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By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ST. CHARLES, Mo. (AP) -- Jacqui Kalin had 19 points and Nicole Clausen added 18 as Northern Iowa cruised past Wichita State 75-45 Thursday in the first round of the Missouri Valley Conference women's tournament.

The Panthers (13-17) scored the first basket and never trailed, leading by as many as 35 points early in the second half. Northern Iowa moves on to play Evansville in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Daria Frazier led Wichita State (9-22) with 12 points.

Kalin scored Northern Iowa's first eight points and 10 of its first 15 as the Panthers jumped out to a 15-8 lead in the first eight minutes. The Panthers then went on a 10-0 run to boost its lead to 25-8 and were never seriously challenged after that.