QUAD CITIES - The rubber match -- and the championship -- goes to Missouri State.
Alexa Willard scored a career-high 30 points, Sydney Manning matched her career best with 14 and second-seeded Missouri State rolled past Drake 94-79 to win its 11th Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship. With it goes an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament, the 15th for the Lady Bears (23-9) and their first since 2016.
Drake (27-6) had won the last two MVC Tournament championships and lost in the tourney for the first time since a semifinal setback to Missouri State in the 2016 event.
With an RPI of 16 coming into the game and victories over South Carolina and Rutgers this season, Drake is expected to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. It would be the third straight for the Bulldogs, the Valley's regular-season champions at 17-1, and 13th overall.
Sammie Bachrodt led Drake with 18 points, Becca Hittner added 16, Sara Rhine 14 and Monica Burich 11. The Bulldogs had a 12-game losing streak broken and lost to a Valley opponent for just the second time in the last three years. Missouri State handed Drake both losses.
The 173 combined points in the game are the most ever in a Valley tournament game, topping the 171 compiled in Creighton's 93-78 victory over Indiana State in 1994. Brice Calip added 13 points for Missouri State and Danielle Gitzen had a solid line with 12 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals.
Drake and Missouri State had split their two regular-season games, each winning on the other's court. But Missouri State dominated this one after a tight first quarter.
The Lady Bears never trailed after scoring the first six points of the second quarter for a 27-22 lead. They ended the quarter with another 6-0 run for a 42-35 halftime lead and then Willard took over in the third quarter.
The junior from Lebanon, Missouri scored 15 points in the quarter, including the last seven of the period as the Lady Bears built their lead to 68-47, ending any hopes of a third straight championship for Drake. The Bulldogs did get to within nine points in the fourth quarter, but Missouri State kept making free throws to secure the championship.
A key for the Lady Bears early was the defense of their post players, mainly freshman Jasmine Franklin, on Rhine, the No. 2 scorer in the Valley this season. Rhine did not get off a shot in the opening half before finding some openings in the third quarter and finishing 5-for-5 from the field.
Drake knocked down 14 3-pointers, the third highest single-game total in tournament history, but could not overcome their 24 turnovers and Missouri State's ability to drive the ball to the basket. The Lady Bears outscored Drake 32-16 in the paint and had a 25-10 edge in points off turnovers.
Willard finished 11 of 20 from the field, including 4-for-6 from 3-point range, and was voted the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. She was joined on the all-tournament team by Gitzen, Bachrodt, Hittner and Northern Iowa's Karli Rucker.