The Missouri State Lady Bears survived a poor shooting night at JQH Arena, defeating the Evansville Purple Aces 76-62 Friday night.
MSU hit just 27 of 81 shots from the field (33.3%) and went 7-28 from beyond the arc.
The Aces, who are win-less in the Valley, trailed 17-11 after one quarter and 34-28 at halftime.
But the Lady Bears (22-3, 12-1) outscored the Aces 25-13 in the third quarter to take control of the game, played before 3,495 fans at The Q.
Abby Hipp had a double-double, scoring 11 points and pulling down 12 rebounds, while senior Alexa Willard led MSU in scoring with 14 points.
Freshman phenom Abby Feit led the way for Evansville (3-22, 0-14), scoring 17 points and grabbing nine boards.
The Lady Bears forced 16 turnovers and out-rebounded Evansville 54-38.
Missouri State shot 68% from the free throw line, while the Aces only got to the line for six attempts, making four.
MSU Coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton says she’s happy to get the win, but wasn’t happy with her team’s overall performance Friday:
The Lady Bears win their 12th straight home game, setting a new JQH Arena record, and they have a two game lead over Bradley and Drake with five games left to play in the Valley.
Missouri State is ranked 23rd in the Associated Press women’s college basketball poll, and 18th in the USA Today Coaches poll.
MSU will host Indiana State Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. at JQH Arena.
