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SPRINGFIELD — Missouri State shot 53 percent from the floor and forced 27 turnovers Sunday afternoon in a 75-48 victory against Lindenwood at JQH Arena in the lone exhibition contest of the season.
Senior Liza Fruendt led all players with 16 points, Alexa Willard scored 11 on 5-for-5 shooting, and Lee Ann Polowy added 10 while making all three of her shots from beyond the arc. The Lady Bears assisted 17 of their 25 field goals, and scored 35 points off turnovers.
Missouri State never trailed in the game, and held the Lions without a field goal for the game’s first 6:27, though the visitor did hit eight foul shots in the first quarter to trail 16-12 after 10 minutes.
Fruendt buried two 3-pointers and six MSU players scored in a 14-0 run to open the second period, while the Lady Bears held Lindenwood without a field goal for more than 10 total minutes spanning the first two periods until a banked 3-pointer from LU with 2:45 left until the half made it 30-15 in favor of the home team. That shot sparked an 8-0 run for the visitors, and Brice Calip scored the final four points of the half for a 34-20 MSU lead.
The Lady Bears pushed the lead to 47-25 before the first media timeout of the third quarter and led by at least 17 points for the remainder of the game, including another 14-0 run that resulted in a 64-32 lead with 7:51 left in the game.
Missouri State finished 25-for-47 from the floor and held the Lions to 26.1 percent (12-for-46), while the game featured 26 fouls called on each team and 55 total free throws.
Audrey Holt, Danielle Gitzen and Abby Hipp each grabbed five rebounds to help the Lady Bears to a 34-29 lead in that category. Gitzen dished out five assists against one turnover, and Shameka Ealy swiped four of MSU’s 12 steals. Five different players blocked a shot.
MSU begins the regular season Nov. 13 at Ball State at 6 p.m. Central.
