| Postgame Press Conference 

WICHITA, Kan.  --   Wichita State held off a pesky Indiana State squad, 54-53, Saturday afternoon with a defense that held the Sycamores to 33 percent shooting and three double-figure scorers in Rangie Bessard, TaQuandra Mike, and Jaleesa Chapel.
 
In the home finale, Bessard had 17 points, Mike had 16 and Chapel finished with 10 points, while Mike also had nine boards to lead WSU on the glass. ISU's Joyea Marshall had 17 points while Cierra Ceazer had 14 to back her.
 
WSU shot 30.9 percent (17-55) for the game while ISU shot 33.9 percent (21-62), while WSU's defense forced 18 turnovers. WSU took advantage of the ISU turnovers, scoring 16 points after Sycamore miscues.
 
In the third, ISU tied it up at 28 with five-straight points before the two teams traded leads. Three-straight Shocker baskets gave WSU a 34-29 lead at 5:23. ISU out-scored WSU, 16-11, to tie it after three quarters at 39-all.
 
The two teams battled to a 46-46 tie at the 4:19 mark of the fourth quarter before the Shockers went on a 6-2 run into 1:54 mark, the last score on two Lockhart free throws, to put WSU up 52-47.
 
ISU fought back to within one with Ceazer's three-pointer with 58 seconds left, 55-54. Lockhart missed a jumer with 22 seconds left, and the Shockers thwarted ISU's last two attempts, the last at the buzzer, to preserve the win, 54-53.
 
Indiana State took the opening tip and went on an 11-0 run to start the game despite a Shocker timeout at 7:34, seven points into the run.
 
WSU got on the board at 5:25 on two free throws from Jaleesa Chapel to cut the lead to 11-2. After a layup by ISU's Marshall, the Shockers went on a 12-2 run over the final 4:45 of the first quarter to close to within one, 15-14. Chapel led WSU with six points in the first frame as the Shockers shot 27 percent (3-11) to ISU's 43.8 percent (7-16).
 
In the second quarter, a Stovall free throw at 8:57 tied it at 15, and a steal and layup by Mike gave the Shockers their first lead, 17-15. Mike struck again with a three-pointer at 7:50 to put WSU up 20-15.
 
WSU's 18-2 run lasted 9:57 and ended at the 4:58 mark with a three-point play by Marshall that closed ISU to within four at 22-18.
 
WSU out-scored the Sycamores, 6-5 over the final 4:58 to go into the halftime lockerroom with a 28-23 lead.
 
For the half, WSU's Mike led all scorers with 11 points, while ISU's Marshall had eight. The Sycamores out-shot WSU, 30.3 percent (10-33) to 29.6 percent (8-27).
 
Wichita State will travel to Moline, Ill., for the 2016 Missouri Valley Conference Championship at the iWireless Arena as the eighth- or ninth-seeded team and will face Bradley at 4 p.m., March 10.