Wichita State women win third straight MVC Tournament championship
ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Wichita State is the champion again, winning its third straight Missouri Valley Conference women’s basketball tournament championship on Sunday afternoon 85-71 over Missouri State at Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo.
The Shockers will return to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season and are poised to claim their highest seed yet with a program-best 29-4 record and RPI of 40. WSU played Texas A&M as a No. 14 seed in 2013, and Penn State as a No. 13 seed last season.
The bracket will be revealed Monday at 6 p.m. live on ESPN.
This season of excellence revolved around Wichita State’s defense, which proved elite in every way, but Sunday’s championship was won with a relentless effort on the offensive end.
The Shockers had turned in four straight halves of average, at best, offense to reach the finals, but reached their peak form on Sunday. Wichita State shot 54.1 percent from the floor, including a 28 of 43 performance (65.1 percent) on shots inside the three-point arc.
Alex Harden, the MVC Player of the Year, delivered yet another superb performance in the championship game, leading Wichita State with 27 points and seven steals. The last three seasons, Harden has averaged 22.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 4.0 steals in the championship game.
Michaela Dapprich came through with an excellent offensive performance as well, making 10 of 14 shots and scoring 24 points and collecting seven rebounds.
Missouri State pushed Wichita State through a half, connecting on contested shot after contested shot to stay within 38-35 of the Shockers at halftime. But soon those tough shots that were falling in the first half would stop and Missouri State’s offense would flounder.
Wichita State made its winning push early in the second half, reeling off a 7-0 run to take a 13-point lead with 12:42 remaining. Missouri State would never claw back to within single-digits after that.
This story was originally published March 15, 2015 at 4:59 PM with the headline "Wichita State women win third straight MVC Tournament championship."