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SPRINGFIELD — Missouri State opened the Missouri Valley Conference season with a 71-58 victory over visiting Indiana State Friday, shooting a season-high 52 percent and forcing 24 Sycamore turnovers.
Freshman Jasmine Franklin tallied career highs of 17 points and 11 rebounds for her first double-double, and 12 different Lady Bears (5-7) scored in team’s fourth consecutive win.
Franklin – who shot 8-for-10 in the game with a stretch of eight consecutive makes – scored 10 of her points in a 15-0 first-quarter run that put the Lady Bears ahead 17-4, and MSU was up 25-10 just 15 seconds into the second period on Alexa Willard’s second 3-pointer of the game.
The Sycamores (6-6) used a 9-0 run to pull within six points, and MSU answered with an 8-0 spurt to extend the lead back to 35-21 before going into halftime up 39-30 after Danielle Gitzen beat the horn with a driving layup.
Indiana State got within seven points on three occasions early in the third quarter before MSU rattled off a 10-0 run for a 53-36 lead after Gitzen connected on a trey from the right corner with 5:16 on the clock.
Freshman Mya Bhinhar tied a career high with six points, including a triple during a 7-0 run that ended in a 60-39 advantage, and the MSU lead grew to as many as 24 points early in the fourth period.
Missouri State shot 26-of-50 overall and 5-of-9 from 3-point range, holding the Sycamores to 38.5 percent shooting. The Lady Bears finished with a 32-31 rebounding edge, winning that category for the 10th time in 12 games, and scored 42 points in the paint.
The Lady Bears host Evansville at 2 p.m. Sunday.
