With five minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Wichita State women’s basketball team was only two points away from tying the score against Houston Christian but was ultimately unsuccessful after a scoring drought, ending the game 49-44.
“It was a struggle for us tonight,” head coach Terry Nooner said.
The Shockers started slow with three turnovers and went 0-9 in shooting during the first quarter. Sophomore Daniela Abies scored the first basket for the Shockers with only three minutes remaining in the first quarter.
Senior DJ McCarty led Wichita State with 11 points after coming off the bench and playing for 27 minutes. McCarty has seen limited play this season due to a knee injury.
Nooner said he didn’t expect McCarty to play as many minutes as she did but that she had been looking good in practice.
“She gave us some good minutes, and she played more than I actually thought she was going to play,” Nooner said. “I was pleased.”
During the third quarter of the game, a 9-1 run helped Houston Christian take its biggest lead of the night, 37-27.
Senior Aniya Bell came off the bench in the third quarter to spark the momentum of the game. She got the team going by scoring a 3-pointer to close out the quarter to bring the Shockers to 37-34.
Nooner said having a player like Bell who can give the team a spark of confidence was important.
“It was just a matter of me trying to find somebody that could give us a spark, that could give us some defense, that can make a shot,” Nooner said.
Despite multiple efforts from Wichita State during the fourth quarter, the Huskies were able to connect a five-point lead to end the game.
Nooner said that when the women played Southeastern Louisiana, they did not fall through with their shots, which was different from this game.
“The last time we had a tough matchup was Southeastern Louisiana, and when we didn’t have our shots falling, we let our defense falter too, but tonight we had them under 40%, which is a goal of ours,” Nooner said. “We just couldn’t get it going offensively.
Nooner said the past few games, he has been emphasizing rebounds, and now that the team has had two games where they have a high number of rebounds, he wants to focus on shooting and making points.
“We got to get better at the free throw line, and we got to get better at knocking down shots because I think that just gives you even more confidence and as to play better,” Nooner said.
Wichita State women’s basketball will face off against the University of Kansas on Sunday, Dec. 10. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Anonymous • Dec 7, 2023 at 7:06 pm
One of the most boring games I’ve seen…