MOLINE, Ill. – Missouri State’s defense never rested.

   The third-seeded Lady Bears frustrated Belmont’s usually efficient offense throughout and beat the second-seeded Bruins 63-48 on Saturday to reach the championship game of the Missouri Valley Conference women’s tournament for the 17^th time.

  They’ll go for their 12^th title against top-seeded Drake, the defending champion, at 1 p.m. Sunday on ESPN2. Drake advanced with a 92-83 overtime victory over fourth-seeded Northern Iowa.

   It will be a game of contrasting styles. Drake (28-5) likes to push the pace and averages 81.7 points a game. Missouri State (23-8) prefers a slower tempo and depends on its defense to control things, which is exactly what happened against Belmont (25-8), which lost to Drake in last year’s championship game.

   The Lady Bears held the Bruins to 33 percent shooting and forced 17 turnovers, 11 in the third quarter alone when Missouri State expanded a two-point halftime lead to 46-37 heading into the fourth quarter, providing all the cushion it would need.

   Missouri State’s defense was so effective that Belmont scored on only 21 of its 61 possessions. The 48 points were season low for the Bruins, who had season-best seven-game winning streak broken. Their previous low came in 73-54 loss to Missouri State in Springfield on Feb. 9.

   Lacy Stokes, the MVC Newcomer of the Year, keyed the defensive harassment with non-stop energy and four steals. The 5-foot-4 junior led her team with 21 points, grabbed six rebounds and handed out five assists. She also drew 12 fouls – going 8-for-10 at the line – and did not commit a turnover while handling the ball constantly and playing all but 71 seconds.

   Kyrah Daniels added 13 points for the Lady Bears and Jade Masogayo and Indya Green each scored eight while clogging the area around the basket on defense.

  Belmont did find some rhythm at the start, scoring on five of its first six possessions in taking a 14-8 lead. Stokes then scored six straight points to tie it and Belmont led only twice after that, the last time at 22-21 when Kendal Cheesman hit a 3-pointer midway through the second quarter.

  Daniels countered with two straight jump shots and the Lady Bears never trailed again. They led 29-27 at the half, then opened the second half with a 12-3 run that included points from five different players to go up 41-32. Because of all their turnovers in that stretch, the Bruins never had a chance to get back into it.

  Missouri State is in the finals for the first time since 2019, when the Lady Bears beat Drake 94-79.