ST. CHARLES, Mo.  --  Wichita State won its third-straight Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament berth Sunday afternoon with a 85-71 win against Missouri State inside The Family Arena.

The Shockers were led in scoring by the tournament's MVP, Alex Harden, who had a game-high 27 points. Michaela Dapprich and Jamillah Bonner joined Harden on the all-tournament team.

WSU opened the second half on an 8-3 run to take a 46-38 lead after a Bonner layup at 17:26.  The teams traded baskets and free throws until the 15:21 media timeout with WSU leading 49-43.

WSU then went on a 7-0 run, which included a trey and a jumper by Dapprich to take a 56-43 lead at 12:40 forcing a MSU timeout.

By the media timeout at 10:45, WSU's lead was still double-figures at 58-46, before the Shockers then extended the lead to 14 after a Harden and-one at 9:14, 65-51.

The Shockers' lead was never in jeopardy and was extended to at least 19 as WSU held on for the Championship.

WSU opened the game on a 10-4 run, which included six points from Dapprich, before back-to-back baskets by MSU, the second a three-pointer by Gaines put the Bears down by one, 10-9, at 15:25.

The Shockers kept the lead and extended it to five twice over the next six minutes, but eight straight points by Fruendt, including two three pointers kept MSU close.

A Dapprich three followed by a Jacobs jumper at 7:53 gave WSU a 27-19 lead while the Shockers headed into the media timeout at 7:35 shooting 60 percent to MSU's 38.9 percent.

A Decker three with the shot clock running down at the 7:00 minute mark put WSU up 30-21 after two MSU free throws.

Back to back MSU baskets closed the gap to five, 30-25, forcing a WSU timeout at 3:01. 

The Shockers extended the lead again to seven at 1:09, but two-straight MSU buckets fashioned the halftime score with WSU still up three, 38-35.

For the half, WSU's Dapprich led the Shockers with 14 points with Harden not far behind with 13 points.  MSU's Fruendt had 10 points for the Bears. WSU out-shot the Bears in the first frame, 53.3 percent (16-30) to 43.3 percent (13-30).

Wichita State will await the announcement of the NCAA Tournament bracket at 6 p.m., Monday night.

---

Purchase all your Shocker merchandise at the official Wichita State Team Store.