WICHITA, Kan. – Wichita State pulled away in the fourth quarter to defeat Arkansas State 69-51 at its annual Schoolhouse Rocks with the Shocks in front of 9,534 fans. It was the sixth-largest attendance in school history for women's basketball.
Tamara Lee led all scorers with 20 points, and shot 5-10 from three-point range.
TaQuandra Mike scored 17 points and had four rebounds and four assists.
Keke Thompson added 12 points and six steals for the Shockers.
Arkansas State's Akasha Westbrook led the team with 17 points, but was the lone double-digit scorer for the Redwolves. Lauren Bradshaw chipped in with nine points and eight rebounds.
The Red Wolves jumped out to an 8-0 lead before WSU went on a run of its own to tie it up with back-to-back treys from Lee. The two teams traded baskets to tie it again at
10-all with 5:49 minutes left in the first quarter.
ASU went ahead again until the 1:25 mark when Lee made two free throws to put WSU ahead, 16-15. An easy layup by Martin then gave WSU an 18-15 lead before Thompkins scored alone underneath to put WSU up 20-15 with six seconds left.
Lee paced WSU with 10 points in the first quarter as the Shockers shot 61.5 percent (8-13).
ASU took the lead again at 8:44 of the second quarter, 21-20, after a flagrant one offensive foul on Stovall gave ASU two free throws. WSU fought back to tie it again at 26-all after a layup by Mike at 4:22.
After the two teams traded baskets, Mike hit a three at the shot clock buzzer to put WSU up, 29-28, at the 1:58 mark. A Shocker steal and basket my Mike again, put WSU
up, 31-28, at 1:58. An offensive foul by Thompson gave the Red Wolves the ball with 14 seconds left but they couldn't convert and WSU held on for a 31-29 halftime lead.
For the half, WSU held ASU to 37.9 percent (11-29) from the field while shooting 56.5 percent (13-23). Each team had three treys but the Shockers led on the glass, 19-11. There were 16 Shocker turnovers to 10 for ASU.
In the third quarter, WSU led by as much as nine through the first four minutes after a trey by
Ellie Lehne at 6:23 put WSU up 39-30. ASU then went on a 7-2 run to pull within two, 39-37, at 2:24.
WSU then out-scored ASU 7-3 over the final two and a half minutes, including a shot by Thompson at the third-quarter buzzer to give the Shockers a 46-40 lead.
In the fourth, WSU held the lead steady, then led by as much as 11, 54-43, at 7:24. WSU's lead still held at the media timeout with 5:00 left, at 56-45. The Shockers then went a quick run, scoring the next two baskets to go up 16, 61-45, at 4:27 and never looked back.
The game featured five ties and three lead changes. The Shocker bench outscored ASU's 29-5 for the game, and had 15 assists to ASU's four. The Redwolves grabbed 17 offensive rebounds to WSU's 10. Wichita State shot 28-54 (52%) from the floor and held Arkansas State to 18-58 (31%) for the game. Both teams used a full-court press for almost the entire game and resulted in 44 combined turnovers.
Wichita State is next in action at Missouri on Dec. 9.
