WICHITA - The Wichita State women's basketball team (6-6) wrapped up the non-conference portion of its 2007-08 schedule in style with a 66-42 victory over Winthrop (8-4), Thursday evening inside Charles Koch Arena.

With the win the Shockers move to 6-0 this season at home, and won its eighth-straight non-conference home game. WSU was led by Kyrie Kinder and Frannie Vathauer, who scored nine points each on the night. Marcy Sudbeck narrowly missed a double-double with eight points and nine boards, while 12 Shockers scored on the evening.

The teams combined to go just 2-for-10 from the field in the early going, but WSU used a Taylor Steven 3-pointer to break the ice and post an early 5-2 lead with just under 16 minutes left in the first. Winthrop answered with an old-fashioned three-point play by Ashley Fann to tie the game, 5-5, with 14 minutes left, sparking a 9-0 run by the Lady Eagles, giving Winthrop an 11-5 edge following a Shanice Cole layin with just under 12 minutes left.

A Samantha Smith layin with 7:42 left ended an eight-minute drought for the Shockers, closing the deficit to just four, but an early 14-5 edge on the boards for Winthrop helped keep the Shockers down much of the half.

Kyrie Kinder's turnaround baseline jumper with 4:55 left in the first gave WSU a 14-13 lead, capping a 9-2 run that began with Smith's layin nearly three minutes earlier.

The teams continued to trade points until Jennifer DeGarmo's jumper with 1:48 left in the half sparked a 6-0 run for the Shockers over the final two minutes of the half, giving WSU a 22-18 lead at the break.

With Winthrop's nationally-ranked defense on display, it was the Shocker defense that caused the most turmoil in the first frame, forcing 15 Lady Eagle turnovers with seven steals while limiting Winthrop to a 6-for-21 effort from the field including an 0-for-5 mark from 3-point range.

WSU didn't shoot any better, with just a 26-percent effort in the first, but a 10-4 advantage in bench points helped the Shockers go to the break with a four-point edge following a competitive half with four ties and seven lead changes.

The Shockers scored the first five points of the second half to extend the lead to nine, the largest of the game to that point for either team, with 18:25 left but Winthrop answered again with a transition basket by Yvonne Van Daalen to cut the Shocker lead back to seven.

The squads settled in and traded points for the next four minutes until the Lady Eagles got back-to-back baskets aftervan Daalen was fouled on a made basket and Fann got the putback on the errant free throw to cut the WSU lead to 29-24.

Wichita State responded with back-to-back 3-pointers by Kinder and Frannie Vathauer to take the biggest lead of the game to that point, after Vathauer's trey gave WSU a 35-24 edge with 12 minutes left to play. The Shockers extended the lead to as many as 25 down the stretch as Winthrop failed to threaten again, sending WSU to the holiday break with a .500 record for the first time since early November.

WSU is next in action when it opens Missouri Valley Conference play at Creighton on Jan. 4, at 7:05 p.m. The two-game road swing ends at Drake on Jan. 6.

-Wichita State-