Wichita State women’s basketball turned the ball over a season-high 27 times against East Carolina on Saturday afternoon.
That resulted in 34 points for the Pirates, dooming the Shockers to a 27-point loss inside Koch Arena, 83-56.
With the result, WSU (3-14, 0-4 American) joins UAB as the only teams in the conference without a win to begin league play. On the other side of the coin, the Pirates’ record grew to 11-6 and 3-1 in the conference, sharing the league’s second-best record with USF and North Texas.
“We just gave them too many points off turnovers. So, we got to figure out how to handle the ball better,” head coach Terry Nooner said. “Basically, everybody that played had multiple turnovers.”
Graduate center Cheyenne Banks and junior guard Azjah Reeves were WSU’s only players who didn’t record a turnover.
The Shockers finished with a season low in 3-pointers, going 1-of-11 from deep. Despite this, graduate guard Jaila Harding moved into a tie for fifth all-time in program history by cashing her 51st triple of the season.
Harding will have at least 15 games to tie the single season record of 73 set by Courtney Sims in 1999.
“I think it was just a product of teams not going to let Jaila Harding just stand out and shoot threes,” Nooner said about the dismal 3-point shooting. “They’re (ECU) very active within their zone, and then I think that when we were getting the ball to the high post, we weren’t making quick enough decisions to get it to our perimeter players.”
The Shockers’ struggles began early, as they turned the ball over three times on their first three possessions, allowing ECU to start the game on a 6-0 run in the first quarter. The Pirates eventually scored the game’s first 15 points before WSU could find the bottom of the basket.
After spotting the away team 15 points in less than three minutes of game time, a layup by senior forward Maimouna Sissoko finally got the Shockers on the board.
With 6:44 left in the period, junior forward Karys Washington came on the floor for the first time all season. Washington, who was injured in the Shockers’ exhibition game against Newman, scored seven points and grabbed four rebounds in her regular season debut.
“She provides a lot of energy,” Nooner said. “She’s a bigger guard who’s going to be able to match up with the physicality of a lot of the teams that we play in our league.”
At the end of the first, the Pirates had more points off turnovers (14) than the Shockers had total (13).
The Shockers had a chance to cut the lead to single digits twice in the second quarter but were unable to. A midrange pull-up jumper by Washington eventually trimmed WSU’s deficit to nine, 37-28, but the home team never got as close as that again.
In the final 90 seconds of the first half, the Shockers struggled getting the ball over halfcourt, turning the ball over five more times. WSU’s carelessness allowed ECU to end the half on a 9-0 run and take a 50-31 lead at the break.
Though simple, Nooner said preventing long runs comes down to taking care of the ball.
“I mean, honestly, it sounds kind of crazy,” he said. “But you’re better off just grabbing the ball and throwing it in the stands and getting that turnover, where at least you get to get back and get your defense set, then to let them steal and then go down and lay it up.”
Two-and-a-half minutes into the third quarter, ECU grew its lead to over 20 points before the Shockers went on a 6-0 run to mitigate the damage, 58-40. It wasn’t enough, however, as the Pirates ended the quarter on an 8-1 run.
ECU held its big lead throughout the entire fourth quarter to seal the game, trailing by as little as 21 points, 75-53. And similar to the third, WSU surrendered an 8-2 run over the final two minutes, closing the game on a three-minute field goal drought.
Next up, WSU travels to the Sunshine State to play Florida Atlantic on Tuesday. Tipoff against the Owls is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Box score breakdown
WSU — 13; 18; 10; 15 — 56
ECU — 26; 24; 16; 17 — 83
Shooting totals (fg-3p-ft)
WSU (33% – 9% – 61%)
ECU (45% – 33% – 65%)
Leaders
Points — WSU: Treasure Thompson (12), Jaila Harding (9), Diamond Richardson (8). ECU: Kennedy Fauntleroy (21), Jayla Hearp (14), Anzhané Hutton (12), Taylor Barner (10).
Rebounds — WSU: Treasure Thompson (9), Jaida McDonald (8), Abby Cater (6). ECU: Anzhané Hutton (7), Zaniah Zellous (7), Jayla Hearp (5).
Assists — WSU: Treasure Thompson (3), Abby Cater (3), Karys Washington (3). ECU: Kennedy Fauntleroy (8), Anzhané Hutton (2), Keanna Rembert (2).
