ST. CHARLES, Mo.- The Wichita State women's basketball team will face Drake in the finals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Sunday after defeating Illinois State 66-50 on Saturday night inside Family Arena.

Alex Harden led the way with 15 points on 7-of-18 shooting, six rebounds, five steals and two blocks. Michelle Price and Michaela Dapprich scored 13 and 12 points respectively, while Alie Decker added nine points and seven rebounds. 

Illinois State opened game on a 7-0 run before an Alex Harden steal and layup then a Kelsey Jacobs jumper in the paint cut the deficit to 7-4, forcing Illinois State to take a timeout at the 16:29 mark.

Bonner's old-fashioned three-point play 20 seconds later tied the game at seven and Michelle Price gave the Shockers their first lead of the game with a layup to make the score 11-9 Wichita State with 13:30 remaining in the first half.

The Redbirds gained the lead once again before Alie Decker nailed a long two-point jumper at the 9:33 mark to put the Shockers back ahead, 17-16. Less than a minute later, Kelsey Jacobs started a 6-0 run for Wichita State with another jumper in the paint and Price capped the run with a jumper of her own at the 3:08 mark to put her team up, 28-20.

The Shocker lead got to ten, 32-22, before Illinois State closed the half on a 7-0 run to cut the lead at the break to 32-29. Jacobs led Wichita State in scoring in the first 20 minutes with eight points, while pulling down four rebounds. Price and Bonner each added six points, as the Shockers shot 15-for-32 (.469) from the floor.

Wichita State opened the second half on a 6-0 run to go ahead 38-29 and force an early Redbird timeout. At the 14:33 mark, Harden completed a three-point play to put the Shockers up 12, 46-34.

Two minutes later, Alie Decker connected on her first three-pointer of the game to give Wichita State a 15-point advantage, 51-36 at the 12:21 mark.

Over the next six minutes, Illinois State cut into the Shocker lead, getting it down to four with less than five minutes remaining in the game. Wichita State answered, closing the game on a 12-0 run to push themselves into the MVC Finals on Sunday.

The Shockers shot 29-for-63 (.460) from the floor for the game and held Illinois State to 18-for-47 (.383) shooting. Wichita State outscored the Redbirds 44-22 in the paint and won the rebounding battle 36-30.

Wichita State will take on No. 5 Drake, who upset No. 1 Indiana State in the first semifinal on Saturday, in the finals on Sunday. Tip is set for 2 p.m. and will be televised on MVC TV. It can also be heard on KFH 1240 AM/98.7 FM.