WICHITA -- Wichita State jumped out to a 16-point first half lead to cruise to a 71-52 victory over the visiting Oklahoma Flyers in its lone exhibition game of the season inside Charles Koch Arena on Sunday.

The Shockers used a 40-point first half and held a double-digit lead the whole second-half on their way to the exhibition victory. Val Siemens led the Shockers in the scoring column with a game-high 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting. Jacie Hoyt added 10 points, six assists, and six rebounds. Seniors Marcy Sudbeck and Daria Frazier controlled the boards for WSU with eight rebounds apiece. The Shockers outrebounded Oklahoma 49-46, including 19-14 on the offensive glass

As a team the Shocker defense used on-ball pressure to force 20 Flyer turnovers with 11 steals. Marisah Henderson had three steals, while the defense also came up with seven blocks included two apiece from Sudbeck, Ashley Gladden and Haleigh Lankster. WSU also totaled 17 assists to just 10 turnovers, a 1.7:1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Kesha Watson led the Flyers in scoring with 13 points, while Emily Jaskowiak chipped in 11.

The Flyers shot just .276 (16-58) from the field, while WSU shot .338 (25-74) from the field. The Shockers were 14-of-18 from the free throw line, while Oklahoma was 17-for-20 at the stripe.

The Shockers opened the season with a 8-0 run courtesy of six second-chance points on five offensive rebounds. Senior Marcy Sudbeck grabbed two offensive rebounds and converted a layup, while junior newcomer Ashley Gladden chipped in four points during the stretch.

After the first bucket by the Flyers' Kesha Watson brought the score to 8-2, Haleigh Lankster and Val Siemens converted back-to-back steals into breakaway layups and push the score to 14-2. The solid defense by the Shockers turned into a hot streak on offense with Jacie Hoyt, Siemens, and Marisah Henderson drilling consecutive three-pointers.

The Shockers continued the offensive onslaught into the eight-minute media timeout, converting steals on the defensive end into fastbreak points. Siemens nailed two stop-and-pop jumpers, and Hoyt knocked down a pair of free throws to keep the Shockers perfect (6-6) from the line in the first half and help WSU to a 33-13 lead.

Oklahoma answered with a 10-4 run of their own to bring the score back to 37-21, but Siemens continued to pace the Shocker offense, knocking down a jumper from the wing. The Flyers came back with six straights points before the end of the half to cut the WSU lead down to 40-27.

Siemens finished the first half with 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting, while Gladded added nine and Hoyt chipped in seven. Sudbeck pulled down seven boards in the first half to lead WSU. The Shockers also had six steals and four blocks in the half to lead to 14 points off of Flyer turnovers.

Henderson and Siemens picked up the Shocker offense right where it left off at the beginning of the second half with long-range threes to push the score to 46-29. WSU continued to build on its lead with points off of turnovers as they converted a Flyer turnover into free throws by Sudbeck on the offensive end and a 19-point lead, 50-31.

After the Flyers scored four straight points with 11:09 remaining, the Shockers again answered the call with a 9-1 run highlighted by book-end jumpers from Jadhon Kerr, sandwiched around a Hoyt three-pointer and a layup in traffic from Samantha Smith.

After Kerr's jumper, Oklahoma battled back with a 10-1 scoring run, which covered more than six minutes and brought the Shocker lead down to just 14 points, but back-to-back steals and buckets in transition by Lankster and Siemens, WSU thwarted the Flyers' shot at a comeback and pushed the lead back up to 21, 71-50 with two minutes left.

WSU held to their lead in the final stretch to complete a 71-52 victory over the visiting Flyers.

--Wichita State--