Lady Bears exit MVC tourney early; qualifies for WNIT

Collin O'Connell/The Standard A Lady Bear controls the ball and tries to work through the double team.The Missouri State Lady Bears’ (16-14, 12-6 MVC) chance for a consecutive Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title was shot down 65-59 by Evansville (14-17, 8-10 MVC) on March 10.

MSU, ranked third, led 18-7 at the end of the first quarter but couldn’t hang on to the lead and were outscored by as many as 14 points during the last three quarters.

The Lady Bears carried a 10-point lead into half but sixth-seeded Evansville went on a 13-2 run to take the lead 33-21. MSU wouldn’t be just shut down and sophomore guard Danielle Gitzen hit a 3-point play with 8:22 to play to give the Lady Bears a…