WICHITA - The Wichita State women's basketball team (4-5) used a 16-0 run and held UTPA (4-3) scoreless for the first 10-plus minutes of the second half as the Shockers picked up their fourth-straight home win of the season and sixth-straight non-conference home win inside Charles Koch Arena Saturday night with a 40-34 victory over the Lady Broncs.

Kiki Stephens led the Shockers with a game-high 15 points while the Shocker inside game was relentless as well, as both junior Marcy Sudbeck (9 points and 11 rebounds) and freshman Samamtha Smith (7 points and 8 rebounds) approached double-doubles on the evening, with both setting new career highs in rebounds. Junior guard Whitney Rice saw her first minutes since Nov. 22, while junior Frannie Vathauer added five points for the Shockers and had WSU's only 3-pointer on the night.

LeKeisha Gray led UTPA with 13 points, while adding six rebounds. UTPA's nationally-ranked 3-point shooting attack was limited to just a 15.8 percent effort (3-for-19) from the floor on the night.

The Shockers scored the first points of the game at the 16:58 mark with a Kiki Stephens jumper as the teams combined to go 0-for-8 from the floor over the first three minutes. An old fashioned three-point play by Stephens with 14:25 left gave WSU a 5-2 lead, sparking a mini 5-0 run before UTPA's Tamara Vaughn put in a layin in transition with 12:48 left to cut the Shocker advantage to 7-4.

A pair of Teshay Winfrey free throws with 10:47 left tied the game and an Aleeya Grigsby layin in transition gave UTPA a 9-7 lead with just under 10 minutes left in the first. Six more points in transition and a Tiona Wilson 3-pointer for UTPA extended the Lady Broncs lead to 25-12 with under two minutes left in the half, their biggest lead of the game to that point, capping a 19-5 run over the course of nine-plus minutes late in the half. A Frannie Vathauer 3-pointer with less than :30 seconds left ended a six-plus minute drought for the Shockers and fashioned the halftime score of 25-15 in favor of the Lady Broncs.

WSU shot just 24 percent from the floor in the first frame, but limited UTPA's high-power 3-point attack to just a 2-for-8 effort from long range in the half.

Stephens scored the first four points of the second frame, sparking a 6-0 half-opening run that brought the Shockers to within 25-21 by the 16-minute mark of regulation. A pair of Samantha Smith free throws with 14:25 left cut the deficit to just a basket at 25-23, and a Stephens basket with just under 13 minutes left tied the game at 25-25.

Marcy Sudbeck's baseline jumper with just under 12 minutes gave the Shockers their first lead of the half at 27-25, continuing a 12-0 run over the first eight-minutes of the half. WSU extended the run to 13-0 before UTPA scored its first points of the second on a La'Sahe Woodward jumper with 9:28 left and regained the lead with a LeKeisha Gray layin with 7:54 left to play, putting UTPA out front 29-28.

A Jacie Hoyt runner and a pair of Smith free throws regained the advantage for the Shockers, after Smith sank her sixth and seventh free throws of the night to give the Shockers a 32-29 edge with less than seven minutes to play. A Gray 3-pointer with 4:48 left tied the game for the fourth time on the night at 34-34, before a pair of Daria Frazier free throws gave WSU a 36-34 lead with just 3:18 left in regulation.

Stephens connected on a pair of free throws with 1:21 left to put the game on ice, giving WSU a 38-34 lead, one they would never relinquish as Sudbeck added the finishing touch with a layin with :33 seconds left, giving the Shockers their 40th point and the win.

WSU is next in action at New Mexico State next weekend.

--Wichita State--