WICHITA, Kan. -- Wichita State (24-4, 15-1) secured a piece of its third-straight Missouri Valley Conference championship with a 66-54 win against UNI Sunday afternoon.
Senior Jamillah Bonner, one of three seniors playing her last home game in Charles Koch Arena, scored 23 points to lead the Shockers. After the game, Bonner, Alex Harden and Kelsey Jacobs were honored for their outstanding careers and the entire team cut down nets to celebrate at home the regular-season title.
The win also completed a 16-0 undefeated home record and extend the home-court winning streak to 16 games.
With 11 points in the game, Harden needs just 45 points to become the all-time leading scorer at WSU with 1,593 career points.
WSU out-shot the Panthers, 41 percent to 36.4 percent, and out-boarded the visitors, 45-35.
To open the second half, UNI scored eight-straight points to take a one-point lead at 18:36 before WSU's Bonner hit a three from the right corner for a 32-30 lead at 18:16.
Another run by WSU, this time, 8-0 extended the lead to 41-32, at 14:50 before UNI hit a trey at 13:59. Two more Shocker baskets, and two Harden free throws at 11:50 gave WSU a double-digit lead for the first time in the second half
Alie Decker's three at 10:57 gave WSU a 49-37 lead, and a Chapel Jumper and two Bonner free throws gave WSU its largest lead at 14, 54-40.
UNI made a late charge to cut the lead to five with 38 seconds remaining, but WSU scored seven-straight points to fashion the final score, 66-54.
WSU held UNI without a point for the first four minutes to take a 4-0 lead before the Panthers got on the board at the 16:01 mark. UNI's Brown next put the visitors ahead by one with a three-pointer, 5-4.
WSU then went on a 9-0 run for a 13-5 lead at 12:45, which included five points from Dapprich.
UNI then went on a 9-0 run of its own to take a 14-13 lead at 9:37 before a Jacobs layup gave WSU the one-point lead back, 15-14, at 9:37.
WSU then went on a 12-2 run to take a 27-16 lead that included 10-straight points, including four from Jacobs by the 4:43 mark.
UNI closed the gap with back to back baskets, the first a three-pointers by Davison at 2:44, and the second jumper by Sorenson at 2:18 to close the lead to 27-21.
The two teams traded baskets over the last two minutes of the half for a 29-23 WSU lead into the intermission.
IN the first half, WSU out-shot the Panthers, 36.1 percent (13-36) to 35.7 percent (10-28). Michaela Dapprich led WSU in scoring with nine points, followed by Bonner's eight. UNI was led by Johnson and Brown's five points.
The Shockers are next in action Thursday night at Evansville and Saturday night at Indiana State to close out the regular season.
