WICHITA, KAN. -- Wichita State held Akron without a field goal for the first 9:24 of the second half, grabbed the lead and never trailed in the remainder of a 67-61 win Thursday at Charles Koch Arena.

The victory in the first round of the Women's Basketball Invitational marked Wichita State's first-ever postseason win in school history.

No. 4-seed Wichita State advanced to the WBI second round to play No. 1-seed Memphis in a West Region match-up at 2 p.m. Sunday in Memphis, Tenn. Memphis defeated No. 8-seed UMKC, 72-67, Thursday in Memphis.

Wichita State trailed by 11 points at halftime before erupting for 41 points in the second half as the Shockers improved their record to 18-14 overall and picked up their 14th home win of the season.

Freshman guard Jessica Diamond led Wichita State with 14 points in front of a crowd of 892.  Junior guard Morgan Boyd and sophomore guard Haleigh Lankster each posted 11 points and freshman forward Michelle Price also finished in double digits. Junior guard Sheena Johnson pulled down a team-leading nine rebounds.

Senior forward Jolene Tamboue paced Akron with 16 points and 12 rebounds as the Zips finished the season with an 18-14 record.

The Shockers are making their third postseason appearance and first in the inaugural WBI, which consists of 16 teams in a single-elimination format.

Wichita State struggled to find their offensive touch early, missing their first seven field goal attempts. Akron built up a 4-0 lead with two layups, but Wichita State's first field goal of the game at the 16:08 mark from Lankster quickly cut the lead in half. A layup from Shocker Boyd tied the game.

A 12-5 run from No. 5-seed Akron extended the Zips out to a 16-9 lead with 11:16 left in the first half. The Zips held Wichita State without a bucket for five minutes during the stretch. A jumper from Price and a three-point play from Lankster quickly brought the Shockers to within two points,16-14.

The Zips later used an 9-2 run to build a nine-point lead with about 4:30 remaining before halftime.

Wichita State trailed 37-26 at the half as the Zips built their largest lead of the game. The Zips also compiled a 22-10 margin in rebounds. Akron shot 55.6 percent in the first half, led by 12 points from Tamboue. Diamond led the Shockers with seven points.

The Shockers held the Zips without a field goal for the first 9:24 of the second half and eventually took their first lead of the game on a three-point play from Price midway through the half.  

Price's layup and free throw that followed wrapped up a 17-4 run for the Shockers to open the second period. Akron's four points during the run came from free throws as the Zips shot 28.6 percent from the field in the second half.

Wichita State extended out to a 10-point lead in the game's closing minutes -- the Shockers' largest lead of the game.

Akron, which competes in the MAC, committed 21 turnovers in the game, but grabbed a 37-31 edge in rebounds. Wichita State finished the game shooting 43.9 percent overall.

The Shockers improved to 2-0 in the all-time series with Akron. The teams first met in Dec. 1998.