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Willard, Missouri State women top No. 21 Drake for MVC title

Sports

March 17th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

MOLINE, Ill. (AP) — Alexa Willard scored a career-high 30 points and second-seeded Missouri State ended No. 21 Drake’s 12-game winning streak with a 94-79 victory in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament on Sunday for the Bears’ 15th NCAA Tournament berth.

Sydney Manning added 14 points, Brice Calip 13 and Danielle Gitzen 12 for the Bears (23-10), whose last win over a ranked team was against No. 5 Duke in the 2001 Sweet 16. It is the 11th MVC tournament title for Missouri State, the most recent coming in 2016.

The Bulldogs (27-6) had won 12 straight since an 85-79 home loss to the Bears on February 1 and were 61-1 against league opponents coming into their third-straight title game.

Bachrodt led Drake with 18 points, MVC player of the year Becca Hittner had 16 and Sara Rhine 14.