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WSU: Shocks Get By Drake in MVC Tourney

WSU: Shocks Get By Drake in MVC Tourney

3/15/2013 3:40:00 PM

ST. CHARLES, Mo.-A strong second half carried the top-seeded Wichita State women's basketball team to a 73-58 victory over the nine-seed Drake Friday afternoon at the Family Arena.  Four Shockers scored in double figures as WSU advanced to the MVC Tournament Semifinals for the third-straight year.  The Shockers will face the winner of today's game between No. 4 Northern Iowa and No. 5 Indiana State at 1:35 p.m. Saturday afternoon.

After a streaky first half that bled into the opening minutes of the second half, WSU clamped down on defense and exploded on offense to out-score the Bulldogs 24-3 over a seven-and-a-half minute stretch.  Three-pointers from Michaela Dapprich bracketed the run that turned a four-point deficit into a 14-point lead with 8:23 remaining in the game.

Dapprich, Chynna Turner, and Alex Harden each contributed 15 points to top the Shockers in scoring.  Michelle Price contributed 10 points and nine rebounds in a spirited effort off the bench.  Liza Heap and Carly Grenfell tied for the Drake lead with 11. 

A Price layup early in the second half put Wichita State up 40-37 with 17:14 remaining in the game. Drake tied it at 40 with an Ashley Bartow 3-pointer and the Bulldogs went on a 7-0 run to put their lead at 44-40 at the 15:12 mark.

That would be the biggest lead Drake would have for the rest of the game as Dapprich ended their run with long 3-pointer. Turner gave Wichita State the lead for good with a pair of free-throws and her team never looked back. Turner's jumper at the 12:22 mark capped a 9-0 run and put the Shockers up, 49-44.

Wichita St. out-rebounded Drake 38-28 and forced 20 turnovers.  The Shockers shot 47% overall and held Drake to 42%, including 32% (7-for-22) in the second half.  Wichita St. also had the edge in points in the paint (36-10), points off turnovers (28-15), and second chance points (17-9).

After the Bulldogs scored the first four points of the game, Chynna Turner opened up the scoring for the Shockers with a 2-point jumper. Drake went on to take a 9-7 lead at the first media timeout.

Jasmine Jones stole the ball at the 11:19 mark and passed ahead to Jessica Diamond for a layup that cut the Drake lead to 11-10. Drake was hot from behind the arc however, and a Carly Grenfell 3-pointer with 8:29 remaining in the half put the Bulldogs up, 20-14.

After Drake had gone up by as many as eight, the Shockers got back into the game and took the lead with a 17-0 run. Alex Harden drove to the basket at the 6:23 mark to start the Wichita State scoring spree, and Turner capped the run four minutes later with back-to-back jumpers that put her team up nine, 34-25. Five different Shockers scored during the run and Michelle Price led the way with six points.

The Bulldogs hit three consecutive shots from behind the arc to close the half, including a long one from Kyndall Clark as the first half expired to cut the Wichita State lead to 36-34. The Shockers shot 16-for-36 (.444) from the field in the half and forced 10 turnovers. Harden and Price each had eight points. Drake stayed in game with the 3-point shot, hitting 8-of-14 (.571).

The victory for WSU was the program's first in seven tries against Drake in the MVC Tournament.  The Bulldogs knocked WSU out of the tournament last year. 

Head Coach Jody Adams won an opening game in the MVC Tournament for the fifth consecutive season.  She is 5-4 lifetime in the Valley Tournament.  The Shockers are 1-6 lifetime in the semi-final round, with the lone win coming in 1997.

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