Missouri State owned a plus-28 rebounding advantage and out-scored Illinois State 33-4 during an 18-minute stretch midway through the game Saturday afternoon for a 70-41 victory over the Redbirds on Senior Day at JQH Arena.
The Lady Bears improved to 21-9 overall and 14-4 in Missouri Valley Conference play, tying Drake for second in the league standings. MSU will take the No. 3 seed into the MVC Tournament in Moline, Ill., opening with an 8:30 p.m. Friday, March 11 contest against sixth-seeded Indiana State.
Senior Kenzie Williams paced the Lady Bears with 19 points and seven rebounds, while classmate Tyonna Snow added 17 points, seven boards, three blocks and four steals, passing Kari Koch for MSU’s career record with 343 thefts as well as becoming the third player in school history to gather 100 steals in a season.
The Lady Bears led Illinois State (8-21, 6-12) by a slim 23-22 margin with 6:01 left before halftime when MSU turned up the defensive pressure, closing out the first half on a 14-2 run, winning the third quarter by a 16-2 margin, and capping off a 33-4 run on a Lee Ann Polowy trey with 9:17 left in the game for a 56-26 lead.
Missouri State led by as many as 34 points in the final period and shot 40.6 percent in the game compared to 30.4 percent for ISU.
Eight Lady Bears finished with at least four rebounds, as the team pulled down 20 offensive boards in the contest.
ISU’s point total matched the lowest for a Lady Bear opponent this season, and MSU has held four consecutive opponents under 50 points for the first time in the Division I era (since 1982-83).
