WICHITA, Kan. -- Wichita State (10-3, 1-0) out-distanced Indiana State (10-2, 0-1), 63-52, on Friday night in the Missouri Valley Conference opener for both teams.
Alex Harden led all scorers with 21 points while Michaela Dapprich and Jamillah Bonner backed her with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Harden's defensive effort included a WSU recond-tying 11 steals, the most since April Banks had 11 on Jan. 4, 2004.
ISU's Stephanie Wittman had 12 points as the Sycamores' lone double-figure scorer. Eight other ISU players contributed on the scoreboard.
The Shockers lost the battle on the glass as ISU led rebounding, 42-37, but the Shockers helped create 21 Sycamore turnovers, including three-straight that led to baskets early in the game.
Indiana State tied it up at 19:04 on a layup by Wittman at the start of the second half, and proceeded to take a four-point lead before WSU went on an 11-point run to take a 38-31 lead over the next five minutes capped by a Bonner trey at the 14 minute mark.
Indiana State tied it up again with a 6-0 run at the 9:02 mark with a jumper in the paint by Grier but the Shockers took the lead again and built it to seven at the 2:36 mark on a Jacobs layup. Decker extended it to nine with a jumper from the left side and Harden added two free throws to make the lead 11, 58-47, with 1:23 remaining.
WSU made five free throws and ISU hit two jumpers and a free throw to fashion the final score, 63-52.
The Shockers led 8-0 to open the game with the help of three-straight steals that led to break-away lay-ups. The Shockers had turned that into a 10-point lead by the 13:05 mark of the first half.
The Shockers increased the lead to 11 on a Bonner jumper at the 12:29 mark, but Indiana State worked over the next nine minutes to close the gap to three, 19-16, with a Zerek layup at 4:58.
The teams traded baskets during the final three minutes of the half before a layup by Indiana State's Mahan cut the lead to two, 25-23, at the 47 second mark to set the halftime score.
Harden led WSU in the first half with 11 points, while Mahan had six to lead the Sycamores. WSU out-shot ISU, 40 percent (12-30) to 37 percent (10-27) in the first frame.
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