The Wichita State’s women’s basketball team squandered an eight-point halftime deficit, falling to Tulsa, 65-58, on Sunday.

The two programs first competed with each other in 1978 and the Shockers have won 21 of the 26 match-ups. The Shockers had won the last four matchups, but the Golden Hurricane earned their fourth victory over WSU, since they joined the American.

The Shockers played with a strong defense against Tulsa. Tulsa leads the American league with three-point percentage, but WSU’s half court trap was effective in the first 20 minutes. Tulsa went 1-19 from deep, after entering the game shooting 40.7% on triples.

The Shockers’ fast breaks, rebounds and patience with the ball earned them an eight-point lead, 30-22, at halftime.

“Us being aggressive on defense is how we gotta play, so that was a positive,” head coach Keitha Adams said.

Heading into the second half of the game, the Golden Hurricane’s adapted to the trap. TU’s Temira Poindexter went 2-2 on three-pointers at the start of the third quarter. On the other side of the court, WSU managed to go 0-2 from deep in the first five minutes into the half.

“When we were patient, we were able to get the ball inside,” Adams said. “When we were patient we were able to drive, so it’s like we didn’t learn from what was good in the first half.”

WSU had some reinforcements in the loss, with junior guard Seraphine Bastin returning from an ankle injury. Bastin came off the bench, but still managed to play for a total of 19 minutes and finished with five rebounds, two assists and went 3-4 from the field. 

Senior guard Mariah McCully also made her return, after missing Wednesday’s game against Temple due to an illness. McCully finished with nine points, while not reaching double figures for the second straight game.

The Shockers shot 35.7% from the field as a team, but Asia Strong was a major bright spot offensively. The senior forward finished with a team-high 15 points on 5-7 shooting and 1-2 from downtown.

“I definitely feel like I played very hard today. We definitely needed somebody to step up,” Strong said. “I was the top player for our 31, so that’s what got me so active and so hyped up and I was fired up after that, so after that I was making my shots.”

With less than a minute remaining, the Shockers needed a stop to extend the game. In order to do that, they needed to foul Tulsa. Those free throws gained Tulsa a seven-point lead, before winning them the game,  65-58. 

“I thought our defensive effort was really really good,” Adams said. “We were riding the game where we wanted to be and we managed the game pretty well. I think the biggest thing is getting beat on the boards and just needing to make shots and score more and put some more points on their 58 points. We needed a few more today.”

Up next, the Shockers will compete against East Carolina in the Mingles Coliseum. Tip off will be at 5 p.m. and will be broadcasted on ESPN+.