EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Missouri State Lady Bears improved to 14-4 (5-2 MVC) on the season with an 82-35 victory at Evansville (7-11, 1-6 MVC) on Thursday night.
The Lady Bears have now held 15 opponents below their scoring average prior to facing MSU. Evansville came into the contest averaging 70.1 ppg, but the MSU defense held the Purple Aces to a season-low 35 points.
Missouri State came out firing on all cylinders against the Purple Aces. The Lady Bears won the opening tip and Abi Jackson kicked off the scoring with a layup on MSU’s first possession. Following Jackson’s four points to start the game, senior Sydney Wilson knocked down a three-pointer and a scored a layup to give the Lady Bears a 9-0 lead out of the gate.
After holding Evansville scoreless until the 6:33 mark of the opening quarter, the Purple Aces got on the board with a layup, but the Lady Bears answered immediately and reeled off another 9-0 run. Sixth-year senior Brice Calip sparked the run with her first points of the night, accounting for five of the nine points scored. Paige Rocca came off of the bench in the first quarter and made a quick impact with back-to-back baskets for the Lady Bears.
The Lady Bears shot 55 percent in the first quarter en route to their highest scoring quarter of the season with 26 first period points. Missouri State’s defense held Evansville to 33 percent shooting from the field, while forcing nine Purple Aces turnovers.
MSU struck first in the second quarter with a Jackson layup before Evansville went on a 4-0 run. Following the short run by the Aces, both teams swapped baskets for the remainder of the half, until Mariah White closed out the second period with four consecutive points.
MSU headed to the locker room with a 22-point lead behind a team-high nine points from Wilson. Jackson also had eight points and five rebounds in the opening half.
The second half saw more of the same for the Lady Bears as they continued their dominance on both sides of the ball. Jackson drew a foul and knocked down two free throws to spark an 8-0 run that extended the Lady Bear lead to 30 points.
Rocca once again made her presence known with back-to-back buckets for MSU prior to a 7-0 run by the Lady Bears with 3:27 remaining in the third quarter. With 1:12 left in the third period, Rocca stopped and popped a three-pointer to round out the scoring in the third for MSU. Evansville made a couple of shots from the charity stripe to make it a 64-31 game in favor of the Lady Bears heading into the final period.
Freshman Lindsey Byers kicked off the fourth quarter with her first field goal as a Lady Bear. After an MSU foul and two Purple Aces free throws, the Lady Bears made a statement and went on a 12-0 run over five minutes in the final period. With under a minute left, Jackson made a layup to put her at 25 points on the night to secure the 82-35 victory for the Lady Bears on the road.
Jackson led the Lady Bears with a career high 25 points on 10-for-15 shooting from the field, while also going a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line and grabbing seven rebounds. Rocca was the second leading scorer for MSU with a career high 14 points on 75 percent shooting from the field, in addition to logging a career high four steals against the Purple Aces. Wilson was the third Lady Bear to turn in a double digit scoring performance with 13 points on the night.
Missouri State outrebounded the Purple Aces 43-34, while also forcing 29 Evansville turnovers. Offensively, the Lady Bears shot 51 percent from the field and scored 34 points off of turnovers in their best scoring performance of the season with 82 points.
Missouri State will continue their road trip as they travel to Indiana State on Saturday, Jan. 29. First tip is set for 12:00 p.m. CT.
