Ben Adamson (Missouri State Sports Information) ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Missouri State earned a 65-58 victory Wednesday afternoon over a talented Alaska Anchorage club in the third-place game of the GCI Great Alaska Shootout at the Alaska Airlines Center.
The Lady Bears (2-3) shot 57 percent in the fourth quarter to knock off a UAA squad that advanced to the NCAA Division II title game last season and had won 71 of its last 77 games entering the day.
Aubrey Buckley matched her career high with 12 points for the second consecutive game, Liza Fruendt scored a game-high 16 points and Lexi Hughes added 10 to go with a career-high four steals. The Lady Bears shot 45.8 percent overall, owned a 29-22 rebounding margin and continued their solid shooting from the foul line with a 15-for-17 effort.
UAA did not trail in the first quarter, opening up a five-point lead at 11-6 with 4:45 remaining and holding it to 17-12 after 10 minutes of play. The Seawolves grew the margin to 22-14 with a 3-pointer at the 8:09 mark before the Lady Bears began to chip away and eventually gain the lead.
A steal and score from Lexi Hughes with 4:33 left made it 24-21, Aubrey Buckley snagged an offensive board and scored for 26-25, and Alexa Willard’s transition 3-pointer from the left wing gave the Lady Bears their first lead of the game at 30-29 with 1:10 on the clock. The Seawolves retook the advantage 16 seconds later for a 31-30 lead at intermission.
MSU held the Seawolves without a field goal for nearly six minutes during the third quarter, but were unable to regain the lead until Lee Ann Polowy knocked down a 3-pointer with 4:01 to play to put MSU up 38-36. The Lady Bears held UAA to 3-for-11 shooting and forced seven turnovers in the third quarter to take a 43-40 advantage into the final period.
The Lady Bears took control over the game’s final seven minutes to pull away from a 50-50 tie. Hughes put MSU ahead for good with a trey at the 6:46 mark, and added a conventional three-point play with 3:16 left before Buckley scored Missouri State’s final points of the game for a 65-55 lead with 2:38 remaining.
Missouri State makes its home debut on Monday, Nov. 28, with a 7 p.m. game against Little Rock at JQH Arena.
