by, Ben Adamson, MSU Athletics
EVANSTON, Ill. — The Missouri State Lady Bears came up short in their search for a fourth Power Five road win in the last two seasons, falling to Northwestern Wednesday evening by a 75-52 final at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Missouri State (1-2) owned a 46-36 rebounding edge over the much larger Wildcats (3-0), who blocked eight shots to add to their national lead, but shot just 27.4 percent from the floor and were out-scored by a 42-16 margin in the paint. The Lady Bears pulled down 20 offensive boards.
Senior Rachel Swartz finished with career highs of 10 points and nine rebounds, Shameka Ealy added 10 points, and Liza Fruendt and Aubrey Buckley were each one point shy of double figures.
The Lady Bears led for only nine seconds in the first quarter, and trailed 12-11 after an Ealy jumper with 4:26 to play before the Wildcats closed the period on a 12-2 run to lead 24-13.
Northwestern’s lead twice surpassed 15 points in the second quarter, and Ealy 3-pointers answered each time on the way to a 40-26 halftime deficit. NU scored first after the break, and the Lady Bears were unable to cut into the halftime lead until Fruendt scored the final five points of a 7-0 run that made the score 62-49 with 7:40 left in the game. The Wildcats countered by scoring the next four points, and the final score was NU’s largest lead of the game.
MSU shot 14-for-16 at the foul line, and the Wildcats finished 31-for-64 overall and owned the turnover margin by a 17-6 count.
MSU returns to action Nov. 22 with an 8:30 (CST) contest against Southern California at the GCI Great Alaska Shootout. The Lady Bears will play either Portland or Alaska Anchorage the next day to conclude the event.
