WICHITA, Kan. — Wichita State scored 33 points off of Evansville turnovers in a 69-43 Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball win Sunday at Charles Koch Arena.

The Shockers forced the visiting Purple Aces into 28 turnovers, including 18 in the first half, which propelled Wichita State's offense at the other end of the court.

Junior Jessica Diamond and freshman Alex Harden paced Wichita State with 14 points each. Diamond added a team-leading three steals. The Shockers combined for 14 steals Sunday in front of a home crowd of 1,777.

Senior Haleigh Lankster moved to ninth on the Shockers' career points list by adding 11 more in the win. She now has 1,274 career points.

Wichita State entered the game tied with Missouri State for first place in the MVC standings and improved to 17-8 overall and 11-3 in conference play.

Last-place Evansville dropped to 5-21 overall and 2-13 in the Valley. Samantha Heck led all players with 21 points and 11 rebounds Sunday for the Aces.

The teams were notched in a 4-4 tie at the first media timeout, but the Shockers maintained the lead the remainder of the game.

Wichita State took an 11-4 lead on a steal and layup from Diamond at the 13:05 mark and extended to a 14-4 lead on a steal and bucket from Harden with 12:16 to go in the half.

A three-pointer from the Aces' Heck cut the Shocker lead to two points with 6:11 left in the half.

Wichita State responded with an 8-0 run and later took a 31-21 edge into halftime.

Lankster and Harden led WSU with nine first-half points. Heck had 10 points for Evansville and eight rebounds. The Shockers scored 18 points off of 18 Evansville turnovers in the first 20 minutes.

Evansville cut the Shocker lead to five points early in the second half, but a layup and the free throw that followed by Harden extended Wichita State to a 10-point edge once again.

A layup from Alicia Sanchez gave the Shockers a 20-point lead with 12:02 to play.

The Shockers' lead grew to 29 points on a steal and layup from O'Brien with 8:17 on the clock.

Wichita State entered the game leading the league in field goal percentage and shot 52.9 percent Sunday, including 59.3 percent in the second half. Evansville was held to 39.1 percent shooting in the game.

Sunday's win marked the second for the Shockers this season against the Aces. Wichita State beat Evansville, 57-51, on the road in the first meeting between the teams Jan. 19.

The Shockers next travel to play at Illinois State at 7:35 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23 and at Indiana starting at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26.

- Wichita State -