SPRINGFIELD — Missouri State seniors Hillary Chvatal, Tyonna Snow, and Kenzie Williams combined to score 61 points Sunday evening to lead the Lady Bears (13-7, 6-2 Missouri Valley Conference) to a 82-77 victory over Southern Illinois (11-8, 4-3) at JQH Arena.
Williams tallied a season-high 25 points on 11-for-20 shooting, Chvatal had 16, and Snow finished with 20 points, five rebounds, five assists, five steals and no turnovers. Snow jumped two spots on the MVC career steals list in the game as well and now ranks eighth with 301 career thefts.
Both clubs shot an identical 19-for-36 from the floor in the first half, with the Lady Bears getting off to a blistering start, scoring on their first eight trips down the floor for a 19-12 lead midway through the first quarter.
MSU led 26-25 after one period, and briefly fell behind early in the second before ripping off a 10-0 run to lead 39-29 at the 5:28 mark. Williams hit a jumper for 43-33 with 4:24 left when SIU scored nine quick points to pull within a point two minutes later. Liza Fruendt buried a trey for a 48-42 score and the Salukis countered with their own for the 48-45 halftime margin.
The first offensive slump for either club came after the Salukis pulled to within two points early in the third quarter, as the visitors went nearly five minutes without scoring while the Lady Bears went on a 9-0 run capped by a Fruendt triple for a 61-50 advantage with 4:24 on the clock.
Lexi Hughes connected from long range with 2:32 remaining for a 64-52 advantage, the first of three separate 12-point leads for MSU on the way to a 68-56 score after three quarters.
After Williams scored to make it 70-59 with 9:23 to play, the Lady Bears missed nine of their next 10 shots as SIU pulled to 73-72 on a Rishonda Napier trey with 3:41 to go. Snow answered with a layup for 75-72 but missed the foul shot on the and-one opportunity, and MSU went just 4-for-10 at the foul line from that point to keep SIU within striking distance.
Snow’s 300th career steal led to a free throw and 77-72 lead with 1:57 left, and Williams hit a pair of driving layups in the final 50 seconds on either side of a Southern Illinois triple to keep the advantage at 81-77 with 21.6 ticks left. Snow then nabbed her fifth steal of the game to seal it for MSU.
MSU finished 31-for-67 (.463) overall and 8-for-20 from 3-point range, while SIU made half of its 64 field goals. The Lady Bears forced 17 turnovers and committed just nine of their own, and trailed the MVC’s top rebounding by only one board, 34-33, while grabbing 16 offensive caroms.
