The Missouri State women's golf team has been picked to win the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championship this Friday and Saturday (Apr. 22-23) in Normal, Ill.  The Bears received 99 of a possible 100 points and nine of 10 first-place votes in a pre-tournament poll of the league's coaches.  MSU will be looking to capture its first MVC title since 2001.

Wichita State received the remaining first-place tally and is the choice for second, with three-time defending champion and host Illinois State third.  Bradley was picked for fourth, followed by Southern Illinois, UNI, Drake, Indiana State, Creighton and Evansville.

The 54-hole tournament will be played at Weibring Golf Club on the Illinois State campus with the team champion advancing to the NCAA Regionals.  The 10 teams will have practice rounds Thursday, and the tournament begins Friday at 8:30 a.m.  The teams will play 36 holes Friday, with the tournament ending with 18 holes Saturday.  

Missouri State enters the tournament as the league's top-rated team in the GolfStat head-to-head conference ratings, and the Bears are ranked no. 79 nationally.  Individually, the MSU trio of Catherine Dolan, Kelsey Welber and Rikke Falsner are ranked 2-3-4 in the Valley, also according to GolfStat.

The Bears have finished no worse than fourth in their last four tournaments, most recently a tie for third at the Baylor Invitational last Monday and Tuesday (Apr. 11-12).