| Postgame Video |
ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- Wichita State's Alex Harden scored 18 points and the Shocker defense held UNI to 25 percent shooting take a 56-42 win against the Panthers Saturday afternoon and advance into the 2 p.m. Championship Game of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Sunday afternoon.
WSU is making its third-straight championship game appearance and will try to win its third-straight title and earn its third-straight NCAA Tournament automatic appearance.
Harden, who made 50 percent of her shots in a 7-of-15 effort, was backed by Kelsey Jacobs' 12 points and Jaleesa Chapel's 10 points.
Madison Weekly led UNI in scoring with 14 points, followed by Amber Sorenson and Brooke Brown,
both with six points each.
On the defensive end, WSU held thePanthers to 25 percent shooting for the game, including 22.7 percent in the first half. WSU also out-boarded UNI, 43-32.
Wichita State will take on the winner of the semifinal game between No. 3 Missouri State and No. 7 Evansville on Sunday, March 15.
To open the second half, the two teams each scored five points to keep the same WSU halftime lead, 12, 34-22 at 17:37. UNI out-scored WSU 3-2 over the next five minutes with the help of a free throw by Johnson after a flagrant foul on Dapprich at 15:37.
WSU then went on an 8-4 run with the help of a trey from Decker at 10:16. The teams traded two baskets each before Harden and Bonner each scored, the latter at 6:44 for a 19-point WSU lead, 49-30.
Later, Dapprich increased WSU's lead to 22, its largest of the game, at 2:09 with a free throw as the game wound down.
In the first half, WSU opened on a 10-5 run with four-straight makes and created three turnovers in the first three minutes. WSU made 6-of-7 shots by the 15:46 mark to take a 12-5 lead.
UNI out-scored WSU 5-4 over the next seven minutes, but the Shockers missed three layups that would have extended the lead to greater than the six point margin, 16-10, at the 7:54 mark.
Chapel's third-straight bucket gave WSU a 18-12 led at the 5:50, before Jacobs two and three free throws by Bonner put WSU up 11, 23-12, at 4:32.
A technical on the Shocker bench at 3:41 and the two free throws by Weekly gave UNI 15 points to the Shockers' 23 as the Panthers finished with six-straight free throws to end the half. WSU's 6-2 run after the technical gave WSU a 29-17 halftime lead.
WSU out-shot the Panthers, 38-7 percent to 22.7 percent as the Shockers turned over UNI eight times. Harden's 10 points led all scorers and Weekly's eight led UNI.
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