WICHITA, Kan. --   Wichita State (10-3,  2-0)  defeated Evansville ( 6-7, 1-1), 54-44, Sunday afternoon inside Charles Koch Arena behind Alex Harden's 20 points.

Wichita State's defense also helped create 20 Evansville turnovers, while five Shocker blocked shots, including two by Kelsey Jacobs also contributed to WSU's defensive effort.

Michael Dapprich also reached double-figures behind Harden, her final three points on a trey from the top of the arc that put WSU up five, 49-44, with 50 second remaining in the game. Jacobs and Harden each had eight rebounds for the Shockers.

Evansville out-shot WSU for the game, 41.5 percent (17-41) to 36.2 percent (21-58), but WSU took care of the ball offensively, turning it over just nine times.

Mallory Ladd led UE with 15 points, including three treys, while Sara Dickey had 14 points. Sasha Robinson had nine boards for the Aces.

Coming out of halftime, UE closed the gap to three points with the help of Mallory Ladd's offense, a jumper and two treys, the last at the 17:09 mark to leave WSU up, 29-26. 

Alie Decker answered with a three-pointer at the 16:34 mark to push WSU's lead back to six at 32-26. UE's Ladd hit her third trey at 15:33 to close it to 32-29.

The Shockers held a steady lead until UE's Ladd cut the lead to three with a jumper at 4:55 made it 44-41. 

UE's Hart cut the lead to two, 46-44, with a jumper at the 1:14 mark, but Michaela Dapprich answered with a three-pointer with 50 seconds remaining to increase the lead to five, 49-44, and WSU made five free throws to seal the game.

In the first half, Wichita State opened on a 6-0 run before Evansville scored and by the 13:45 mark, the Shockers held a 12-2 lead after a Michaela Dapprich layup.

UE battled back to close the lead to five, at 12-7 with a three by Hart at 12:34. WSU took its largest lead 11, 18-7, at the time on back-to-back baskets by Harden and Bonner at 8:15. Robinson and Dickey cut it back to seven, 18-11, with back-to-back buckets for the Aces, the latter at the 5:49 mark.

UE closed the lead to five, 20-15, after trading buckets with the Shockers on a Ladd layup at the 2:45 mark. 

WSU closed the half with a jumper by Jacobs at 1:17 and a layup by Dapprich with 15 seconds left before the teams headed into the locker room with the Shockers up, 24-16.

Michaela Dapprich led both teams' first half scoring with eight points, while three UE scorers had four points each. UE out-shot WSU, 41.2 percent (7-17) to 38.7 percent (12-31) in a layup filled first half. 

Wichita State is next in action 7 p.m., Friday, at Missouri State.