EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Wichita State raced out to a 25-4 lead over the first 10 minutes of Tuesday's women's college basketball game and defeated Southern Illinois University Edwardsville 79-53 at the Vadalabene Center.

SIUE fell to 0-2 while the Shockers evened its record at 1-1.

Melia Duncan was the lone Cougar in double figures with 11 points, including two three-pointers. She also corralled five rebounds and three steals.

"Being down early, I wasn't overly concerned as I thought we could hang around and chip away," said SIUE Head Coach Amanda Levens.

Haleigh Lankster led all scorers with 17 points for the Shockers. She shot 7 of 14 from the field and was even more impressive on defense with eight steals.

Wichita State fed off SIUE's 31 turnovers. More than half of its points (42) came off turnovers.

"I thought if we had been able to maintain our poise, the post is an area we could have hurt them in but we didn't get the opportunity to get the ball there because of turnovers," Levens said.

SIUE forced 23 turnovers from Wichita State and would pull to within 11 points with 13:07 to play. The Shockers would then go on a 16-3 run over the next five minutes to keep the Cougars at bay.

Jessica Diamond and Heather Robben joined Lankster in double figures with 11 points each.

SIUE shot 37 percent from the field and 4 of 15 from three-point range. The Cougars were able to find 10 different players who would score but were unable to take advantage of their defensive prowess, scoring 13 points off Wichita State's 23 turnovers.

"I was not happy with the way we competed at points and the amount of heart we played with. We need to be better in that area," said Levens.

The Cougars now hit the road for the next two contests. SIUE travels to Normal to take on Illinois State at 4:05 p.m. Saturday. Next Tuesday, SIUE faces UMKC in Kansas City, Mo.

-siue cougars-