Missouri State shot 55 percent and out-scored visiting Loyola by 41 points over the final three quarters Sunday afternoon, topping the Ramblers by a 75-36 final at JQH Arena for head coach Kellie Harper‘s 250th career win.
The Lady Bears (11-8, 7-1 Missouri Valley Conference) trailed 9-7 after 10 minutes before the offense got hot, with Liza Fruendt hitting back-to-back 3-pointers early in the second quarter to give MSU the lead for good on the way to a 29-point game with five treys on 11-for-18 shooting.
Missouri State held Loyola to 13.8 percent shooting in the first half, the lowest half total for an opponent in JQH Arena history, while the 36 points allowed was one shy of the fewest in arena history, and the fewest allowed by the Lady Bears since a 60-32 win at Loyola last season.
The Lady Bears led 27-16 at half after limiting LUC (3-15, 1-6) to 1-for-13 shooting in the second quarter, and a pair of 3-point plays from Aubrey Buckley in the first five minutes of the third quarter made it 39-25. Fruendt then rattled off a personal 10-0 run for a 53-29 advantage with 1:12 left in the third quarter.
MSU opened the fourth quarter on an 11-0 run, and led by as many as 41 points late in the game, finishing with a 49-29 rebounding edge, including a 26-9 margin in the second half. Emily Gartner grabbed a career-high nine boards in 14 minutes, and nine different players had at least three rebounds.
Fruendt’s performance followed a 33-point game on Friday, making her the first MSU player with back-to-back games of 29 points or more since Jackie Stiles scored 32, 41 and 32 in consecutive games in the 2001 NCAA Tournament. The senior also moved into a tie with Lisa Davies for 12th place on Missouri State’s career scoring list with 1,469 points.
The MSU defense held the Ramblers to 22.2 percent shooting for the game, including 1-for-9 from long range, and Brice Calip swiped three steals. Calip and Danielle Gitzen handed out three assists each, and Buckley (11) and Alexa Willard (12) joined Fruendt with double-digit points.
The Lady Bears wrap up their first trip through the MVC schedule on Friday with a 6 p.m. game at Southern Illinois (11-8, 6-2).
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