Ramblers defeated Wichita State 60-55 on Friday.
