Print edition: 
Haleigh Lankster is genuinely disappointed the Wichita State women’s basketball team can no longer could go undefeated in the Missouri Valley Conference. She, like the rest of the Shockers, doesn’t care that WSU has never won a conference championship.
Wichita State believes itself to be the best team in the Missouri Valley, and who can disagree after the Shockers’ 74-63 win over Indiana State at Koch Arena on Sunday? After the first round of conference games, WSU is in first place at 8-1 with a two-game cushion on the rest of the Valley.
“It’s been pretty fun,” said Lankster, who led four Shockers in double-digits with 16 points. “Yes, we would have liked to go undefeated in the first round, but things happen. I think we responded well with this game.”
For the Shockers to establish themselves as a contender, they couldn’t afford to drop back-to-back home games after losing to Illinois State on Friday. And when the Sycamores shoved on Sunday, WSU didn’t back down.
Indiana State looked determined to break its four-game losing streak when it took its largest lead of the game, 24-14, midway through the first half. But WSU made its most important push of the game right before half, ending on a 10-2 run to take a 36-35 lead into the break.
In the second half, Wichita State led for all but one minute.
“They’re more mature,” Adams said. “I can challenge them. I can be very honest with them. They’re going to buck up and take the challenge and do it immediately, instead of maybe put our heads down and pout. There’s not as much nurturing on the bench as we had to do… two years ago.”
Two years ago, Indiana State’s Brittany Schoen hitting a season-high five three-pointers and scoring 20 points might have sunk the Shockers.
Instead, Wichita State was at its best when it counted, scoring on six of its final seven possessions to turn a 2-point lead into an 11-point victory.
“This whole season we’re just on a mission,” senior Alicia Sanchez said. “We’re trying to win the Valley. We’re trying to get to the NCAAs. We’re more mature. We didn’t dwell on (the loss). We knew we had to come in (Sunday) and get the job done.”
The difference has been the Shockers’ confidence in late-game situations, as every shot seemingly comes with the shot clock expiring.
Jessica Diamond split the top of Indiana State’s zone and barely released a jumper that fell from the free-throw line to beat the buzzer and give WSU a 64-60 lead. The next time down, Jazimen Gordon knocked down the same shot — an 8-foot jumper — that she had missed five times earlier.
“Confidence has everything to do with it,” said Gordon, who scored 16 points. “Most of it comes from my teammates. I had an off-game today in the beginning, but they kept believing in me and kept delivering me the ball so it was up to me to knock it down.”
For the first time in four games, Wichita State won the rebounding battle, 38-27, largely because it took advantage of Indiana State’s zone defense by grabbing 15 offensive rebounds.
Adams emphasized the importance of continuing those things in the second-half of the schedule, especially with a three-game road swing against three teams in the top half of the Valley standings looming.
There is no precedent in WSU’s history for what the Shockers are about to embark on, but this team doesn’t seem to need one.
“We don’t want to stay the same team in the second half,” Adams said. “We’ve got to be great at the hard things, at the tough things that you do basketball-wise, and that’s boxing out, that’s communicating, that’s setting screens. Those are the hard things to do when you’re tired and those are the things that we must do.”
INDIANA STATE (10-11, 4-5): Mattox 3-10 0-0 7, Thomas 3-5 1-2 7, Schoen 6-12 3-3 20, Whitley 1-5 5-6 7, Munn 5-9 1-1 11, Zurek 3-3 0-1 6, Valley 0-3 0-0 0, Gunning 0-0 0-0 0, Oyer 0-2 0-0 0, Rademacher 0-0 0-0 0, Mahan 2-2 1-2 5, Franklin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-51 11-15 63.
WICHITA STATE (14-6, 8-1): Turner 4-9 2-4 10, Gordon 7-14 2-2 16, Sanchez 4-7 0-0 8, Diamond 5-9 4-4 15, Lankster 4-9 8-9 16, Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Henderson 2-6 0-1 4, O’Brien 0-0 0-0 0, Jacobs 0-0 0-0 0, Harden 1-3 3-4 5. Totals 27-57 19-24 74.
Halftime—Wichita St. 36, Indiana St. 35. 3-pt. shooting—ISU 6-14 (Schoen 5-8, Mattox 1-4, Munn 0-2); WSU 1-7 (Diamond 1-2, Sanchez 0-1, Lankster 0-2, Henderson 0-2). Rebounds—ISU 27 (Mahan 5); WSU 38 (Lankster 10). Fouls—ISU 20, WSU 14. Assists—ISU 8 (Munn 5); WSU 14 (Diamond, Henderson 4). A—1,961
