TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Missouri State earned its seventh consecutive victory and clinched the No. 3 seed in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament with a 65-56 win at Indiana State Thursday evening at the Hulman Center.

The Lady Bears (15-13, 12-5) shot 22-for-26 from the free throw line - including 19-for-22 in the second half - and committed just 12 turnovers against an Indiana State (17-11, 7-10) squad that leads the league by forcing 21.6 miscues per game. Thursday's result likely sets up a rematch in the 3/6 game at the MVC Tournament at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, March 13, in St. Charles, Mo.

Missouri State broke the game open with a 19-5 run early in the second half, making 10 free throws during a seven-minute stretch that ended with a Liza Fruendt layup for a 47-33 advantage with 10:48 to play.

The Sycamores halved MSU's lead to 48-41 over the next two minutes, but Tyonna Snow answered by scoring seven of Missouri State's next nine points to extend the lead back to 57-44 with exactly six minutes to play.

NiJay Gaines scored with 4:36 to play for the largest lead of the game at 59-44, and ISU scored four points in the final 38 seconds for the final margin.

Lexi Hughes hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored 15 points off the bench to match Snow for team-high honors, and Kenzie Williams finished with 12 points. Snow added five steals, and Aubrey Buckley grabbed a career-high nine rebounds.

Each team made one-third of its shots from the floor, and ISU held a 48-37 margin on the glass. The Lady Bears also matched a season high with seven blocked shots.

Missouri State closes the regular season at Evansville at 2 p.m. Saturday.