SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State women’s basketball picked up its third win of the season with a 70-60 victory over Tulane here Friday night at Great Southern Bank Arena.
Indya Green provided the spark for the Lady Bears on the night with a career-high 26 points (9-15 FG, 2-4 3FG) in addition to a game-high 13 rebounds to secure her eighth career double-double and her first of the season. She rounded out her impressive performance with three assists, a steal and a perfect 6-for-6 mark at the free throw line as she helped lead Missouri State to a 10-point victory.
In a closely-contested matchup, the Lady Bears (3-2) were consistent throughout the night, winning every quarter in an all-around effort.
The first quarter saw Tulane (3-4) jump out to a quick start, but Missouri State responded as Lacy Stokes knocked down back-to-back triples and Green made her first basket of the evening to go up by three points at the 7:06 mark of the first. The rest of the opening stanza saw three ties as the teams swapped shots, but Paige Rocca hit a jumper with under two minutes remaining to give MSU a 14-12 lead after one.
Out of the quarter break, the second period once again saw a back-and-forth battle as Missouri State used an Angel Scott triple and runs of four and six points to take an 11-point first-half lead with 2:21 remaining. Tulane would continue to battle, answering with a six-point spurt of its own to shrink MSU’s lead back to five points. Ultimately, a Green layup with five seconds on the clock gave the home team a 33-26 lead at the half.
Coming back onto the court for the second half, the Lady Bears and Green Wave continued in a close battle, with just two points separating the teams in the third quarter. Green scored 12 of her 26 points in the third period, going 3-for-4 from the field as MSU was a perfect 3-for-3 from behind the arc. After Tulane cut the Lady Bear lead back to seven with 0:26 on the clock, Rocca drew a foul on the other end and hit both free throws to make it a nine-point, 56-47, game with one quarter to play in Springfield.
The Missouri State defense locked it down in the fourth quarter, holding Tulane to 4-for-16 (.250) from the field and 0-for-7 from three in the final quarter. The Lady Bears put together a quick 7-0 run to push their lead to a game-high 15 points with 6:47 to play. With the lead hovering around a 15-point margin, the Green Wave ended the game with five makes at the charity stripe, but it wasn’t enough as the Lady Bears secured their second victory at home this season.
MSU forced 17 Green Wave turnovers, scoring 18 points off of those mishaps. Meanwhile, the Lady Bears held Tulane to 2-for-15 from three-point range for the game, including 0-for-9 from behind the arc in the second half. Missouri State also had its best performance of the season at the free throw line, shooting 75 percent (15-20) from the stripe.
Stokes followed Green’s career high with 12 points and a game-high six assists on the night, while Rocca joined her teammates in double figures with 11 points.
The Lady Bears hit the road again next week as they travel to in-state rival Missouri on Wednesday, Dec. 6. Tipoff in Columbia, Mo. is set for 6 p.m. CT and the game will air on SEC Network.
