MOLINE, Ill.  --  No. 5 seed Wichita State defeated No. 4 seed SIU, 73-60, Friday afternoon in a game much closer than the final score in Missouri Valley Conference Tournament quarterfinal action at iWireless Arena. The Shockers, who now play in Saturday's 1:32 p.m., semifinal game against 26-4 regular-season league champion Drake, improved to 15-15 overall while SIU fell to 16-14.

Up just five with 1:29 remaining, WSU turned up the defensive heat, and rebounded three SIU missed shots, to extend the lead to its largest lead of the game over the last minute and a half.

The Shockers were led in scoring by First-Team All-Valley Rangie Bessard's 30 points, while the junior had 13 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season. Angiee Tompkins had 12 points and TaQuandra Mike had eight. Mike, who was named to the MVC all-defensive team earlier in the week, showed her offensive side, dishing out seven assists. SIU was led in scoring by Kylie Giebelhausen's 16 points.

The Shockers were down three, 28-25 at the half, before SIU then went up seven, 42-35 over the first six and a half minutes of the third quarter by out-scoring the Shockers 14-10. WSU tied it back up at 42-all with a 7-0 run — all seven by Bessard — which was capped by a traditional three-point play at 2:39. WSU then out-scored SIU, 4-2, through the end of the quarter to take a 46-44 lead through three periods. Tamara Lee scored all four of those points on a layup and two free throws.
 
In the fourth, a steal and lay up by Lee extended WSU's lead to 48-44 at 9:30 before a Bessard layup put WSU up seven, 49-44, at 8:45. By 6:38, SIU cut the deficit back to three, 51-48, forcing a WSU timeout. SIU's Nebo had kept the Salukis in the game by scoring their first eight points of the quarter.

Later, up eight, 65-57, after a Sabrina Lozada-Cabbage jumper at 1:49, WSU and SIU traded baskets before the Shockers went up nine on back-to-back baskets, 69-60, to seal the victory going away.

Wichita State opened the game with a 9-5 lead after back-to-back baskets by Bessard, including a three-pointer at 5:32. Later SIU tied it at 11 with a three-pointer by Giebelhausen at 2:59. WSU went scoreless for the final four minutes of the quarter, and SIU for the final three minutes as the score remained tied at 11-all.

In the second, SIU went up four on another Giebelhausen three-pointer at 8:32, but WSU battled back to take a one-point lead at 6:33 on a Lockhart jumper. Napier gave SIU a four-point lead, 23-19, with two-straight baskets which included her second trey at 4:35. SIU held the lead until 1:08 when a Tompkins layup tied the game at 25-all.  Each team went scoreless until SIU's Hartman hit a wide-open three with three-seconds left to put the Salukis up 28-25.

For the half, WSU shot 32 percent (10-31), while SIU shot 33 percent (10-30). WSU held the rebounding edge, 23-20. Bessard led WSU wit nine points, while Giebelhausen and Napier had eight points each for the Salukis.

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