Amidst all the noise and drama of the Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament, coach Jody Adams led the Wichita State women to their first ever conference regular-season title. Wichita State defeated the Missouri State Lady Bears 74-69 to secure their share of the Valley.

“We sold them a long time ago on a dream when they were 10th in the conference. Now that dream has become a reality,” Adams told the Kansas City Star.

Center Jazimen Gordon led the charge with 20 points off of nine of 13 shooting, along with 13 rebounds. Alex Harden also put in a strong performance; 16 points with four assists. Their efforts, along with the rest of the team, were enough to hold off a late rally by the Lady Bears, who outscored the Shockers 43-35 in the second half.

Along with a record 15 conference wins, WSU was able to set a new school record of 21 wins this season. The hard work and dedication paid off in the form of a 15-3 conference record and a share of the MVC regularseason title with Creighton.

According to MVC tiebreaking procedures, WSU will enter the MVC Women’s Basketball Tournament as the number one seed, facing the winner of Missouri State and Drake.

WSU’s first game in the MVC women’s tourney will be Thursday, March 14 at 4 p.m.