Wichita State women’s basketball struggled against Southeastern Louisiana in Tuesday night’s game, losing 64-36. 

During the first quarter, the Shockers were only a few points behind. By the end of the second period, though, SLU gained a 20-point lead, and the Shockers were not able to catch back up. 

Head coach Terry Nooner attributed the loss to offense. 

“We just started struggling offensively, (which) just kind of bled into the way we play defense,” Nooner said. 

The Shockers had a low scoring percentage of 26.3% compared to SLU’s 49.2%.

Nooner said the Lions were a tough team and all the Shockers could do is build off the loss for tough matchups in the future. 

“I think the biggest thing is going back to our fundamentals and our basics of following the game plan,” Nooner said. 

Senior redshirt guard Tre’Zure Jobe led the Shockers, scoring 10 points with three rebounds. Junior forward Ornella Niankan followed, scoring 8 points and seven rebounds, a career high. All together the Shockers had 33 rebounds.

Jobe said improvements need to be made for the team’s 24.2% turnover rate. She said if the teams’ not making baskets, they’ll need to work on forcing more turnovers, saying that getting a win starts with competitive defense. 

“We’re gonna have to get deflections; we’re gonna have to win basketball games on the defensive end if our shots aren’t falling like tonight, like if our defense was how it should have been (in) the first half,” Jobe said. 

Nooner said the defensive fundamentals the team has done throughout the season went away once their offense began to struggle. He said he plans to focus on the basics in order to prepare for the team’s next matchup. 

“I’m gonna do everything I can to help these ladies get things turned, and we’ll be ready on Friday,” Nooner said. 

Wichita State returns to Charles Koch Arena to face off against Saint Louis on Friday, Dec. 1. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.