Missouri State Lady Bears put together most dominant performance of season vs. Valparaiso
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — There was no need for dramatics or a game-winning shot at the buzzer for the Lady Bears in this one. Missouri State dominated from the opening tip en route to its fifth straight win.
Missouri State (8-3, 2-0) cruised to a 67-47 win over Valparaiso (1-10, 0-2) on Thursday night at Great Southern Bank Arena. A strong first quarter set the tone for the remainder of the game as MSU jumped to a 2-0 start to Missouri Valley Conference play.
The win snapped a three-game streak in which the Lady Bears won by one or two points. It's only the second time MSU has won by double-digits this season to go along with the 70-60 win over Tulane on Dec. 1.
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First quarter sets tone for Missouri State Lady Bears
The Lady Bears held Valparaiso to one made shot in the first quarter before taking a commanding 20-5 lead after the first 10 minutes.
MSU started the game 7 for 11 from the field with Paige Rocca leading the way with five points and a made 3. Eight different Lady Bears scored in the first quarter.
Valparaiso committed seven first-quarter turnovers with the Lady Bears turning them into 11 points. It was a night and day difference between how MSU started when it found itself down seven early in its comeback win over Northern Iowa on Saturday.
"Over the last few games, we haven't come out and had the starts that we really wanted to," Rocca said. "We wanted to come out, set the tone and be aggressive."
The Beacons didn't make their second field goal until there was 6:50 left in the second quarter to cut MSU's lead to 25-7.
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Valparaiso tries to make it a game
Valparaiso is a high-volume 3-point shooting team. The problem is, the Beacons don't make too many which is why they remain a one-win team.
On their eighth 3-point attempt of the night, the Beacons finally made their first. It came with 8:49 left in the third quarter to cut the Lady Bears' lead to 13. It followed a 7-3 run to end the first half after MSU held its largest lead of 20.
Treys continued to fall for Valpo into the fourth quarter when it made its fifth of the game with 7:50 to go. A jumper 49 seconds later cut the Lady Bears' lead to 52-41 — their smallest lead since they led 13-2 in the first quarter.
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Lady Bears respond to timeout, put the game away
Following a Beth Cunningham timeout, the Lady Bears responded by putting the game away.
Indya Green battled down low and got a layup to fall. On the Lady Bears' next possession 21 seconds later, Kyrah Daniels hit a 3 to put her team back up by 16. MSU cruised from there.
"We're scrappy," junior forward Kennedy Taylor said. "Even if we find ourselves down by 10 or five points, we're going to get that back. We're a really tough team and once we have our heads in the game, we're a tough team to beat."
Four different Lady Bears scored in double-figures with Indya Green leading the team with 12. Lacy Stokes and Paige Rocca scored 11 with Taylor adding 10. It was as balanced of a game as you'll see from the Lady Bears.
"I think that's kind of the team we are to an extent," Cunningham said. "We've had games where we've had someone really stand out. We almost had five in double figures. I think across the board, that's one of the strengths of the team that we have that type of balance. Depending on how teams play us, there are a number of kids who can step up and score."
What's next
Missouri State will stay at home to host Illinois Chicago (8-5, 1-1) on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Great Southern Bank Arena. The Flames earned a 66-59 road win at Southern Illinois on Thursday night.
Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or X at@WyattWheeler_NL. He's also the host of the weekly "Wyatt's World Podcast" on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other podcasting platforms
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri State Lady Bears top Valparaiso after first quarter explosion
