ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- Looking for its second win in a week against regular-season Missouri Valley Conference champion Missouri State, Bradley couldn't hold off a late Bears run as MSU ended the game with an 8-1 spurt to top the Braves 58-54 Friday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

In a contest which featured eight lead changes and 10 ties, Missouri State (22-7 overall) used a late run to rally from behind and top Bradley (17-15 overall) after the Braves spoiled the Bears' senior night last Saturday in Springfield, Mo.  Bradley, which was playing its second game in 18 hours, advanced to the quarterfinals with an 85-67 victory against Southern Illinois in Thursday's opening round.

Senior Leah Kassing (Mt. Sterling, Ill./Brown County) scored 15 of her game-high 19 points in the second half and helped Bradley build a 41-33 lead nearing the midway point of the period. 

Bradley's lead was still eight points (45-37) with 8:20 o play after a pair of Kelly Frings' (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI) free throws, when Missouri State made a push.  A put-back basket by Whitney Edie was followed by a Jasmine Malone three.  Casey Garrison made a pair of free throws after a BU turnover and Karly Buer later capped a 9-1 MSU run with a hoop to pull the Bears even (46-46) with six and a half minutes on the clock.

Kassing put Bradley back in front with a layup on an inbounds play, but the teams entered the final four minutes of the game deadlocked at 50-50

On BU's next possession, sophomore Kelsey Budd (Prairie du Sac, Wis./Sauk Prairie) hit a three from the wing with the shot clock winding down to put Bradley in front 53-50.  Budd's three proved to be BU's final basket of the contest, however, as Missouri State answered with an 8-1 run to close the game.

After a Garrison back door layup cut the Braves lead to 53-52, Bradley got two offensive rebounds on the ensuing possession and ran a 1:30 off the clock before senior Lauren Niemiera (Orland Park, Ill./Marist) split a pair of free throws to make the BU advantage 54-52 with two minutes to play.

Missouri State tied it up at 54-54 with a layup and got a stop on the defensive end, before a Bradley foul and pair of Buer free throws gave the Bears a 56-54 lead with a minute to play.  Malone came up with a steal for MSU and two more free throws by Buer with 13 seconds sealed the 58-54 Missouri State victory.

Kassing finished with a game-high 19 points and team-best seven rebounds to go with a blocked shot and a steal as she moved into 25th in career scoring at Bradley.  Sophomore Catie O'Leary (Janesville, Wis./Parker/Wisconsin) added nine points and six boards, including four offensive rebounds. 

Missouri State's 58 points was the team's lowest output since Jan. 14 as the Braves held the Bears to 33.3 percent shooting in addition to forcing 21 MSU turnovers.  Buer led Missouri State with 17 points, while Garrison joined her in double figures with 15 points and five assists. 

Missouri State advances to Saturday's 1:30 p.m. semifinal where the Bears will play the winner of Friday's 2:30 p.m. game between #4 Creighton and #5 Northern Iowa.