Missouri Valley

No. 21 Missouri State women beat Valparaiso 81-68

Published Jan. 5, 2020 4:59 p.m. ET

VALPARAISO, Ind. (AP) — Alexa Willard scored 24 points and Brice Calip added 18 to lead No. 21 Missouri State to an 81-68 victory over Valparaiso on Sunday.

Jasmine Franklin added 10 points with nine rebounds for the Lady Bears (12-2, 2-0) Missouri Valley Conference). Both teams had 24 field goals and the Crusaders made nine more 3-pointers but the difference came at the free-throw line where Missouri State made 28 of 36 to just 6 of 8 for Valparaiso. Calip was 11 of 14 at the line.

Grace Hales led the Crusaders (8-5, 0-2) with five 3-pointers and 17 points. Addison Stoller and Caitlin Morrison added 13 points each and Shaw Frederick 10. Valparaiso made 14 of 22 from the arc for 64%.

The Lady Bears led by 22 midway through the third quarter when the Crusaders used a 16-2 run that included four 3-pointers to cut the deficit to eight. They were within nine after an Ella Ellenson 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter but a 5-0 spurt rebuilt a double-digit lead that Missouri State maintained with Calip making nine of Missouri State's 17 free throws in the final period.

Missouri State outscored Valparaiso 24-7 in the second period to take a 41-23 halftime lead with Willard finishing the half with 15 points and Calip scoring seven in the second quarter.

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More AP women's basketball: https://apnews.com/Womenscollegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

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