The Wichita State women’s basketball team dropped their first home game of the season on Tuesday, falling to Kansas, 68-55, inside Charles Koch Arena. The game had its positives however, going head-to-head with a Power-Five opponent and a Kansas rival. 

The Shockers showed their toughness on the defensive end, holding the Jayhawks under their average game score this season which is 77 points a game. 

The Shockers had a stretch of other non-conference opponents that they have defeated throughout the season. Some of those opponents include Wyoming, who have made an NCAA Tournament appearance, and the University of Northern Iowa, who lost to Iowa State University by one point this season. 

“Basketball is a marathon,” head coach Keitha Adams said. “It’s a long season and you are going to go through some different things. I think for us it was a great opportunity for us tonight with the fans we had here. I’m just really appreciative for everyone that came out.”

The Shockers struggles in their loss to Kansas tonight came on the offensive end. WSU shot 48.1% from the field and 33.3% from the three point line. 

“I think in the first half their size affected us around the basket,”Adams said. “We left a lot of little bunnies around the rim that we didn’t capitalize and finish on and we didn’t knock down shots. I thought we had some good drives and kick actions where the 3’s we took were good shots they just didn’t go in.”

However, senior guard Mariah McCully did have a strong offensive game by scoring 23 points. McCully said before their matchup with Kansas it helped to have a mindset of they can beat any team that has made it to the NCAA Tournament. 

“We all agreed that this is our year to touch March Madness and put a banner up there  and so we come in saying they can’t touch us even if they are a good team already,” McCully said. “So we already having the confidence before we even start the game which is a good eye opener because when we get to conference play we will have the same mindset.”

The Shockers will now play KU every year on their schedule according to Adams. 

The Shockers will wrap up the non-conference slate at the University of Oklahoma on Wednesday at 6 p.m. This will be their second Big-12 matchup of the season. Conference play will begin after the New Year with a matchup at home against the University of Houston on Wednesday, Jan. 5 at 6 p.m.