SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Missouri State (10-17, 8-8) used a late first half run to build a big halftime lead and kept Wichita State (9-19, 3-13) down by double-digits all of the second half as the Lady Bears snapped a five-game losing streak to the Shockers with a 73-55 win Sunday afternoon inside Hammons Student Center.

Kyrie Kinder and Kiki Stephens led the Shockers with nine points each. MSU's Marisha Brown led all scorers with 16 points, while Tahnee Balerio posted a double-double with 12 points and 11 assists.

Both teams struggled to score early, with a Kiki Stephens free throw serving as the only point for the Shockers in the first four-plus minutes. Missouri State couldn't take advantage of the Shockers' early offensive woes, as Stephens got WSU's first basket of the afternoon with 13:52 cutting an early Lady Bear lead to 9-5 at the under 12-minute timeout of the first half.

The Lady Bears extended the lead to double digits and held Wichita State scoreless for the final 5:10 of the first to take a 37-20 lead into the break. MSU shot 57-percent from the field in the first half, including a 4-for-7 clip from 3-point range, and used a 16-5 run to close the half with its largest lead of the game to that point.

MSU outscored the Shockers 20-4 in the paint and posted seven points off nine first half Shocker turnovers. Maggie Dwyer's 3-pointer to open the second half extended MSU's lead to 20 and the Lady Bears never looked back, moving to .500 in conference play with the win.

Wichita State concludes the 2007-08 regular season at home next weekend, hosting Creighton at 7 p.m., Thursday before taking on Drake on Senior Day at 1 p.m., Saturday.