CARBONDALE, Ill. — Missouri State picked up its 13th victory in its last 15 Missouri Valley Conference road games Sunday afternoon with a 78-60 triumph against Southern Illinois inside SIU Arena.
Junior Liza Fruendt paced MSU with 22 points, Alexa Willard added 14 and Lexi Hughes scored 13 as the Lady Bears (7-9, 3-2 MVC) earned their 18th road win in the last 25 tries. The Salukis, picked to finish fourth in the MVC standings this year, fell to 8-9 and 2-4 in league games.
The Lady Bears trailed for less than a minute of game time, taking the lead for good with an 8-0 run capped by one of Fruendt’s four treys for a 15-7 advantage, and led by double figures for the final 31:30 of the contest after Fruendt scored back-to-back buckets for a 21-9 lead late in the first quarter.
MSU’s three seniors each scored for a 6-0 run to start the second period, and the Salukis countered with a 9-0 run to close to 30-20 with 5:25 before halftime. Hughes’ 3-pointer 53 seconds later pushed the margin back to 35-20, and MSU carried a 38-26 advantage into intermission.
Fruendt scored eight points in the first 4:02 of the second half to push the Lady Bears out to a 50-29 lead on the way to her seventh career 20-point game. Lee Ann Polowy’s 3-pointer with 37 seconds left in the third quarter gave MSU its largest lead yet at 59-37, and Missouri State’s advantage grew to as many as 26 points in the final period.
Missouri State shot 43.1 percent in the game and 10-for-25 from long range while finishing with a 42-40 rebounding edge. The Lady Bears committed a season-low nine turnovers, eight players contributed to the team’s 16 assists, and all 10 players in uniform scored for the second consecutive game.
Willard’s 14 points marked her sixth straight game in double figures, Polowy set a career high with three steals, and all 10 players also had at least two rebounds.
The Lady Bears return home to face Illinois State at 2 p.m. Friday.
