Missouri State’s Tyonna Snow scored a career-high 41 points, and Liza Fruendt buried a last-second 3-pointer to send the game to overtime as the Lady Bears (16-8, 9-3 Missouri Valley Conference) claimed a 91-81 victory over visiting Loyola (12-11, 8-4) Friday at JQH Arena.
Snow joined Jackie Stiles, Melody Howard and Tara Mitchem as the only players in MSU history to score 40 points in a game with her JQH Arena record total, while only Stiles has exceeded her 41-point output. Stiles recorded MSU’s last 40-point effort with 41 points in the 2001 Sweet 16 victory over Duke.
Snow also broke her own school records with a 21-for-29 showing at the free throw line, both representing NCAA single-game highs this season, while adding career highs for rebounds (12) and blocks (4) to go with seven steals. Additionally, her 21 free throws rank second in MVC history for a single game, and her 29 attempts tied the league mark while falling two shy of the NCAA single-game record.
After shooting just 19 percent in the first half and trailing 29-24 at intermission, the Lady Bears whittled Loyola’s lead down to one possession on four occasions before Kenzie Williams buried a long 3-pointer for a 39-38 lead with 3:02 to play in the third quarter. Snow’s steal and layup made it 42-38, and she added a traditional 3-point play with 36 seconds left for a 47-41 advantage.
Williams added to her 20-point total with two free throws with 9:19 left to give MSU a 49-43 lead and make her the ninth player in school history with 1,500 career points. The Ramblers countered with an 8-0 run to go up 53-51, and MSU came back to tie four times before Fruendt’s trey from the right wing with 4.0 ticks on the clock sent the game to overtime at 70-all.
Snow scored the first four points of overtime and Hillary Chvatal added a layup for an opening 6-0 run in the first 60 seconds, and the Lady Bears led by at least four points for the remainder of the game. Fruendt’s fifth triple of the game made it 81-74 with 2:40 to play, and MSU went 10-for-12 from the line down the stretch to close out the win. Snow tallied 10 points in the extra period and 30 after halftime, while Fruendt finished with 19.
Missouri State shot just 35.6 percent overall but went 33-for-45 at the charity stripe, won 41-37 on the boards and turned 27 Loyola turnovers into 30 points. The Ramblers shot 48 percent but took 23 fewer shots to go with a 29-for-36 effort at the stripe.
The Lady Bears host Bradley (7-16, 3-9) at 2 p.m. Sunday in the annual Play4Kay pink game at JQH.
