WICHITA, Kan. - Wichita State fought back from an 11-point halftime deficit to tie the score midway through the second half, but Evansville went on to defeat the Shockers, 74-66, to open Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball play Friday at Charles Koch Arena.

Senior guard Morgan Boyd scored 17 points to lead Wichita State. Sophomore center Jazimen Gordon pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds and blocked six shots for the Shockers. The rebound total matched her career high and her six blocks set a new career high for Gordon. Jessica Diamond, Chynna Turner and Haleigh Lankster also posted double-digit points totals for Wichita State.

Wichita State grabbed 40 rebounds overall, but committed 24 turnovers in the game.

Stephanie Bamberger paced Evansville (6-6, 1-0) with 17 points in front of a New Year's Eve crowd of 1,547. Wichita State closed out the 2010 portion of its schedule with back-to-back losses for the first time this season, dropping to 6-6 overall and 0-1 in conference play.

The Shockers scored first Friday on a jumper from BreAnna Dawkins, but Evansville answered quickly tying the score twice early in the opening minutes. Evansville took and extended its first lead of the game on two free throws from Chelsea Falkenstein and a 3-pointer from Bamberger with 17:09 remaining in the first half.

Back-to-back 3-pointers from Shockers Boyd and Turner regained a 10-9 Wichita State lead less than one minute later. Back-to-back jumpers from Lankster, including a three-point play, extended the Shockers to a 15-11 edge less than five minutes into the game. Those points came as part of a 13-2 run for the Shockers that pushed them to a six-point lead.

But Evansville responded quickly with a 15-0 run of its own to take a 26-17 lead with 8:23 left in the half. The Purple Aces held Wichita States without a field goal for more than five minutes during the stretch. A rebound layup from Diamond off of her own missed shot ended the scoreless stretch at the 8:06 mark.

The Purple Aces took advantage of 17 Shocker turnovers in the first half, scoring 17 points off of those turnovers and extending their lead to 13 points late in the first half, 37-24.

The Shockers responded with a significant run of their own, 8-0, to cut Evansville's lead to five points with 3:13 left in the half. A Gordon block led to a Diamond layup at the other end of the floor to push the run to eight points.

Evansville closed out the first half with a 6-0 run to take a 43-32 lead.

Evansville's Samantha Heck led all scorers with 10 points in the first 20 minutes. Turner led the Shockers, who shot 58.3 percent, with nine points by halftime. Gordon led all players with six rebounds and three blocks at the half.

The exchange of runs continued in the second half as the Shockers put together a 7-0 run, capped with a 3-pointer from Boyd with 15:49 left on the clock, to cut the Evansville lead to 46-43.

Evansville led by seven points before two free throws from Gordon, a Diamond layup and Gordon rebound basket from her own missed jumper cut the Purple Aces' lead to 54-53 midway through the second half.

A layup from Dawkins, assisted by Diamond, with 9:40 left on the clock tied the score, 55-55. Two free throws from Boyd later tied the game, 57-57.

Evansville responded to break each tie and gained a five-point lead on a jumper from Heck and 3-pointer from Staci Gillum with about seven minutes remaining.

A Boyd layup with 2:49 remaining cut the Purple Aces' lead to, 66-64, but Evansville once again extended the lead on a layup from Briyana Blair that evolved from a Shocker turnover with about one minute remaining. Two free throws from Bamberger gave Evansville a six-point edge.

A layup from Gordon cut the lead to four points with 14 seconds on the clock, but that was the closest the Shockers were able to climb in the closing seconds.

Evansville now leads the all-time series, 20-15.

The Shockers continue conference play with a 2:05 p.m. game Sunday against Southern Illinois at Charles Koch Arena.

- Wichita State -