Springfield, Mo. - The Wichita State University women's basketball team claimed its first conference championship following a 74-69 victory at Missouri State Saturday afternoon inside JQH Arena.  Senior Jazimen Gordon scored a career-high 20 points with 13 rebounds to lead the Shockers.

Wichita State and Creighton tied for the regular season title with 15-3 records.  By virtue of a third-tier tie-breaker, the Shockers will be the No. 1 seed in next week's MVC Tournament.  They will play at 12:07 p.m. against the winner of the 8-9 game, featuring Missouri State and Drake. 

The Shockers led by as many as 22 points in the first half and 21 in the second half before Missouri State made a furious run to make it a one-point game at 61-60 with 4:52 left.  Back-to-back Gordon jumpers inside of four minutes lifted the lead back to five and the Shockers connected on just enough free throws down the stretch to seal the championship. 

With the win, WSU also set new records for overall wins (21) and conference victories (15).  In 30 years as a member of the Gateway/MVC, this is WSU's first title (regular season or tournament).

Michaela Dapprich added 17 points before fouling out with eight minutes left.  Alex Harden contributed 16 with four rebounds, four assists, three blocked shots, and two steals.  WSU again played without preseason all-conference guard Jessica Diamond.

Early in the first half, WSU used an 8-0 run to take their first lead and climb on top, 14-8.  The lead blossomed to 25-11 at the 10:54 mark and continued to grow.  Gordon came off the bench to knock down three jumpers during the run.  She later sparked a 6-0 spurt to put WSU ahead by 22.  Missouri State fought back with a 10-1 run over the final five minutes of the first half to pull within 39-26 at the break.  Gordon led the Shockers with 10 points in the first half. 

In addition to the school records, WSU also claimed its highest seed in the MVC Tournament.  The previous best was a 3-seed, accomplished twice.